On the record...

Are you following the courtroom battle between contractor Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge regarding Wembley Stadium? You might have noticed that emails are being used in evidence.

Multiplex's UK head Matt Stagg had sent one to project manager Ashley Muldoon which said: "plan b: CBUK fixed and fuck them later?" Not very professional.

What Stagg perhaps had not really thought about was that emails, though they seem ephemeral, are actually quite permanent. Big firms generally back up their mail systems - and that means people can access the archive.

So now seems like a good time to suggest our top 10 golden rules for writing emails.

1 Don't be disparaging about a third party and certainly don't make any remarks along the lines of Stagg's. You never know who will read them at a later date.

2 Be formal. Just because it is an email does not mean that it shouldn't be properly laid out, with a greeting and a signature. The use of mobile phone text message abbreviations such as ‘c u l8r' or sending smiley faces : ) is not recommended. And remember to use the spellchecker.

3 Never send in anger. It is easy to fire off a cross response but you might regret it later. If you had been sending a letter there would have been time to cool down. Always read your email before you send it and if it is a cross one, leave it a while.

4 Don't send huge attachments that use up people's hard disk or, worse, halt their email system altogether. If there is a company or project intranet or website, look at putting documents there and including a link in your email.

5 Try not to copy the world and his dog into your message just to cover your back. You don't like it when people do it to you.

6 Be concise. Emails are not for rambling. And put a helpful title in the subject field so that people can sort their emails easily.

7 Reply promptly... but that doesn't mean immediately. Within 24 hours is OK, even if it is just to say: "I got your message and will send information later in the week." Set one or two times in the day (maybe morning and late afternoon) when you tackle your inbox, otherwise you will be constantly distracted from what you are doing by new mail.

8 Don't be tempted to read spam, even if you are unhappy with the size of your penis. Just delete these messages or they will eat up your time.

9 Do not forward dodgy images (see point 1)

10 Try a phone. These handy pieces of equipment can slash communication times in half. And no one will be able to access the records… cm