Communication Tools

Brand protection in litigation is often of more importance than winning the litigation. Corporate counsel and outside counsel must understand the impact of litigation on brand protection. They must always be on the lookout for what threatens the brand.

The mistake many lawyers make is that they think they are driving the bus when, in fact, they should be sitting in the middle of the bus, alongside human resources, government and community relations, investor relations, and communications – because each of those team members plays a crucial role in brand protection. Lawyers are critically important to the team, but they are part of the team and not its exclusive driver.

In-house lawyers like Steven Hantler, assistant general counsel for government and regulation at DaimlerChrysler, know all about brand protection. As he has said, “We expect our lawyers to understand some fundamental business principles, not the least of which is that the damage to a company's reputation after a case can far exceed, in actual dollars, the costs of the lawsuit itself.”