‘TRIPLE-CHECKING’ POLICY FOR SENDING EMAILS

 

As Barristers and Clerks we are individually responsible for the emails that we send.  By spending a few seconds longer to check, double-check and triple-check the recipient(s) email address before clicking Send, we are demonstrably taking extra precaution to ensure we do not send our email to the wrong person.

Chambers’ therefore invites all members, pupils and staff to sign-up to this ‘Triple-Checking’ Policy as your personal commitment to ensuring your emails are sent to the intended recipient.

 

‘TRIPLE-CHECKING’ POLICY FOR SENDING EMAIL

   1. Are you sending your email to the right person?

1. Carefully check the recipient email address

The most common mistake is typing a first name as the recipient and then choosing the wrong person. [To be extra cautious you can remove the auto-name facility in Outlook – see below for instructions*]

You must be especially careful if you are sending the email to several recipients.

  1. Check the recipient(s) email address again
  2. When you are ready to send your email, BEFORE clicking Send, CHECK the recipient(s) email address for a third time

    2. Did you forget to blind copy?

Another common mistake is Cc’ing one or more persons into an email when you intended to Bcc them (i.e. blind copy – copy them in without the recipient’s knowledge). The effect of this is not only potential embarrassment on your part, but more seriously, you will have disclosed for all the recipients of the email to see, the email addresses of others that you had not meant to disclose, which would amount to a data breach under GDPR.

  • Being extra vigilant when sending your email by using the Triple-Check policy, such an error can be avoided.

    3. Are you sure?

Before you click Send, ask yourself are you sure?  If you have any doubts about sending your email, for whatever reason, save it to DRAFT.  Do not send your email unless you are sure about it.

* [Instructions to remove the auto-name facility in Outlook
Select File; Options; Mail; scroll down to ‘Send messages’; untick ‘Use Auto-Complete List to suggest names when typing in the To, Cc, and Bcc lines’; click OK]

  So, before sending emails, always follow the Triple-Checking Policy:

1) Check the recipient name(s)

2) Check the recipient name(s) again

3) Check the recipient name(s) a third time BEFORE clicking SEND