Lawyers do battle in courts of law. We do battle in the court of public opinion. These parallel efforts are won more frequently when the two forces work in a fine-tuned, coordinated manner.
Litigation-Related Public Relations:
Attorneys are finding it increasingly useful to employ crisis/issues management and public relations consultants when litigation is or may be involved with a case. Clients, too, favor a team approach that embraces important complementary disciplines. Public Relations efforts usually concentrate on:
- Evaluation and analysis of the public relations liability and damage exposure that could result from the potential litigation.
- Evaluation and development of public relations defenses or proactive tactics that may be employed prior to litigation.
- Helping to anticipate public, employee and/or stockholder reaction to various witnesses, experts and evidence, as well as the case in general.
- Analyzing the ability of parties on either side of litigation to effectively respond to the public relations demands.
- Developing a planned response system to deal with the anticipated issues and vulnerabilities.
- Review of draft legal documents that may end up in the public record, with an eye toward identifying issues or wording that could be harmful from a public relations perspective.
- Where appropriate, helping to intentionally generate public attention for a potential future legal matter.
- Handling overall media relations activities relating to the litigation.
Portions excerpted from "Know Your Opposition" by Rene Henry copyright 2001, and Crisis Manager Newsletter copyright 2009 by Bernstein Crisis Management (www.bersteingcrisismanagement.com)
More tips will be included in our next newsletter.
Don Martin Public Affairs: Issues Management, Communications Strategy, Media Relations, Crisis Management, Government Affairs, Litigation Support. |
