Shawn Wood Published in Chicago Lawyer "Mistakes and the Modern Lawyer"

Shawn Wood was published in the May 2008 issue of Chicago Lawyer. His article, “ Mistakes and the Modern Lawyer,” reported on  recent technology blunders that have ruined professional careers. Shawn noted, “Stories flow through every office about those three terrifying words ‘Reply to All’ and how a promising career can be sabotaged by sending the wrong e-mail to the wrong 800 people.” He explained, “The Associated Press reported that [an]… attorney representing the insurer was copied on an e-mail sent to reporters that contained a press release by the attorney general. The lawyer intended to forward the e-mail to her internal team while commenting that the attorney general should be held in contempt for misrepresenting the terms of a confidential settlement. Instead, she hit ‘Reply to All.’ Her comments were sent to a dozen reporters.”

Shawn also noted an earlier incident which occurred in February when, “The New York Times broke a story about confidential settlement discussions between Eli Lilly and the federal government. Portfolio.com subsequently reported that the drug company’s outside litigation counsel inadvertently sent a confidential email intended for her co-counsel to a NYT reporter, who had a similar name and e-mail address…. This story became a parable for the need to exercise greater care when communicating about confidential information.”