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INFORMATION ABOUT THE NHACDL LISTSERV
Click Here If You Want To Unsubscribe
In General: NHACDL sponsors an automated email discussion group--or Listserv--which currently has approximately two hundred fifty subscribers. The listserv is an invaluable resource because it puts every participating member in instant communication with his or her colleagues in all ten New Hampshire counties (and elsewhere). Members who need to know about the local practice in unfamiliar courts can ask the list and they will usually receive a number of helpful responses. Members whose caseload takes them into unfamiliar legal terrain can seek guidance from those who have been there before. Attorneys faced with what they believe are unique facts often receive motions on point, memoranda of law and unpublished orders as the result of a single email to the list. The listserv is also a great way to spread important (or unimportant) news to the entire participating membership.
All listserv messages are archived on the web for at least six months. Members can search the archives by date, author and topic. They can also browse the archive month by month.
Joining The List: The NHACDL listserv is a membership benefit that is only available to current NHACDL members. New members with email addresses are automatically enrolled in the listserv unless they opt out. Members wishing to join can apply on the web by clicking here or by typing the following address in their browser: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/NHACDL-LIST.html . Members may also contact either of the listserv administrators, Andy Schulman (ASchulman@gstss.com) and our executive director Katherine Cooper (katherine@nhacdl.org).
Visiting The List Archive: Our list is powered and hosted by a third party vendor, LSoft, Inc., which has set up a special website for the list. The list's web address is provided above and can be accessed by clicking here. To visit the archive, go to that website and follow the directions. Members will need a special password for the list. However, members can assign themselves passwords which the list will automatically send to the email address at which they receive messages. (Please note that the listserv archive and the NHACDL website have completely unrelated password protection programs. )
Account Maintenance: Listserv members can change the address at which they receive messages, change the manner in which they receive messages and make other changes to their account in three ways. Members can visit the listserv's website by clicking here or typing the address provided above. Alternatively, members can contact the listserv administrators, Andy Schulman (ASchulman@gstss.com) and our executive director Katherine Cooper (katherine@nhacdl.org) who may then make the changes for them. Finally, the truly industrious can visit the website, download a list of counterintuitive commands and modify their account by email. Those wishing to use the latter method should not plan on doing much else that day.
Members can modify their accounts so that instead of receiving messages all day long they receive a single daily or weekly email. Members can also choose to stop receiving emails but continue to view messages on the web at their leisure. Additionally, members can modify the "headers" of their messages and make other minor changes.
If There Are Too Many Messages: Members occasionally complain about the volume of listserv emails. Members who find the number of messages oppressive can find relief in several ways short of leaving the list altogether. They can reconfigure their email programs to automatically place all listserv messages in a special folder or mailbox. This is one way to keep listserv messages out of one's regular mailbox. Members can also deactivate their email program's notification function for listserv messages. Alternatively, members can choose to receive a single daily or weekly index of messages. A final alternative is to change one's account settings to eliminate email but still allow access to the list archive on the web.
Leaving The List/Unsubscribing: Members who wish to leave the list may do so by sending the message "signoff NHACDL-list" to LISTSERV@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM. Alternatively, members may unsubscribe on the web by clicking here. Members who prefer interacting with human beings may unsubscribe by contacting either of the list administrators. Members are discouraged from leaving the listserv and, if the reason they want to leave is that the volume of messages is too large, members are encouraged to take some of the less drastic measures described above.
Don't Post Attorney/Client Privileged Information To The List: Anything that is posted to the list will be sent to approximately 250 attorneys. Some messages obtain much wider secondary circulation even though republication without the author's consent is forbidden. Therefore, posting attorney/client privileged information to the list is inconsistent with the Rules of Professional Responsibility and common sense.
Don't Republish Messages: Although listserv messages are not privileged or legally protected, they are intended for circulation solely to NHACDL members. Our terms of use *forbid* members refrain from circulating or republishing listserv messages to third parties without the express consent of the author. The open exchange of information among NHACDL members will be chilled if listserv messages are copied or published to unintended recipients. Frequent or serious violations of this policy may result in expulsion from the list.
Don't Assume That Messages Are Private: Notwithstanding our terms of use, listserv messages have been copied and shared with inappropriate third parties. Several years ago a member saw an email that he sent to the listserv posted on a prosecutor's bulletin board. Speak freely but please use some common sense. Don't put anything in a listserv message that would prejudice a client or cause embarrassment if the message was later republished (in violation of our terms of use) to a judge, court clerk, prosecutor, PPO, newspaper, blog or website.
For this reason, the listserv may not be the most appropriate forum to discuss the practices and eccentricities of particular participants in the criminal justice system in New Hampshire. Members in need of this type of information are encouraged ask knowledgeable list members to reply to them privately. This practice can be very effective because list members with pertinent information are much more likely to share that information one-on-one than to post it to the entire membership. It is advisable to put one's private email address in the body of a message requesting private responses.
Don't Defame People Or Invade Their Privacy: The listserv is not moderated. Messages are immediately sent to all members of list by computer without any human intervention. Therefore, NHACDL does not take any responsibility for the content of messages. NHACDL is not responsible for the statements and viewpoints expressed in any message. The facts, views and opinions expressed in each message belong soley to the author.
Our terms of use forbid defamation, e.g. the deliberate, reckless or negligent posting of false statements of fact about particular, identifiable individuals or businesses that could adversely affect their reputation. Statements of opinion are not defamatory. Since all list members are lawyers, they are presumed to know the elements of defamation and no further explanation is provided here.
Our terms of use also forbid invasion of privacy, e.g. (a) posting information that places an identifiable natural person in a false light, (b) posting private facts about the personal life of a private person, (c) posting personal information about a natural person, such as a home phone number or social security number, that could lead to an intrusion on that person's seclusion, and (d) commercial appropriation of another person's name or likeness.
Sending a defamatory message, or a message that invades another's privacy may result in expulsion from the list.
Don't Commit Fraud Or Use The Listserv In Furtherance Of A Crime, Tort Or Ethical Violation: Anybody who is surprised at this provision of our terms of use should not be practicing law in the first place. Explusion from the list will probably be the least serious consequence of a violation.
Off-Topic Posts: While we do not have a formal policy prohibiting off-topic posts, this is only because the number of such posts is manageable. The purpose of listserv is to allow criminal defense attorneys to discuss issues related to criminal practice. If the number of unrelated posts becomes excessive, this purpose will be ill served and we will be forced to promulgate a rule.
Ask For Private Responses When Appropriate/Don't Clutter The List: The listserv generates a lot of messages. While some of these are incredibly useful, many others should not be sent to all 200-odd members of the list. Several NHACDL members have quit the list due to the large volume of junk messages. Other members don't bother to sift through their messages in the first place. Therefore, the list works best when unnecessary messages kept to a minimum. The following rules of "netiquette" apply:
A. Never, never send a "thank you" note to the list. If you wish to thank the individuals who responded to your message, respond to their private email addresses.
B. Ask for private responses to messages requesting information that is not even arguably useful to the list membership as a whole. For example, if you are looking to refer a case to a good criminal attorney in Honolulu, please ask for a private response. If you are responding to such a request do so privately, rather than to the list, even if a private response was not requested.
C. Don't respond to messages unless you have first checked to see if others have responded first. If they have, only respond if you have something new to say or if you believe that it makes sense for more than one person to say the same thing.
D. Put informative information in the subject line.
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