Articles by Levick Experts

Law firms have other problems. One is client confidentiality. Often, firms simply cannot provide the press with exculpatory statements about themselves, because it may not be in their client’s best interest to do so.

Another is the complexity of the subject. When the New York-based law firm of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler was sued by the government in the early 1990s for its representation of S&L kingpin Charles Keating, a credible point was made to the effect that the firm’s work was well within the boundaries of zealous advocacy in a regulatory context, but that it would have exhausted the resources of the firm to prove it in court.

Try putting that into a sound byte for a newspaper!

Yet a fourth problem firms face is the explosive effect of economic disclosure. You’ll recall that American Lawyer publishes firms’ per partner profits every year. Mismanage how you handle even somewhat negative numbers when talking to the legal press, and you may encourage defections from your firm or cause a palace revolt.

Law firm cultures vary from instance to instance. Their institutional proclivities, in terms of media management, are not defined by practice area or size. One defense practice will not, and often cannot, handle the media in the same way that another such practice can. Law firm media has less to do with the kind of legal work the firm does, and more to do with the personalities who manage the firm and the attitudes of those who don’t. (See Kimberley Heart’s sidebar comments, page 51, apropos of adopting crisis management to distinct institutional cultures.)

That said, there are widely applicable best practices that law firms should adopt in their media relations. Such crisis management techniques are crafted with a flat organizational environment in mind, as well as sensitive, non-negotiable client concerns and challenging marketplace variables. Here are some guidelines for handling the media.

Designate a single spokesperson

Law firms have a particularly acute need to designate crisis spokespersons. To the greatest extent possible, everyone else should be prohibited from talking to the press during a crisis. Lawyers can, and should, talk to the press about legal and business trends affecting their practice. But mandate and enforce strict centralization on matters like the firm’s economic performance, partnership disputes, or, really, anything t hat affects the institution qua institution.

Leslie Corwin, a partner at New York’s Greenberg Traurig who often represents parties to partnership disputes, offers advice that is directly responsive to the entropy that can destroy a law firm during crisis. “The partnership agreement itself should contain a crisis clause that assigns exclusive authority to a single person, usually the managing partner, to speak for the firm,” he says.

Define the crisis

The partnership agreement should also define a crisis. For example, it can specify that any lawsuit filed by or against the firm itself constitutes a crisis and triggers the single-spokesperson rule. Any partner defection can be stipulated as doing the same.

Remember, lawyers revere the written word. If it’s in black and white, it’s a contractual obligation. As such, a well-wrought clause on crisis can decisively change the firm’s culture, from one where partners talk too much, to one where they don’t.

Train the spokesperson

The managing partner, who is usually the spokesperson, should be trained to deal with the press. (Formal media training is available from outside sources.) Interview skills are not natural. They are developed—and they should be as basic a part of the managing partner’s job description as the ability to read a financial statement.

Contact key audiences

At the same time as you, the managing partner, effectively debar your partners from speaking to the media during crises, you must respect them with constant updates on press inquiries and potential PR liabilities. Don’t let them read it first in the newspapers! After all, their reputations are at issue, not just the institution’s. If they feel blindsided, the negative effects on the firm will probably be worse than the crisis itself.

The other key audience is the client. By keeping clients abreast of developments, you manage their expectations, shockproof them from sudden revelations, and address any concerns they may have about your ability to continue doing their work.

Enlist third parties

The managing partner should take the client contacts further, if possible, and ask for their public support. When Kaye, Scholer’s crisis began snowballing, major clients like Texaco issued statements of confidence. It was the exact opposite of what happened to Arthur Andersen when major clients like Delta Air Lines began deserting the firm. Today, Kaye, Scholer is still a leading New York law firm.

Use veteran advisors

Just as in litigation, you don’t want to have a fool for a media crisis client. Experienced media advisors know more about the press and they should have personal relationships with many of the reporters who are calling. They are dispassionate and will help make decisions that are not self-defensively emotional.

Take the initiative

The toughest thing for a law firm, which often abhors internal press attention of any sort, is to proactively tell its story before a crisis goes public or as it begins to do so—to let the press know, for example, that the firm is shifting away from a certain practice area and that, as a result, all sides are in agreement that recent departures by practitioners in that area are in everybody’s interest.

Reporters are less likely to take the most negative slant if they see that you’re unafraid, even happy, to discuss a situation. You also get the first shot at making your point—the investigation is without merit, or the firm is still strong despite an office closing down.

Finally, being proactive differentiates you. Reporters are often impatient with the institutional reticence characteristic of many law firms. By contrast, a no-nonsense approach shows that your firm is well run and its partners are decisive.

Richard S. Levick, Esq., rlevick@levick.com, is President of Levick Strategic Communications, which has handled the media for more than 150 law firms world-wide. His next book is Stop the Presses: The Litigation PR Desk Reference, to be released this November.