Law firm email disclaimer examples

Before you use these

These examples are starting points for your firm's own wording. They are not legal advice. Your firm's ethics counsel or managing partner should approve the final text, and your state bar's rules on confidentiality and lawyer communications apply regardless of what the notice says.

Example 1: Short confidentiality notice

This email may contain confidential or privileged information and is intended only for the named recipient. If you received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it.

Example 2: Attorney client privilege

This message is from a law firm and may contain information protected by the attorney client privilege or the work product doctrine. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy, or forward it. Notify the sender by reply and delete it.

Example 3: No attorney client relationship

Receiving this email does not create an attorney client relationship. Please do not send confidential information to this firm until we have confirmed in writing that we represent you.

Useful for intake staff and for replies to people who contact the firm before engagement.

Example 4: Combined, two sentences

Confidential: this email may contain privileged information intended only for the addressee. If received in error, please notify the sender and delete it. Sending us an email does not create an attorney client relationship.

Example 5: Plain language

This email is meant only for the person it is addressed to and may contain private legal information. If it reached you by mistake, please let us know and delete it.

When a disclaimer helps

• It reminds a wrong recipient what to do with a misdirected email, which many people will follow.
• It signals to clients and opposing counsel that the firm treats email as confidential.
• It can set expectations with people who are not yet clients, so they do not send sensitive facts too early.
• It shows the firm took a reasonable step, which some firms want as part of a broader confidentiality policy.

Its limits

A notice at the bottom of an email does not, by itself, make a message privileged or confidential. Privilege depends on the communication, not the footer. A stranger who receives a misdirected email never agreed to the notice. And when the same long disclaimer appears on every message, including lunch plans, readers learn to ignore it.

The real protection is careful addressing, encryption where it is needed, and firm policies on what goes in email at all. Treat the notice as one small part of that.

Keep it short and put it last

• Aim for one to three sentences. Long notices get skipped and clutter every reply in a thread.
• Put it at the very bottom, below the name, title, firm, and phone, in a smaller gray font that is still readable.
• Use the same approved wording for every attorney, paralegal, and assistant.
• Check your state bar's rules on attorney advertising. Some states require certain lawyer communications to be labeled, and an email signature with marketing content may be affected.

One notice for the whole firm

The common problem at firms is drift: partners on one version, associates on another, staff on none. Staff Signature lets the firm set the approved notice once in a locked template, so it appears identically under everyone's name.

Common questions