Today, many lawyers change law firms and addresses with some
regularity. This necessitates changing the law firm’s Internet Service
Provider (ISP) and the lawyer’s e-mail address as well. Now, lawyers
who are members of MSBA may keep their e-mail address intact when they move
or change firms. Through MSBA’s new e-mail forwarding service, their
e-mail will be forwarded to them automatically, saving the time-consuming process
of changing the e-mail address, then informing their clients and everyone else
of the change.
This is only one of the many advantages of MSBA’s new
exclusive E-mail Forwarding Member Service, which has been approved by MSBA’s
Board of Governors. MSBA members will no longer have to change their e-mail
address when they change ISPs, they won’t lose touch with all of their
e-mail contacts and, for small firm and solo practitioners who may have a somewhat
casual-sounding ISP e-mail address, MSBA’s service adds a touch of professionalism;
MDSTATEBAR.COM offers a more professional, legal identity.
MSBA’s new e-mail forwarding service is the latest
in a long line of exclusive MSBA membership services and benefits. The Association’s “MDSTATEBAR.COM” e-mail
address offers members the opportunity to change e-mail addresses without missing
a single message. It furnishes a permanent alias which all members may use
as a conduit to their final e-mail destination. It offers the advantage of
branding to smaller law practitioners.
“While many attorneys now have their own registered
law firm domains, many others do not,” reports Paul V. Carlin, MSBA’s
Executive Director.
“MDSTATEBAR.COM provides a professional and branded MSBA name for their
e-mail. We believe being linked to an MSBA e-mail domain name adds value and
gives our members continuity. Plus, this new system is free to all MSBA members.”
MDSTATEBAR.COM is not a true e-mail account. It is an automatic
forwarding service. Members do not have to worry about security or unauthorized
access to their messages. Nothing is saved or stored on MSBA equipment. Our
member’s privacy is of the utmost importance and cannot be compromised
because messages are never available to anyone but that individual member.
The application resides in a secure area of MSBA’s website and requires
members to authenticate by logging in prior to making any changes.
“First and foremost, all of our members need to understand
that this is an e-mail forwarding service,” continues Carlin. “MSBA
will not store any messages; it will simply pass them along to the members.
This e-mail forwarding service should be very attractive to attorneys who are
changing their locations or firms and to new admittees or law students who
are changing from their law school domain name.”
MSBA’s E-mail Forwarding Member Service is simple to
use. Members need only provide an alias (unique and never reused if changed)
and an e-mail address. Anything sent to the alias@mdstatebar.com will be forwarded
to the e-mail address. For example, if configured accordingly, mail sent to
jqlawyer@mdstatebar.com will be forwarded to jqlawyer@aol.com.
Members have the ability to update, disable or enable their
alias whenever they want. Once an alias is changed, for security purposes,
the original alias is no longer available. This ensures that mail will never
be redirected to the wrong person. To sign up for this new exclusive member
benefit, you must:
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Be a MSBA member in good standing
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Have an existing e-mail account
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Have an active e-mail address on file with the MSBA.
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Have a login and password to our MSBA E-mail Forwarding
website.
MSBA’s E-mail Forwarding Member Service is the newest
of MSBA’s array of membership benefits. In recent months, MSBA has added
a new Postini® anti-virus e-mail spam-filtering tool to block junk e-mail,
a magazine subscription service so members can order and renew magazine subscriptions,
an office equipment purchase plan and a special plan for printed stationery,
engraved and printed letterhead, envelopes, business cards and other stationery
products, all at low discounted rates exclusively for MSBA members. A complete
list may be found online at www.msba.org,
under Member Benefits, Vendors.
For further information on MSBA’s E-mail Forwarding
Member Service, refer to MSBA’s website, or contact Lawrence Hicks at
(410) 685-7878, ext. 3010, or lhicks@msba.org.
