How to manage a law firm inbox in Outlook

Focused Inbox splits your inbox into two tabs, Focused and Other. Microsoft says it learns from the people you deal with and moves automated and bulk email to Other. See Microsoft's page on Focused Inbox for Outlook.

1. In new Outlook, select View, then View settings.
2. Under Mail, then Message list, choose your account.
3. Tick Sort messages into Focused and Other and select Save.

Teach it in the first week. When a sender lands in the wrong tab, right-click the message, choose Move, then Always move to Other inbox (or Always move to Focused inbox). A plain move only shifts that one message.

One catch for small firms: Microsoft notes Focused Inbox does not work with shared mailboxes. If reception runs an enquiries mailbox, rules will do that sorting instead.

A rule acts on mail as it arrives. Microsoft's guide to setting up rules in Outlook says every rule needs a name, a condition and an action.

1. Right-click a message from the sender, hover over Rules and select Create rule.
2. Pick the folder the mail should go to, or select More options to add conditions, actions and exceptions.
3. Select Save. Edit rules later under Settings, Mail, Rules.

Rules only run on new mail by default. To tidy what is already there, go to Settings, Mail, Rules and select Run rule now next to the rule. Rules apply in order (change it with the up and down arrows), so put the specific ones (a particular client) above the broad ones (anything from a council domain), and use Stop processing more rules where you do not want two rules fighting over one email.

Good first rules for a small practice: portal and trust account notifications to one folder, court and registry notices to another, and marketing mail you still want to read to a weekly folder. Keep client mail in the inbox until someone has dealt with it. A rule that hides a client's email is worse than no rule.

Both work. Folders are good for where an email lives once it is done. Categories are labels, and Microsoft's page on using categories in Outlook confirms one message can carry more than one. That suits a client with several matters, or an email that is both a matter update and an invoice query.

In new Outlook, right-click a message, choose Categorize, then New category, name it and pick a colour. Microsoft also explains how to add a category to Favorites so it shows in your folder list as a view of everything tagged with it.

One way to do it: a category per active matter, deleted when the file closes, plus a single folder per client for the archive. If your practice management software files email to matters, let it be the archive and keep Outlook light.

Use flags with dates. In classic Outlook, Microsoft's page on how to flag email messages for follow up explains that you can set a start date, a due date and a reminder, and that flagged messages appear in the To-Do Bar, in Tasks and in the Calendar Daily Task List.

Select the flag next to a message to flag it for today, or right-click the flag to choose another day, such as Next Week. For a sent email where you are waiting on the other side, such as signed documents back before settlement, flag it for yourself before you send it. When the reminder fires you chase once, rather than rereading the thread every morning.

Yes. In new Outlook, select the arrow next to Send, choose Schedule send and pick a time. Microsoft's page on delaying or scheduling email says the message waits in Drafts until then, and the feature is not available for IMAP or POP accounts.

This is useful when you clear email at night but would rather a family law client did not get an update at 11pm, or when you want a reminder email to land first thing on the morning it matters.

Any inbox that receives settlement figures or trust account details is a target for business email compromise, where someone impersonates a client, agent or supplier to redirect money. The Northern Territory's Be Cyber Smart guide to business email compromise recommends multi-factor authentication on email accounts and, when someone asks to change bank details, phoning them on contact details you find independently, not the ones in the email.

A simple office habit: no change to payment details is actioned from email alone, whoever it appears to come from.

1. Start in the Focused tab. Deal with anything urgent first: settlement days, filing deadlines, a client who is upset.
2. For everything else, decide once: reply now if it takes two minutes, flag it with a date, or file it.
3. Skim the Other tab once a day. Move any person who belongs in Focused.
4. Check your flagged list before lunch and before you leave.
5. Schedule late-night replies for business hours.
6. On Friday, review rules and categories. Delete categories for closed matters.

For help with the wording of client replies themselves, see our guide on using AI to draft client emails.

AI Legal Toolbox is an Outlook add-in with an AI paralegal called Nova. It triages the inbox by urgency, drafts replies into your Outlook drafts folder and never sends email itself. With Smokeball, it files emails and records time against matters, and only after you confirm. It starts with a 7 day free trial, then costs $149 AUD per practitioner per month including GST, with no setup fee and no minimum term. The facts page has the details, and our court AI rules tracker lists each court's AI rules if you use AI for court documents.

Outlook menus change from time to time, so check Microsoft's pages linked above for the current steps.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.