Dianna Abdala (b. 1981) is a young Boston-area lawyer who received internet notoriety in early 2006 as a result of a curt email exchange with a would-be employer.

Abdala graduated from Boston University in 2001 after just three years of study, as she had done at Agawam (Mass.) High School in 1998. She then graduated from Suffolk University School of Law in 2004 and passed the Massachusetts bar exam in 2005. She interviewed with, and was offered a position at, a small criminal defense law firm started by William Korman, a former Massachusetts state prosecutor.

Both parties agree that during her second interview with the firm, Korman indicated that the initially-offered salary would have to be reduced, because the firm had decided to hire two associates instead of one. According to Korman, Abdala accepted the position with his firm, despite the lesser salary, and agreed on a start date of Wednesday, February 15 2006]]. Abdala states that she did not accept the agreement, and instead had to reconsider. However, on the evening of Friday, February 3, Abdala rejected Korman's offer via e-mail and voice mail, indicating that the salary was inadequate.

The email correspondence that followed was forwarded around the world, eventually becoming part of blogs and making mainstream news headlines. As of mid-February 2006, CNN, ABC News, Nightline, AOL News, Yahoo, and the Boston Globe had featured stories on the exchange.

Aftermath

The e-mail chain, which Korman forwarded to his friends, quickly found its way around the globe, prompting young lawyers worldwide to contact Korman, some forwarding resumes and others apologizing on Abdala's behalf. Korman has since hired another associate for the position.

Abdala, the daughter of a Springfield, Mass., attorney, indicated that she supports herself by liquidating assets from a trust account from time to time, and took over a year off after law school before responding to Korman's job posting.

Abdala claimed that Korman's response to her repudiation was a ploy to increase visibility for his own law practice, and to defame Abdala within the local legal community. Abdala reported Korman to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers for "unethical conduct," though the basis for her claim was unclear and the Board has yet to take any action. Abdala has since started her own criminal defense practice in Boston, indicating that she would do court-appointed criminal defense work, as well as accept private criminal and civil cases. In late February 2006, Abdala told the Wall Street Journal that she did not care much about the incident, saying "I'm more worried about whether I've left my hair iron on than this little email exchange" and that an apology for her words "will never happen."

The electronic exchange between Abdala and Korman became part of a series of similar e-mail gaffes by public individuals. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, FEMA director Michael Brown's e-mail jokes about being "a fashion god" were made public; disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff sent an e-mail calling his clients "the stupidest idiots in the land"; and the executive of the drug company which manufactured Phen-Fen e-mailed: "Do I have to look forward to spending my waning years writing checks to fat people worried about a silly lung problem?" Following these publicity fiascos, both Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld indicated during recent congressional hearings that they do not use e-mail.

Email thread

<table style="border-style:solid;border-width:2px;border-color:black" align=center width=80%><tr><td>
<nowiki>-----Original Message-----</nowiki><br>
From: Dianna Abdala<br>
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:23 p.m.<br>
To: William A. Korman<br>
Subject: Thank you

Dear Attorney Korman,

At this time, I am writing to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer.

After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living in light of the work I would be doing for you. I have decided instead to work for myself, and reap 100% of the benefits that I sow.

Thank you for the interviews.

Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.

<nowiki>-----Original Message-----</nowiki><br>
From: William A. Korman<br>
To: Dianna Abdala<br>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 p.m.<br>
Subject: RE: Thank you<br>

Dianna --

Given that you had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date), I am surprised that you chose an e-mail and a 9:30 p.m. voicemail message to convey this information to me. It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional. Indeed, I did rely upon your acceptance by ordering stationary and business cards with your name, reformatting a computer and setting up both internal and external e-mails for you here at the office. While I do not quarrel with your reasoning, I am extremely disappointed in the way this played out. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Will Korman

<nowiki>-----Original Message-----</nowiki><br>
From: Dianna Abdala<br>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 p.m.<br>
To: William A. Korman<br>
Subject: Re: Thank you<br>

A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so.

Again, thank you.

<nowiki>-----Original Message-----</nowiki><br>
From: William A. Korman<br>
To: Dianna Abdala<br>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 p.m.<br>
Subject: RE: Thank you<br>

Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?

<nowiki>-----Original Message-----</nowiki><br>
From: Dianna Abdala<br>
To: William A. Korman<br>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:28 p.m.<br>
Subject: Re: Thank you<br>

bla bla bla<br><br>

</td></tr></table>

External links

E-MAILERS GET TESTY, AND HUNDREDS READ EVERY WORD&ext_theme=bg&pubcode=BG Boston Globe, 2 E-Mailers Get Testy, and Hundreds Read Every Word, 16 February 2006, Sacha Pfeiffer

Wall Street Journal, Cubicle Culture: Infamous Email Writers Aren't Always Killing Their Careers After All, 21 February 2006, Jared Sandberg

Law Fuel article