Working together, these two can make a crisis management dream team. Apart, well, watchout!
Getting pairing legal and PR for crisis management teams to work together is a frequent topic on our blogs for a reason. Together, these two can help craft the ideal response to just about any situation, but if they wind up at odds your entire organization could be hurt as a result
That’s why, when we saw Gil Rudawsky’s PR Daily article on qualities attornies and PR pros value in each other, we knew it was a must-share. Here’s just part of Gil’s list:
Qualities an in-house lawyer values in an external PR firm:
Experience: Having a member of the PR team who has worked as a reporter was invaluable in translating the process. What was the reporter looking for? What would he accept from us?
Responsiveness: A media crisis is a 24/7 grind. Members of the media appreciate getting immediate responses to questions and issues. (It is also a two-way street.)
Qualities a PR firm values in corporate legal counsel:
No legalese: Save legal language for pleadings, not the media or communication to non-lawyers. In a crisis, a good lawyer will know less is more for messaging.
Values PR: Understanding the proactive and reactive role of public relations, particularly during a crisis, is valuable, and counsel knows it can preserve or help rebuild a company’s reputation. The court of public opinion is just as valuable as the actual courtroom.
Gil names several more values you’d like each side to have in the article, so give it a look!
The best attorneys and PR pros will work as a team, ensuring moves from PR don’t put your organization on shaky legal ground while also being careful to take measures like double checking wording and tone of legal filings to ensure they don’t stir up negative sentiment among your stakeholders.
If your legal and PR teams can’t work as a cohesive unit, you’re in trouble, especially when it you get shoved into the high-pressure, major consequences environment that accompanies any situation requiring crisis management. If you can’t get the two to cooperate you need to figure a way work out the kinks before you hit a rough patch, or start looking to replace one or the other before it’s too late.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]