Helix Law estimates it has clawed back more than 6,000 hours, equivalent to three working years, by telling its 20 staff not to fill colleagues’ inboxes with back-and-forth messages.

The Bighton based commercial law firm now reports average fees earned per employee of up to 87% more than similarly sized firms, which it puts down to the ban.

Jonathan Waters, partner at Helix Law, explained the move: ‘No one likes receiving unnecessary emails, but we’ve demonstrated that it has a real impact on productivity.

‘Our practice runs on a model which prioritises efficiency and forward thinking, and lawyers endlessly firing emails across the office is neither of those things.

‘We took the decision several years ago to completely ban internal emails. The team at Helix Law were fully on board from day one, and it has paid off. This is proof that even a minor change can have a huge impact on culture and results.’

To stay in touch, the law firm insists all staff use its dedicated task management software, which groups together cases and cuts down on time trawling through email chains.

This eliminates the problem of ‘inbox fatigue’, where workers feel overwhelmed by a continual bombardment of emails, detracting from critical work and reducing productivity.

Waters added: ‘We know the average office worker receives over 100 emails a day. Only some require a response, but all of them sap decision-making capacity.

‘By eliminating the problem, our lawyers have more mental clarity, greater focus, and an improved sense of wellbeing at work.’

In addition to its email policy, Helix Law uses legal AI tools typically priced towards top city firms – which managers say is worth the spend.

Similarly, simple software which turns keyboard shortcuts into commonly used strands of legal text saves an estimated 50 working days a year across its team.

The streamlined approach speeds up its work on complex litigation cases, enabling a much higher turnover of cases and creating leverage against larger city firms for a lower cost to clients, the firm said.

Fees earned per employee presently average around £150,000 per year at Helix Law, compared to £80,000 to £120,000 for other mid-sized firms in the region.