Given the importance of lawyers’ communications with their clients, the e-mail sign-off requires a deft touch. Get this right and the client may be subconsciously impressed by your tact and manners, get it wrong and you risk sounding either cold and clinical or gaggingly sentimental. Litination has neatly summarised this new-lawyer minefield…

Words are very important to lawyers. Some of the most sacred words for a lawyer are the ones before his or her name at the end of an email or letter. For most people, a typical “Sincerely” will do. That salutation, however, is completely unsatisfactory for a lawyer.

Soon after beginning practice, a lawyer will begin to receive emails and hard copy documents that contain a myriad of sign-offs like “Best Regards”, “Warm Regards”, “Regards” or some other collection of words that pretends to express feelings and importance at the same time. This makes the newly minted lawyer regret ever having used the word “Sincerely” in a formal letter.

In order to compensate for years of using inadequate salutations, a lawyer will often spend considerable time deciding what communication is worthy of a “Best Regards” rather than a “Regards”. For a lawyer, any time spent on something this important is billable work. After all, “Best Regards” may be too sentimental for an email to the client. On the other hand, does “Regards” sound too cold and impersonal? Is the intermediate “Warm Regards” the right call?

For the most nefarious of characters, the lawyer has a special sign-off – “Very Truly Yours”. If you receive an email from a lawyer with “Very Truly Yours” as the sign-off, be warned; this communication is likely crafted to ensure that yours is very truly screwed.

So nice and clear now, Kind regards.