Substance and Style
| Publication year | 2020 |
| Pages | 63 |
| Citation | Vol. 89 No. 6 Pg. 63 |
July 2020
Hi, Dear, Good Morning? Email Salutations in the 2020s
by Gillian Chadwick
The simple matter of how to begin an email has become an unexpected source of controversy in recent years. As a profession, lawyers no longer have a shared norm to rely upon when beginning our most common form of written communication. Such shared norms are important because they help us convey and interpret our intentions towards one another.
"Dear" remains the gold standard in letter writing and is still preferred by many emailers. However, "Dear" has not translated to email for many lawyers. Some find it overly formal, stilted, or even off-putting. To my surprise, an opposing counsel recently said he found my use of the salutation "Dear" condescending.
Strong feelings exist on the other side of the "Dear" divide as well. I know lawyers who take genuine offense to emails that do not begin with "Dear." They see the lack of formality as a lack of courtesy and believe the decline of "Dear" is a loss for professionalism in the field.
In the context of email, "Dear" is not as common as it once was. Unfortunately, no clear alternative has emerged to take its place. Less formal options include "Hi" or "Hello," which are used more and more. That approach leaves an awkward choice between the proper syntax "Hi, [Name]," and the incorrect but more streamlined "Hi [Name]," neither of which looks quite right. "Good morning/afternoon" can work, but it has lawyers checking the clock before they press send; and "Good evening" sounds like it should be followed by ".. and welcome to my email." On the other hand, "Good afternoon" after 5:00 p.m. can carry a passive-aggressive twinge as it suggests the recipient must still be working since it is merely the afternoon.
A more direct, and increasingly common approach is to use the recipient's name without a preceding salutation. Proponents of this approach see it as professional and business-like. Detractors find it grating and impolite. Minimalists take it a step further by diving straight into the email body, skipping the salutation line altogether. These salutation skippers argue there is no need when every email begins, like a memo, with To, From, Date, and Re lines. While the point is well taken, this approach is abrupt to many readers and truly jarring to "Dear" fans.
Part of this dissonance seems to be...
To continue reading
Request your trial