By Robert Chapski 

I wish everyone could see some of the firm-wide emails I get on a daily basis.  They range from someone looking for advice on where to buy an appliance (to be fair, I have to confess I have sent one or two looking for a good painter or landscaper on occasion) to someone selling lingerie (yes, underwear for sale at the office).  I'm not kidding.   

True, I could remove myself from the firm-wide email list (the so-called "general" list) but part of me feels like I would be missing out on some of the more memorable emails (e.g., "lingerie for sale").  The topics of these emails know no bounds:  free stuff, selling stuff, looking for stuff, the "farewell, I'm leaving the firm" emails, etc. 

Recently, someone sent an email around the office regarding a recent promotion at KFC where KFC was giving away a free chicken dinner if you downloaded a coupon.  Apparently, Oprah triggered this deal.  Immediately following that email, we received another email saying that to get the coupon, you had to download a special printing program and that the firm tech department should not be used to assist with such a download on an office computer.  Then, we got another firm-wide email cautioning us not to download the coupon at all because the printing program may have spyware associated with it.  Finally, I later received another email saying that not all people have been able to redeem these coupons at KFC because of a mad rush for the chicken in some cities.  (This report has been confirmed in a number of news outlets.)  

I lost track of the exact number of emails I received about free chicken yesterday. 

Anyway, I'm all about free stuff (including free food - who isn't?), and there is no way to stop the flow of the emails.  As a young lawyer, however, you can do yourself a favor and maintain your professional image by making sure you are not one of the repeat offenders.  As with any email you send, give some thought to what a firm-wide email says about you, particularly to people who may not know you all that well.  

(P.S.  The lesson learned here can also be applied to the use of "reply all".   I like to think about the concept of "need to know" when I use "reply all."  If the whole firm doesn't "need to know" the content of your email, resist the urge to press "reply all."  As a former law partner once wrote in a firm-wide email (tongue in cheek, of course), "You'll have to pry the 'reply-all' button from the fingers of my cold, dead body."  Don't be that guy (or gal).