Keep all the nasty emails...to use later for revenge maybe?

 Keep nasty emails from jerk lawyers and jerk humans. Keep all of them.

It's not high tech, but it can be useful for later litigation. 

You can’t “kill all the lawyers,” but there is a thing called a fate worse than death. That is humiliation…through description. And some people give you those descriptions in their emails.

I know a ton of nice lawyers and a few--more than I'd care to--abusive lawyers. The lawyers I can't stand don't live anywhere around here. If I'm lucky, I won't ever have to see them again, but they are out there...lurking in the shadows. This raises the question: how do you deal with bullies you work with?

Like all great lawyer answers/non-answers, it depends on the situation. If you work for a bully, then it is difficult to fight back. Fortunately, I am a partner, and I don't have to allow someone to be nasty to me. While I am respectful, I can fight back.

It wasn't always that way. I worked for a firm in another state, and I won't name the firm. But one of the people I worked with happened to be a real POS. Let's call him "Jerry." Well...Jerry didn't have what we call in the South "charm." If there was an opposite of charm, Jerry bathed in it each morning while drinking it in.

I won't mince words: Jerry was (and still is I'm sure, assuming he didn’t consume himself with self-hatred in a conflagration of spite) a raging a******.

I had a job a while back with Jerry. It was largely remote. Jerry got real comfortable firing off missives from his hovel. He fought in the way only gallant key-board-warriors can. He dwelt in his own delusions only his lonely mind could conceive. I say this because—assuming I didn’t trip over him because I couldn’t see him (he was impish)—he would NEVER have spoken that way to my face. He didn’t have the guts. And that’s how many of these key-board-warriors are.

But…this job required me to communicate mainly by email. Jerry said many, many sharp things via email all of which I still have in my possession. Of course I kept copies. Jerry should have known this. I'm a litigator--he wasn't really--so of course I keep things. I kept everything. I still keep everything anyone sends. I also have a Master of Science in Library Science from UNC-Chapel Hill. Mess with librarians at your peril.

Describing Jerry exposes the limitations of the English language. But Jerry is the kind of guy who searches for ways to delete excess spaces in documents using AI. Make any inference you wish from that precious pearl of wisdom about our villain, Jerry, dear reader.

But…he forgets about what he says in emails. In very a Nixonian way, he forgot the “tape is running.” I’m assuming many people have kept their email correspondence with Jerry.

You never know when it will be useful. It’s a treasure trove. Bilbo stole Smog’s treasure, and here it’s being given to you. Take it. Feel no guilt.

I realize telling someone to f-off may not be an option. I did that in a nice way to Jerry, and then I left. So, that's not likely a solution.

Emails are key evidence in employment law claims.

Keep all the evidence of it. You never know when it might be useful. As for Jerry, the statute of limitations still hasn't expired. It may support claims for a hostile work environment, potential ADA claims if you are disabled, and wrongful termination claims.

Unfortunately nasty emails are on the rise, and they are bad for your health.

Your best bet is to ignore them as much as possible if you can while you keep good records.