Should the Role of Corporate Lawyers in the Court of Public Opinion Be Expanded?
University of Miami Law Professor Michele DeStefano Beardslee has just released an interesting study on the role of corporate lawyers in managing public controversies surrounding litigation.
Given today’s savvy media culture, “no comment” is no longer a viable strategy. Nevertheless, there are small indications that some corporate lawyers are adapting to the new environment by helping their clients manage the public relations impact of their legal controversies. However, up to now there has been little systematic evidence gathered on this new trend and its implications.
Of course this begs the question, are the attorneys really the person best situated to be managing the public relations elements of the strategy?
As a general rule, attorneys are focused on a much narrower set of risks. Getting a process established where the entire range of interests can be debated internally in an informed manner, by a group with the right skill sets, is key to getting the best result for the business in crisis.
In any given crises, there may legal risks, reputational risks, business risks, and the risk of of drawing additional scrutiny from legislators or regulators, all which should be factored into the strategic decision making. Legal factors must be considered, but sometimes the perfect legal strategy-too narrowly defined–needlessly exposes the business on other fronts.
This same problem is magnified when the crisis is happening outside the formalized processes of a court case where instead a business has drawn or is likely to draw the scrutiny of a regulatory body or the Congress. In deciding on a strategy, the key is to get the right skills sets in the room, where people who understand the entire array of tools that are available in managing the crisis can weigh in.
A study of these broader questions, that didn’t necessarily start from the presumption that this responsibility rests solely in the hands of corporate lawyers, would produce more informative guidance for business decision makers.
I recall a business seminar I once attended on public relations. One of the first rules was “Don’t let attorney’s write your press releases!”
I couldn’t agree more. Among the professionals I have worked with, the two that were the worst writers were: 1) Doctors; 2) Lawyers. (With the exception of John Grisham and Michael Crichton).
The bottom line is, lawyers are good at “lawyering,” doctors are good at “doctoring,” so why can’t they leave professional communications to “communications professionals”?
Many of the more astute law firms actually employ in-house PR staff, and include them on the legal defense team…smaller firms will contract with outside firms to provide this service. Although it may be somewhat unfortunate, I agree that many cases are won or lost in “the court of public opinion.” If an attorney is to zealously guard the best interests of his client in a high-profile case, he or she would be well advised to enlist the services of an individual who knows the ins and outs of that arena.
Comment by Clemo — November 25, 2009 @ 4:55 pm