New Year's Resolution - Check Email Addresses Before Sending

Email 'Oops' Ends with Gordon & Rees Being Booted from Case (Legal Pad). Misdirected email gaffes are becoming common in legal circles, and this one is a doozy. Some engineers planning to leave a company were planning their departure, and one of the confidential emails was mailed to an old company address, where the computer system routed it to the General Counsel. Rather than notifying the prospective Plaintiffs that the company now knew what they were planning, the Company's counsel kept quiet, and then used the information to defend the lawsuit. The result? The GC and company counsel were removed from the case. The moral of the story? In addition to being careful who gets confidential email, the recipient of such confidential material has a duty of disclosure, and must attempt to limit the use of the information contained in it. Even though we live in a world of technology, we need to remember, as we cruise into a New Year, that the principles of the playground will always apply.