complete the challenge. sustain the System.

During the past eight weeks, participants have

• developed scheduled email-review habits,

• created action and category folders,

• established internal and external email workflows,

• added rules and filters, and

• explored advanced automation.

The final three days focus on one additional technology opportunity, resolving any remaining inbox clutter, and turning the Challenge practices into lasting habits.

The goal is not simply to reach Inbox Zero on Day 60. The goal is to maintain a reliable email-management system that supports legal work long after the Challenge ends.

Two Key Objectives for Success

Everything in this challenge flows from two foundational commitments.

Organize your email system by

• Using folders

• Conversation views

• Rules

• Filters, and

• Automation.

This structural change ensures that your inbox is easier to identify and process, so the right messages reach you at the right time.

Set the Inbox Up for Success

Commit to spending no more than one hour a day reviewing email. You can break that time up into four 15 minutes in the morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. During each review, every email receives a 15-second decision: Delete it, Delegate (Forward) it, or Do it. Email review becomes a scheduled activity rather than a constant interruption during your day.

Build a New Email Habit

02

01

You have developed long-lasting, positive email habits.

Week Five: Complete the Challenge. Sustain the System.

This Week, Focus On

1. Technology may assemble the report. Legal professionals must verify the information and act on it.

2. The habit developed is not to hide the clutter; the habit is to resolve the emails.

3. Processing any remaining old email in your inbox.

Day 58

Explore Court Filing Email Reports

Today, determine whether your organization’s approved technology can produce a report on cases from the case information provided in court filing emails. If your organization’s approved technology will allow for court filing documents to be filed into your case management system, then you may be able to produce a report on cases from the information provided in the court filing emails and your case management system. A well-designed report can help supervising attorneys and legal departments monitor case activity without relying solely on notifications from attorneys or staff.

For law firms, the report may help supervising attorneys oversee matters handled by associates. For legal departments, it may help the in-house team monitor cases managed by outside counsel.

A court filing report may help legal organizations:

• Identify recent case activity

• Monitor matters across multiple attorneys or outside counsel firms

• Find filings awaiting legal analysis

• Track whether deadlines were entered into approved systems

• Identify unanswered or unresolved filings

• Prepare for case-status meetings

• Reduce time spent searching individual inboxes

• Improve supervision and accountability

The report is an oversight aid, not the official court docket or a substitute for legal review. A designated legal professional must verify:

• The filing was matched to the correct case.

• The document type was classified correctly.

• The filing date and response deadline are accurate.

• The responsible lawyer has reviewed the document.

• All dates were entered into the approved docketing or calendar system.

• The filed document was saved to the correct matter system.

• The identified next action reflects the responsible lawyer’s judgment.

.

Action Step:

Ask your IT team, legal operations team, case-management provider, or approved technology vendor whether the organization can generate a court filing email report. If the capability exists, test it with a limited group of nonurgent filing emails. Compare the report with the original emails, court docket, calendar, and matter-management system before considering broader use..

DAY 59

Resolve the Remaining Inbox and Reinforce the 15-Second Rule

Today, focus on any old emails that remain in the inbox.

After nearly 60 days of practice, participants should be more comfortable deciding what each email requires. Use the 15-second rule to make the initial decision:

• Delete it if deletion is permitted and the email is no longer needed.

• Delegate it if another team member should handle the work.

• Do it if the action takes two minutes or less.

• Schedule it if the work requires more than two minutes.

• Calendar or docket it if the email contains a date or deadline.

• Save it if the email or attachment belongs in an approved legal system.

• Archive it if the work is complete and the communication must be retained.

The inbox is only one part of the system. Review each action or category folder to make sure it does not contain forgotten work.

In addition, you must ensure that each folder is scheduled for a review session to get the work done. You have important action items to complete; such as:

• Legal Analysis Needed

• Lawyer Review Needed

• Calendar / Docket Entry Needed

• Response Needed

• Client Response Needed

• Contract Review Needed

• Regulatory / Compliance Review

• Vendor Coordination

• Settlement / Negotiation Review

• Waiting on Internal Response

• Waiting on External Response

• File / Save to Matter System

• Invoice / Billing Review

For each email, confirm that the associated task has been completed, delegated, calendared, saved, or scheduled.

Action Step:

Process every old email remaining in the inbox. Move each email to the proper action folder and complete the necessary next step, or archive or delete it according to the organization’s policies.

DAY 60

Make the System a Lasting Habit

You have reached Day 60!

Today is about recognizing what participants have accomplished and deciding how to sustain the system.

The 15-second rule should now feel less like a Challenge exercise and more like a normal way to begin processing email. The action or category folders should make it easier to see what requires attention, what is waiting, and what is complete. Rules, filters, and approved automation should reduce repetitive work without replacing professional judgment.

Continue reviewing email during scheduled sessions rather than allowing the inbox to interrupt the entire day.

The recommended routine remains:

• 15 minutes in the morning

• 15 minutes at noon

• 15 minutes in the afternoon

• 15 minutes near the end of the day

Three 20-minute sessions may also work when better suited to the participant’s responsibilities.

Before closing the Challenge:

1. Process every remaining inbox email.

2. Review every title of action or category folders.

3. Confirm that all workflows include that deadlines are calendared or docketed.

4. Confirm that longer tasks have scheduled completion time.

5. Confirm the follow up process for items awaiting a response.

6. Confirm that all workflows save documents and substantive communications to approved systems.

7. Archive or delete completed emails according to policy.

8. Review rules, filters, and automation for accuracy.

9. Confirm the role designations for multi-tasked emails.

10. Note improvements that the team should make after the Challenge.

Reach Inbox Zero or a controlled near-zero inbox containing only newly received emails awaiting review. Every older email should have a decision, destination, owner, and next action.

Action Step:

Do not move an email merely to make the inbox appear empty. The email must enter a reliable workflow with a clear owner and next action.

Congratulations on Completing the Challenge

Over 60 days, participants have worked to transform email from an overflowing storage location into a structured intake and workflow system.

The lasting achievement is not the number displayed beside the inbox. It is the habit of making clear decisions, placing work in the correct system, protecting deadlines, and following through.

Continue to:

• Review intentionally.

• Decide promptly.

• Organize by action.

• Automate carefully.

• Complete the work.

Operational improvement does not end on Day 60. Email workflows should continue to evolve as an organization’s people, responsibilities, technology, and risks change.

LPB Strategic Consulting is available to partner with law firms, legal departments, and other legal organizations to identify operational challenges, design practical workflows, and implement strategic solutions that help legal teams work more effectively.

LPB Strategic Consulting

Strategic Solutions for Stronger Legal Operations

Congratulations on completing the 60-day Email Inbox Challenge!

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