“Disclaimers” in e mails

E Mail Disclaimers
• After several high profile lawsuits with multimillion dollar
penalties concerning the contents of the corporate mails,
companies are increasingly aware of exposing themselves to
legal threats. E mail disclaimers are statements that are either
prepended or appended to e mails. They are usually of legal
character.
• If you are so unlucky to be sued for the contents of an e mail, it
is not certain that the disclaimer will protect you from the
liability. None the less it helps and might deter most persons
from seeking legal compensation.
• Apart from legal disclaimers, companies can use other tools to
protect themselves against the legal implications of e mail.
• The reasons for disclaimers can be categorized into two groups:
Legal and Marketing
 Legal Reasons for Disclaimers
• There are six legal threats that disclaimers can help protect
against. They are:
1. Breach of confidentiality (protect against divulgence of
confidential information of your company)
2. Accidental breach of confidentiality (misdirected e mail)
3. Transmission of viruses (disclaimer may contain warning
about the viruses)
4. Entering into contract (clearly specify the designation of the
person duly authorized to do so)
5. Negligent misstatement ( by law a person is obliged to take
care when giving advice to a third party relies on)
6. Employer’s liability (company is ultimately responsible for
the actions of the employees, disclaimer can reduce this
liability
 Marketing Reasons for Disclaimers
• Apart from legal reasons, a footnote or signature can also be
added to serve marketing purposes.
• Add marketing information Disclaimers can be used to add a
company address, URL and or / slogan. In some countries
companies are required to state the company’s particulars on
any written communication
• Convey professional image: By adding disclaimers to e mails
the company conveys a professional, trustworthy image. Apart
from any possible adversaries from suing, it will convey
awareness and professionalism to your cistomers.
There is, however, no disclaimer that can
protect against actual libelous or
defamatory content. The most the
disclaimer can accomplish is to reduce
the responsibility of the company, since
it can prove that the company has acted
responsibly and done everything in its
power to stop employees from
committing these offences
 Disadvantages of using disclaimers

Some e mails contain long list of disclaimers and since

disclaimers are added to every sent e mail even it already
contains a disclaimer. This can sometimes end up being
quite a long list. The best thing is is to try and keep the
disclaimers as short as possible, and distinguish them from
the main text. This can be done by adding a line of *****
at the top and bottom of the disclaimer from the rest of the
text or by adding it in different format, text color or font
size. Alternatively use a disclaimer program that can detect
the existence of a previous disclaimer and suppress adding
another one.
 What the Experts say?
• “If you are in any doubt as to whether you should include a
notice, then you should include one”., Jonathan Whelan
• “The disclaimers added to the end of e mails are not legally
binding, but it is always good practice to try and disclaim
liability”. Michael Chissick, Head of Internet Law at Field
Fisher Waterhouse,
• “E mails should be prefaced in such a way as to incorporate
the employer’s standard terms and conditions” Robin Bynoe,
Charles Russell Solicitors
• “Defamation, unintended contact formation, misdirected
emails all bring into focus the desirability of e mail
disclaimers”. Simon Halberstam, Head of E commerce Law,
Spencer Grier Halberstam, Solicitors