Sure, we see them all the time but are they at all controlling? An interesting blog comment by Carol Shepherd, at Arborlaw makes a good point that they hardly bind the email sender or recipient. As she summarizes, "In most cases where email disclaimers and similar boilerplate language are being deployed, the language is presented to the other party after the fact. Even in a case where the parties do intend to form a contract, the common law and the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) are clear that terms supplied after a contract has already been formed do not automatically become part of the contract." The full post is well worth reading to figure out how best to protect the confidential information you share with others.
As for my method, I don't have a disclosure. I have a provision in my fee agreement and in my initial client communication that explains: "Because of what I am pointing out in paragraph 1, I put in the subject line of all my email communications "CONFIDENTIAL - [the client's last name, in caps also]". This way, we can easily separate any communications between us in case a legitimate request is made for digital information. Of course, we do not need to communicate by email, but it is frequently the most efficient and effective. I leave the choice to do so up to you. " In my email program [primarily Eudora, still] I have stationary for each confidential relationship which I can select and use each time I have to send something. And the emails to and from the client are filtered into that client's email mailbox.
