When I started my first job in the legal industry, I was extremely excited to order business cards. Even though I worked at a Biglaw shop, attorneys were given some leeway with the information they wished to include on the business cards. I remember including my cellphone number, which my colleague criticized, since she thought this would make it more difficult to maintain a work-life balance. Although my colleague had a point, in this day and age, it is often unavoidable to give cellphone numbers to clients and counsel. However, in a variety of circumstances, lawyers should avoid texting clients and counsel since this can have an impact on the quality of a representation.
Texting clients and counsel about small things is often unavoidable and harmless. For instance, I routinely text clients about meeting up at a courthouse or at other places, and sometimes lawyers leave their phone numbers in courthouses so that counsel can text them when a matter is ready to proceed. For more substantive matters, I rarely text clients and counsel, since I do not want to be constrained by space limitations, and I do not want to breach someone’s personal space.
However, clients and counsel sometimes text me about more substantive matters, and in many instances this is fine. If a message does not need much space to be conveyed, and the text occurs during business hours, there is not much of a difference between text messaging and emailing. However, in my experience, texting can often lead to a slippery slope where most communications are conducted via text and at inappropriate times.
I once had a client who preferred to text rather than speaking on the phone or emailing. I wanted to facilitate this client’s preferences, and I responded to all of the text messages she sent. However, she began texting me at inappropriate times. I distinctly remember being at a bar on a Saturday night and seeing a text message from this client light up my phone! I definitely felt like it was a breach of my personal space to be texting me on a Saturday night, and if this person had emailed me, I would have an easier time separating my work life from my personal life.
I have had a few adversaries over the years who also prefer text messaging over email. I have no idea why a lawyer would want to do this, but perhaps the attorney thinks that text messaging builds more rapport among counsel than conducting business through email. Of course, if the text was about something small and it was during business hours, I did not mind receiving a text from an adversary, especially about time-sensitive things I needed to address immediately.
However, some adversaries have mixed texting about personal things with work-related matters, which I do not appreciate in some circumstances. Moreover, some of the text messages from adversaries would come outside of working hours. I completely understand that some attorneys finish work at odd hours, and adversaries might be getting around to tasks outside of the workday. However, again, if the adversary had emailed me instead of texting, I would have a better ability to filter out work matters from my personal space.
All told, emailing and phone calls are a much more preferrable way to communicate with counsel and clients since they allow for longer discussions and are typically conducted within business hours. Once lawyers start texting, this can be a slippery slope that can lead to too much communication by text and exchanges outside of business hours. Accordingly, lawyers should not text counsel and clients about substantive matters if this can be avoided.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
