Lawyers will frequently find themselves tasked with sending reminder, follow-up or check-in emails to opposing counsel, in an act known as “pinging”. A masterwork of passive-aggression, the well-crafted opposing counsel ping email must simultaneously cast blame (“with reference to the comments expected several days ago”), convey extreme urgency (“please provide us with an update as soon as possible, as this matter is extraordinarily time-sensitive”) and highlight your own unimpeachable responsiveness (“we will revise immediately upon receipt and are happy to have a call to discuss at any time of the day or night”). Combining these three elements will often cause the recipient of the ping to respond rashly with a pledge to get the requested item to you in a timeframe they cannot possibly meet, thereby exposing themselves to another brutal pinging in the near future.