Tag: PR

Protecting Privilege when Communicating with PR Consultants

In high-profile cases in 2001[1] and 2003,[2] federal courts recognized exceptions to the third-party waiver rule for privileged communications shared with public relations (PR) consultants. Since then, courts have repeatedly been tasked with determining the status of PR firms for purposes of asserted waivers of attorney-client privilege and deciding whether Kovel[3]or the third-party waiver exceptions recognized in In re Copper or In re Grand Jury Subpoenas apply. Recently, multiple courts have rendered decisions on whether a third-party PR consultant falls within the scope of the privilege by virtue of one of the exceptions. These decisions have demonstrated that, as of 2020, the standards for these doctrines remain fluid, if not illusive. By contrast, disclosure of attorney work product to third parties does not so readily waive protection. Below we review recent cases and offer best practices to maintain privilege and work-product protection.

Third-Party Waiver Exception Doctrines Applied to PR Firms

The attorney-client privilege protects communications made in confidence with counsel for the purpose of legal advice, but the privilege is waived if the communication is shared with a third party. Starting in 2001, courts applied two developing exceptions to the third-party waiver rule to PR firms. The court in In re Copper Market Antitrust Litigation[4] held that a PR firm was the functional equivalent of an employee such that the privilege was not waived when counsel shared communications with the firm.[5] In doing so, the court recognized that the PR firm was within the scope of privilege as defined by Upjohn Co. v. United States.[6] Two years later, the court in In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated March 24, 2003,[7] applied the Kovel[8]third-party waiver exception to retention of a PR firm and held that the communications of a grand jury target with that PR firm did not waive the privilege because counsel needed to engage in frank discussions of the facts and strategies.

Decisions Finding No Waiver

In NECA-IBEW Pension Trust Fund v. Precision Castparts Corp.,[9] the plaintiffs in a securities action moved to compel documents listed on the privilege log drafted by counsel for Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC) and shared with AMG, PCC’s PR firm, for comments. The defendant asserted that the documents were privileged, arguing that AMG was the functional equivalent of an employee such that disclosure did not constitute a waiver.[10] The court agreed:

AMG is the functional equivalent of an employee under Upjohn and Graff. PCC retained AMG in August 2014 to provide “public relations counsel and other strategic communications services.” AMG’s retainer was not a test run, as the relationship was established by the time Berkshire and PCC began talks in March 2015 and was apparently maintained throughout the acquisition. Under the terms of its engagement, AMG was required to “take instructions from [PCC] and . . . consult with other members of [PCC] management and with [PCC’s] legal and financial advisors as necessary, while PCC promised to “provide AMG with the information and resources necessary to carry out [PCC’s] instructions.”[11]

Significantly, in addition to serving as a functional equivalent of an employee, the court found that AMG was clearly receiving “legal advice from corporate counsel to guide its work for the company.”

In Stardock Systems v. Reiche,[12] a federal trademark action, Reiche’s counsel retained PR firm Singer to provide PR counseling. Reiche withheld communications between its counsel and Singer as privileged.[13] Citing In re Grand Subpoenas,[14] Reiche asserted that Singer had been retained to help present a balanced picture and that the withheld communications related to legal advice about the appropriate response to the lawsuit and making related public statements.

The court found that Reiche’s counsel hired Singer for the purposes of litigation strategy and that the communications between Singer and counsel pertained to “giving and receiving legal advice about the appropriate response to the lawsuit and making related public statements.”[15] The court cited specific examples of privilege log entries that all “relate[d] to Defendants’ counsel’s litigation strategy in dealing with the present suit.”[16] The court also held that the attorney work-product doctrine had not been waived because the work product shared was intended to be kept confidential.

Cases Where Courts Found Waiver

Other courts, however, have reached different conclusions. Following the premiere of “Blackfish,” a film critical of SeaWorld, SeaWorld and its counsel retained two “crisis” PR firms to work with counsel in developing a legal strategy, including considering potential litigation. In Anderson v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc.,[17] the PR firms produced documents regarding their work with SeaWorld, but SeaWorld redacted some documents and withheld others based on attorney-client privilege and attorney work product.

The court, relying on Behunin v. Superior Court, the only California decision addressing the issue as applied to PR firms,[18] held the standard of “reasonably necessary” had not been met:

[I]n order for disclosure to a third party to be “reasonably necessary” for an attorney’s purpose, and thus not to effect a waiver of privilege, it is not enough that the third party weighs in on legal strategy. Instead, the third party must facilitate communication between the attorney and client. Here, the evidence submitted and documents lodged for in camera review show at most that SeaWorld and its counsel sought advice from public relations firms to better predict the public reaction to legal activities and other efforts it considered in response to Blackfish, and to determine how best to present such activities to the public and other entities.[19]

The court rejected SeaWorld’s argument that its PR consultants were functionally equivalent to employees, stating that, even assuming that the remaining elements of the test were satisfied, “there is no evidence that any such consultant “possessed information possessed by no one else at the company,’” [20] one of the factors established by In re Bieter Company,[21] which established the functional equivalent doctrine in the Eighth Circuit.

However, the court held that disclosure of the attorneys’ work product to the PR firms had not waived work-product protection because there can be no waiver “unless it has substantially increased the opportunity for the adverse party to obtain the information.”[22]

In Universal Standard Inc. v. Target Corp.,[23] a trademark infringement and unfair competition case, Target sought to compel production of emails sent among Universal Standard, its attorneys and its PR firm, BrandLink, arguing that privilege had been waived. Universal argued that BrandLink was the functional equivalent of an employee, hired to serve as Universal’s “public relations arm” with independent decision-making authority. The court found no evidence of that, however; the only specific evidence was that BrandLink would monitor and respond to inquiries directed to a PR email address, duties unrelated to legal advice. Further, BrandLink had no independent authority to issue a press release — the email in dispute suggested the Universal overruled BrandLink’s recommendation.

Further, BrandLink did not work exclusively for Universal and provided services for more than a dozen other brands:

It is of no great significance that, as Universal Standard argues, BrandLink has “particular and unique expertise in the area of public relations, whereas Universal Standard does not.” Or that BrandLink “works closely with Universal Standard’s owners on a continuous basis regarding PR issues. To the contrary, the evidence presented by the parties “contradict[s] the picture of [BrandLink] as so fully integrated into the [Universal Standard] hierarchy as to be a de facto employee of [Universal Standard]”[24]

The court also rejected the assertion that the In re Grand Jury Subpoenas exception applied because there was no evidence that the purpose of the communications with BrandLink was to assist counsel in providing legal advice.[25]

Finally, the court in Pipeline Productions, Inc. v. Madison Cos.[26]reached a mixed result. In this case arising out of a failed music festival, the plaintiff moved to compel documents listed on the defendants’ privilege log that involved two third-party contractors — Suzanne Land, hired to negotiate related transactions, and Marcee Rondan, a PR consultant. The court found that Land was the functional equivalent of an employee, citing affidavits from the defendant:

Madison submitted a detailed factual record that establishes Ms. Land was an authorized representative for purposes of seeking and receiving the legal advice at issue. Mr. Gordon’s affidavit explains that he brought Ms. Land on board in the winter of 2014-2015 as his “right hand person” to oversee negotiating certain proposed business transactions, including the dealings with Pipeline that are the subject of this litigation. . . . He authorized and asked Ms. Land to communicate with counsel and other Madison representatives in order to obtain information needed or requested by Madison’s attorneys, he authorized Ms. Land to act in this capacity as Madison’s representative, and he relied upon her to do so.[27]

The court rejected the defendants’ argument that the purpose of communications with Rondan was to guide their counsel relating to PR issues with potential litigation:

These descriptions suggest only that the predominant purpose of the communications was to obtain public relations advice from Ms. Rondan and, even further afield, as they sought to set up a call about that advice. Although Madison argues counsel was included on all communications and that the communications would not have occurred “but for the fact that a lawsuit was filed,” these considerations are insufficient to show that Ms. Rondan provided any information to Madison’s attorneys to enable them to render legal advice or to provide legal services.[28]

Best Practices

While each case will turn on its facts, there are steps counsel can take to best ensure privileged and protected communications with PR firms retain their protection by making a clear record of what role the PR firm will play.

First, it should be counsel who engages a PR firm, and counsel should provide a clear, written description of the PR firm’s role in the litigation in their engagement letter. To the extent that an engagement expands beyond the initial scope, additional engagement letters should make clear what the PR firm’s role will be in each.

Not every communication with PR firms will involve the provision of legal advice and so companies should not try and overreach by copying counsel on routine communications. If a communication is to remain privileged, there must be a legal reason why the PR firm is involved. Communications designed to address nonlegal matters, like public perception, will not be deemed privileged. Privileged communications should only be shared with PR firms to the extent necessary, and only with PR consultants so integrated into the client’s business and structure that the consultant can be qualified as a functional equivalent of an employee.

When challenged, counsel should prepare affidavits that evidence the specific tasks assigned to the PR firm and why its involvement was necessary for the provision of legal advice. If establishing that the consultant is the functional equivalent of an employee, the affidavits should establish the PR firm’s integration into the company’s structure and routine interaction with counsel for legal advice.

Finally, regardless of whether a communication remains privileged, because attorney work-product protection is not so easily waived, counsel should demonstrate that disclosure did not make the information available to their adversaries.

[1] See In re Copper Mkt. Antitrust Litig., 200 F.R.D. 213 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), where the court held that the public relations firm was the functional equivalent of the corporation’s employee and, therefore, the attorney-client privilege was not waived when the corporation’s counsel shared communications with the public relations firm. In so holding, the court rejected the argument that third-party consultants came within the scope of the privilege only when acting as conduits or facilitators of attorney-client communications, the requirements of the original third-party waiver doctrine adopted in United States v. Kovel, 296 F.2d 918 (2nd Cir. 1961).

[2] In In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated March 24, 2003, 265 F. Supp. 2d 321 (S.D.N.Y. 2003), a target of a grand jury investigation hired a public relations firm to assist in influencing the outcome of the investigation. When subpoenaed by the government to produce documents and testify before the grand jury regarding communications with the target, the public relations firm asserted the attorney-client privilege on behalf of the target. The court upheld the privilege, recognizing the need for lawyers to be able to engage in frank discussion of facts and strategies with the lawyers’ public relations consultants.

[3]United States v. Kovel, 296 F.2d 918 (2nd Cir. 1961). The Second Circuit held that the privilege could extend to communications between a client and a nonattorney third party if “the communication [is] made in confidence for the purpose of obtaining legal advice from the lawyer.” Id. at 922. In applying this rule, the court found that the privilege could reasonably extend to an accountant assisting a law firm in an investigation into an alleged federal income tax violation.”

[4] 200 F.R.D. 213 (S.D.N.Y. 2001).

[5] Id. at 219-20 (citing In re Bieter, 16 F.3d 929 (1994) (privilege would apply to communications between independent consultants hired by the client and the client’s lawyers if those consultants were the functional equivalents of employees)).

[6]449 U.S. 383, 391 (1981) (Supreme Court rejected that only corporation’s high-level “control group” could communicate with attorneys without the privilege being waived and held that lower-level employees could be used as agents of the corporation when they had relevant information needed by corporate counsel to advise client).

[7] 265 F. Supp. 2d 321 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).

[8] United States v. Kovel, 296 F.2d 918 (2nd Cir. 1961).

[9] No. 3:16-cv-017756, 29019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168088 (D. Or. Sep. 27, 2019).

[10] Id. at *14-15 (“The Eighth Circuit . . . applied Upjohn to cover communications between corporate counsel and outside consultants” when the outside consultant “was in all relevant respects the functional equivalent of an employee.”) (citations omitted).

[11] Id. at *17-18, distinguishing Universal Standard Inc. v. Target, 331 F.R.D. 80 (S.D.N.Y. May 6, 2019).

[12] 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204438 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 30, 2018).

[13] Id. at *5.

[14] 265 F. Supp. 2d 321 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).

[15] Id. at *17.

[16] Id. at *17-18.

[17] 329 F.R.D 628 (N.D. Cal. 2019)

[18] 9 Cal. App. 5th 833, 215 Cal. Rptr. 3d 475 (App. 2d Dist. 2017) (court held Behunin had not proven the communications were reasonably necessary for counsel’s representation and determined the privilege had been waived).

[19] 329 F.R.D. at *634.

[20] Id.

[21] 16 F.3d 929 (8th Circ. 1994).

[22] Id. at *635-36.

[23] 331 F.R.D. 80 (S.D.N.Y. 2019).

[24] Id. at 90 (citations omitted).

[25] Id. at *91-92.

[26] No. 15-4890-KHV, 2019 U.S. DIST Lexis 71601 (D. Kan. Apr. 29, 2019).

[27] Id. at *3-4.

[28] Id. at *5-6.

Copyright © 2020 Pepper Hamilton LLP
For more on protecting privilege, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

How Millennial Lawyers Are Pushing Firms to Rethink the Role of PR and Messaging

Law firm management experts and industry watchers have spilled a lot of ink in the past decade about how millennial lawyers are different from the generations of lawyers who came before. The millennial perspective has shone a light on aspects of the job that older lawyers assumed could never change — the inflexible schedule, the grueling and lonely path to advancement, the lack of diversity that seemed baked in to the law firm model — and the industry has begun to change.

And while nurturing strong client relationships and providing excellent service used to be the only marketing plan a law firm needed, the values — like equity, transparency and authenticity — of millennial lawyers are one of the major pressures now forcing firms to rethink the role of PR and messaging.

Forward-thinking firms are responding to this call for change by tacking some big questions:

What’s our firm’s story?

Prospective clients and recruits respond to a compelling narrative that communicates your firm’s identity to the market. And that story must be built on the needs of the client rather than the needs of the firm, as the typical firm’s story was (even if by default) in decades past.

Crafting that story requires developing a deep understanding of what clients care about. What keeps them up at night? What challenges will they be facing a year from now that haven’t yet occurred to them? How can the particular skills and expertise of your attorneys serve these needs? And, most importantly, how can you make that case to the client? Armed with this deep knowledge of what their clients want and need, firm leaders can then harness the power of all available channels of communication to tell the story of what makes them different, and spotlight what they have to offer.

Who is our website for?

The role of websites has changed. A decade or two ago, many established firms embraced the need to simply have a website, assigned the work of maintaining it to the marketing and IT departments, and continue to spend a fortune keeping it up to date. Unfortunately, too many firms operate on automatic pilot when it comes to thinking about who visits their website and how they use it.

Modern law firm websites are not really marketing tools. They don’t “sell” the firm because the chance that the website is the primary entry point for a new client is pretty low. Instead, firm websites are communication tools, and the audience is not clients but potential recruits and laterals, opposing counsel or co-counsel, and judges and clerks. Understanding that a website is not a selling tool but a way to share information about your firm should shift your approach to the content. Your website should showcase key aspects of your firm. In addition to well-written biographies of your attorneys that feature their backgrounds and areas of expertise, the website is also the place to highlight important aspects of your firm’s culture and focus on team members of diverse backgrounds.

Who should speak for our firm?

You think strategically about the partners best positioned to respond to client proposals, and you should give the same consideration to whose names you’d like to see in the legal media representing your firm. Good PR should raise the profile of particular lawyers for strategic reasons and leave nothing to chance. When a reporter calls to ask about your new parental leave program, who should answer those questions, and why? Who could credibly write a thought leadership piece on the importance of sponsorship and mentoring? What about a column on a new tax incentive clients should consider taking advantage of?

The story of your firm — your culture and who you aspire to be — is shaped by which attorneys are telling it. Your top billers and client wranglers are not necessarily the same folks who should be the voice of your firm in communications. Firms must define and assign these important roles.

Is our messaging consistent?

You worked hard to develop an outward-facing message that would attract and recruit new attorneys and lateral hires. But now that they’ve joined your firm, does your internal messaging match what they saw when they were on the job market? In many firms, human resources handles internal communications. While this department may be doing a fine job distributing important information to your employees, retention and integration of millennial lawyers depends on continuing to communicate your firm’s values and goals in authentic ways. Employee communication should reflect the strategic vision of the firm’s top leadership.

An internal newsletter, for example, should be about much more than just upcoming office events and changes to your benefit plans. It should celebrate staff promotions (linking the work employees do to the greater firm mission), positive results for clients and recent business development wins. It’s also the place to feature diverse members of the firm, promote mental health initiatives, showcase a male partner taking parental leave, link to professional development and nontraditional networking opportunities inside and outside the firm, and more.

Attracting and retaining millennial recruits, and understanding how to serve millennial clients, are two of the biggest challenges today’s law firms face. But this is also an exciting opportunity. When you understand what this cohort values and communicate those values via the same kind of high-production, well-packaged content that millennials expect in all areas of their media-rich lives, your firm will be well positioned to meet the challenges of this current moment.

© 2020 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

For more on improving law firm PR & messaging, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

5 Beliefs About Law Firm PR That Need to Be Retired

One of the best parts of my job as a strategic advisor to law firm leaders is celebrating with them when our work to promote their attorneys and practice groups pays off in the form of a splashy feature article in the business press or an award for one of their up-and-coming lawyers. Not only is it wonderful to deliver great news to our clients, but often it is not until these moments that managing partners and CMOs truly understand what is possible for their firms and how we can help them achieve it.

But some firms never get to experience these victories because unfortunate beliefs about public relations limit their engagement with the professionals who could make a real difference in business development and recruiting. It’s time to “retire” these five outdated notions about law firm PR:

“Our managing partner speaks for the firm, so we don’t need outside support.”

Firms with a prestigious history are proud of the reputation they have built over the decades, and rightly so. But the marketing methods of the past do not offer a sure path to nurturing and protecting that reputation into the future. Your firm likely plays in multiple markets, whether regionally, nationally or globally, which means you are not the same firm in Chicago that you are in Toronto. The specifics of each market require a tailored message. Though every firm is aiming for a unified narrative, a firm’s reputation is actually a collection of the different stories it tells to these different audiences. Relying on a managing partner to represent all the facets of a firm’s identity almost guarantees the firm will miss opportunities to connect with prospects whose needs fall outside the parameters of this one-size-fits-all message. Sophisticated PR support can help firms navigate the tension between staying true to their brand and selling the services of their attorneys in customized ways.

“Our reputation speaks for itself.”

In addition to relying on a single leader to speak for them, firms with esteemed reputations also tend to overestimate the value of their name in today’s market, in terms of both business development and recruiting. Younger generations of lawyers and clients are much less likely to be persuaded to buy on name alone, and in some cases they are more skeptical of the top firms because of their elite status. Recent stories of law students refusing to interview with prominent firms that continue to use binding arbitration agreements serve as excellent examples here: name alone was not enough to overcome what these students perceive to be an unfair practice. Firms, no matter where they fall in the rankings, simply cannot rely on a belief that they are entitled to “first dibs” on the clients and recruits they covet.

PR professionals can make the case that a prestigious reputation is well deserved and built on a solid foundation that will withstand the scrutiny of millennials. Pros take nothing for granted, pursuing media opportunities in high-profile outlets as well as the workhorse legal journals that serve a niche but powerful audience: the buyers of legal services. A trove of credible research shows that these key players value and make decisions more often based on what they learn from the niche outlets that some large firms dismiss as small potatoes. Good PR helps you cover all the bases.

“The marketing department handles PR.”

Because marketing and public relations teams collaborate on many projects, and because digital media has so radically changed the landscape of all kinds of communications over the last decade, law leaders don’t always have a clear understanding of the differences between these disciplines. Marketing professionals directly promote and sell your firm’s services — through activities like writing the RFPs, creating digital and print promotional materials and planning important firm events. With the ongoing responsibility to provide support across practice groups, in-house marketers often do not have the bandwidth to take on more strategic promotional tasks.

That’s where outside public relations support comes in. PR professionals are trained to think like journalists (and of course many of them are former journalists) and to help your firm tell its story and maintain its reputation in the market. By building relationships with key members of the media that outlast a single opportunity, PR support can keep the lines of communication open between your firm and your target market. This takes the form of pitching story ideas to reporters, positioning your attorneys as thought leaders and expert sources, helping them place authored content and nominating them for respected awards. Creating these opportunities for attorneys can be game-changing when it comes to business development and recruiting, but the work requires an investment of time and resources that the in-house marketing department often does not have to give.

“All media is created equal.”

Firms with overextended marketing departments and little PR support sometimes rely too heavily on their own communications channels — company website and blog, social media channels — to push out their message. After all, the firm retains total control of the content and the timing, so doesn’t that make their own channels superior to others? The truth is that the media world has become far more complex in the past two decades and now includes four types of media: paid (sponsored content), earned (traditional media coverage), shared (social media) and owned (blogs, firm-produced videos, etc.). In order to maximize their position, firms need to understand the difference between, say, content best suited for their blog and content that could benefit from the credibility of traditional media outlets. Relationships with key reporters and outlets are an incredibly important piece of building a firm’s brand. They are also time-consuming and tricky to cultivate, and often can be slow to pay off. But when they do, they are worth a hundred sponsored content placements and blog posts.

“We should wait until we get the verdict to enlist PR support.”

Even when law firm leaders do understand the specific skills PR professionals bring to the table, they often wait too long to call them. Strategic-level PR is most effective — and efficient — when the consultants are involved from the beginning and can help your firm create a smart, integrated plan that supports its overall goals. Most firms don’t need a full-time PR strategist on their staff, but they should have access to one who understands their business and clients, strengths and vulnerabilities, and how to save the firm from itself in a crisis. Getting out of reaction mode allows firms to take control of the story they want to tell about themselves, now and in the future as they continue to grow and evolve to serve their clients.

© 2019 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

For more Law Firm PR advice, see the National Law Review Law Firm Management page.

Three Ways Legal PR Specialists can Support Your Firm’s Diverse Attorneys

Law firms serving corporate clients face increasing pressure not only to make their workplaces more diverse and inclusive overall, but also to ensure that more women and people of color occupy top positions of power. Last January’s open letter from 170 general counsel serves as the most pointed example of this client demand. In it, they called on law partners to “develop, promote and retain talented and diverse attorneys”—or risk losing business to firms that take diversity and inclusion seriously.

Law firm leaders who have long paid lip service to these goals without actually changing their recruiting, professional development or performance evaluation practices face a true crisis, and mapping out a path forward that satisfies client demand, not to mention the moral imperative to create firms that better represent our society, will require a multifaceted approach. It might surprise you to learn that a sophisticated communications and media strategy is a crucial piece of that plan.

While public relations may not seem to have an obvious connection with diversity efforts, PR partners who specialize in the legal sector can provide law firm leaders with strategic, targeted support to meet their goals for equity. Effective law firm PR partners can help you:

Audit current initiatives. Most firms are doing something on diversity and inclusion, with varying results. If these initiatives are not yielding the desired outcome, it’s time to think about why. Sometimes the real problem is not a lack of effort but the flawed thinking behind a program.

For example, many initiatives intended to address gender equality target differences in women’s approach to risk-taking, negotiation, and work-life balance. While that may sound like progress, focusing on individual women’s choices furthers beliefs and stereotypes that have been debunked by decades of reliable data about fundamental gender differences. Men and women are not nearly so different as we persist in believing. They behave differently in various settings not because of inherent traits but because of organizational practices that reward and punish men and women differently. Equity initiatives that target systemic issues like parental leave and the pay gap are more likely to improve the promotion and retention of women.

As your approach to improving diversity evolves, your internal and external communications need to evolve too. PR support can help you demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of the problems and the solutions—and show clients that you are serious about making measurable progress.

Reimagine networking. Today’s attorneys know they must provide excellent client service and master the art of business development. That typically involves some form of networking: getting out of the office to form relationships with clients and prospects, and planting the seeds for referrals and new business down the road. But old-fashioned networking—on the golf course, in the bar, at the country club—is not always a strategy that works for women, people of color, LGBTQ lawyers, and others who have come to the field from outside the old boys’ network. If you are serious about supporting your diverse attorneys, you can get proactive about professional development that helps them build their business in ways that work for them. And your PR team can help these attorneys become more active in relevant professional organizations, nominate them for awards, boost their online and social media presence, and facilitate alternative networking opportunities.

Activate a hands-on media strategy. A customized, targeted plan to promote your diverse attorneys’ immense skills and experience, as well as their innovative approaches to old problems, is key to raising their profiles and, by extension, your firm’s profile as well. PR support can help attorneys build relationships with the reporters who cover issues in their practice area so that they can become expert sources. Attorneys can partner with writers to create thought leadership articles for the publications most widely read by their clients and prospects. Nothing helps you take control of the narrative about your firm like media opportunities that highlight the skills and experience of your current and future diverse superstars.

With clients pressuring law firms to change their ways, creating a diverse and inclusive workplace has gone from a lofty goal to a strategic imperative. This necessary transformation presents leaders with significant challenges, but the good news is you don’t have to go it alone. Experts in communications and media strategy can help you take practical steps to develop and support the diverse attorneys who serve your most valued clients.  And, of course, as you would expect, PR professionals can also help you share the good news about the progress you’re making in advancing diversity and inclusion in your firm.

© 2019 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

This article is by Debra Pickett of Page 2 Communications.

Positive Media Exposure: Elevate Your Practice and Your Firm

Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Chapter

Your business is on the rise yet every time you scroll through your news feeds, read the newspaper, or watch a news show, you find your competitors highlighted everywhere instead of you and your business. You want this kind of coverage, but you are short on time due to your demanding work schedule, board activities, community involvement and family engagements. Dealing with the media also feels uncomfortable and you fear that reporters will not tell the story correctly. Sound familiar? This is what we discovered when we asked our clients (i.e. very smart lawyers we love to work with!)

To be fair, media interviews can be a daunting experience for almost anyone. These feelings are compounded by the notion that subject matter experts may believe that reporters and interviewers are out to get them. The truth is, the media should be treated just like a client. A great majority of reporters are cordial people who are assigned to cover a story on a topic. It is their job to talk with various sources, research the topic, and educate the public. Yet, almost always, reporters are on deadline while juggling other priorities assigned to them on any given day. Their challenge is to collect a depth of accurate information in order to inform the public and meet a tight deadline. Does that sound like a client? Have you ever received a call or an email from a client who needs to know the latest on a particular issue and has questions they need answered right away? It’s not that either is out to get you, rather each need to be educated so that they can succinctly and accurately inform their audience, be that a reader or a senior executive.

What you must realize is that the interviewee is often more knowledgeable on a subject than the interviewer, therefore you should approach the interview with full confidence and take advantage of the opportunity to provide useful and practical information. After all, this is your opportunity to shine and help educate the public. Here are some tips to ensure a successful media interview:

  • Similar to preparing for a case, successful media messages depend on preparation. Pick a story angle ahead of time and stick to it thought the interview. This bolsters your ability to serve as a subject matter expert.

  • Consider all of the difficult questions that may be asked and prepare answers. This critical step will help you from being caught off guard.

  • If you are asked a challenging question that you did not consider or are asked to talk about something that you simply can’t discuss, you can maintain control of the interview by using bridging techniques with phrases like: “before we leave the subject, let me add that …” “And the one thing that is important to remember is …” “While this is important, it is also important to remember that…”

  • Reporters love to use research and statistics in their stories as much as lawyers do. Feel free to prepare some stats and takeaways for reporters to help emphasize the story angle you are trying to promote.

  • Reporters are trained to listen. Just because a reporter puts away a notebook, a microphone or turns off a tape recorder doesn’t mean the interview is over and you can say anything without it being used.

  • Reporters hate when someone misleads or lies to them. They don’t like it when their stories have to be corrected through no fault of their own and because of inaccurate information provided to them. Accuracy is a gold standard for reporters. Help them achieve it and you can bet they will come back to you with another interview opportunity.

  • Instead of using industry jargon, speak in simple terms to appeal to the general public and potential clients. The reporter will most likely use those comments word-for-word which earns more thought leadership clout.

  • Body language can be just as important as words. Keep your arms loose and gesture naturally. This will help you appear calm and confident. Don’t cross your arms, your legs or put your hands in your pockets. Strive for a relaxed and happy face. Again, you are the expert who has the opportunity to share your knowledge.

  • Some reporters will ask you to spell your name on camera or tape so the editors can include it in the caption. If they don’t, be sure to spell your name and your firm’s name so they can include it in their story correctly.

  • Whether your story appears online, in print, radio or on television, don’t forget to engage in the digital space. Update your social media channels, website and blogs before and after the interview to continue the growth and expansion of your online brand.

Representing your business and knowledge base to the public is extremely important for you and your practice. Keeping these general media tips in mind puts you at a greater advantage to deliver a successful message and stay in front of your clients. With this said, remember to stay positive and have fun! And of course, call the Marketing Department or your public relations representative to work on a customized approach for each story.

ARTICLE BY

Ioana Good
Ryan King
OF
Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Chapter

Got Klout? Measuring Your Law Firm Social Media Efforts

Many thanks to our Business of Law guest blogger Kevin Aschenbrenner of Jaffe PR who provided some truly useful information on how law firms can gauge the effectiveness of their social media programs.  Read on….

One of the most frustrating aspects of actively working on law firm social mediaefforts is the feeling that you’re in a vacuum. You often can’t tell if anyone is listening. And, posting, “Do you think I’m awesome?” just won’t cut it.

This is why influence is such a hot topic in social media. Essentially, the more influence you have online the more likely it is that people will not only pay attention to you but also act on what you post. I talk more about influence in this blog post. Go ahead and read it. I’ll wait.

Welcome back. So, influence. It’s a good concept, but it’s a bit of a vicious circle – you need influence to have an impact online but you need to know what your influence is to use it to assess your law firm social media efforts. It makes my head hurt, too.

Or, it used to. Now there’s an online tool that will measure your influence. It’s called Klout (www.klout.com) and it ranks your online influence with a number out of 100. For an example, here’s a link to my Klout Score:http://klout.com/kevinaschenbren. As Klout Scores go, I’m not up there with Brian Solis (85) or Chris Brogan (84), but it’s respectable and, I’m within kissing distance of 50, which is the Klout Score required by a few hotels in Las Vegas in order to qualify for free upgrades (http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=146189).

But I digress. I’ve found Klout very helpful as a sort of diagnostic tool for my social media efforts. It’s not perfect and I quibble with some of the other information you get in your report, but it’s not a bad guidepost.

To find out your Klout Score:

  • Go to www.klout.com and type in your Twitter handle.
     
  • To see your entire report, I suggest creating an account. It’s free and gives you access to additional data and it will also ensure your score is refreshed regularly.
     
  • You can increase the accuracy of your Klout Score by linking your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
     
  • Check back periodically to see how your Klout Score is doing.

And, if you really want to have fun with your online influence, check out Empire Avenue (www.empireavenue.com). I’ll leave you to explore that one on your own.

© Copyright 2008-2011, Jaffe PR

One of the most frustrating aspects of actively working on law firm social mediaefforts is the feeling that you’re in a vacuum. You often can’t tell if anyone is listening. And, posting, “Do you think I’m awesome?” just won’t cut it.

This is why influence is such a hot topic in social media. Essentially, the more influence you have online the more likely it is that people will not only pay attention to you but also act on what you post. I talk more about influence in this blog post. Go ahead and read it. I’ll wait.

Welcome back. So, influence. It’s a good concept, but it’s a bit of a vicious circle – you need influence to have an impact online but you need to know what your influence is to use it to assess your law firm social media efforts. It makes my head hurt, too.

Or, it used to. Now there’s an online tool that will measure your influence. It’s called Klout (www.klout.com) and it ranks your online influence with a number out of 100. For an example, here’s a link to my Klout Score:http://klout.com/kevinaschenbren. As Klout Scores go, I’m not up there with Brian Solis (85) or Chris Brogan (84), but it’s respectable and, I’m within kissing distance of 50, which is the Klout Score required by a few hotels in Las Vegas in order to qualify for free upgrades (http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=146189).

But I digress. I’ve found Klout very helpful as a sort of diagnostic tool for my social media efforts. It’s not perfect and I quibble with some of the other information you get in your report, but it’s not a bad guidepost.

To find out your Klout Score:

  • Go to www.klout.com and type in your Twitter handle.
     
  • To see your entire report, I suggest creating an account. It’s free and gives you access to additional data and it will also ensure your score is refreshed regularly.
     
  • You can increase the accuracy of your Klout Score by linking your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
     
  • Check back periodically to see how your Klout Score is doing.

And, if you really want to have fun with your online influence, check out Empire Avenue (www.empireavenue.com). I’ll leave you to explore that one on your own.

© Copyright 2008-2011, Jaffe PR

Marketing and PR Social Networking Best Practices

The Business of Law Blog Spot at the National Law Review recently featured Amy Juers of Edge Legal Marketing who shared a great top ten list of Social Networking Best Practices and a great video on businesses implementing social media strategies: 

When should your team get involved in social networking marketing tactics, and which sites offer the most appropriate venue to shorten the sales cycle? Many marketing departments are still holding back on this initiative for good reason, it is practically impossible to manage what you do not understand.

Determining the right time to jump in is not as important as investigating the sites to determine if your involvement would complement your legal technology marketing or legal services marketing, sales, client communication, or any host of business initiatives. Simply jumping in for the sake of getting your feet wet is not a strategic social networking tactic.  You should do research to gain an understanding of your options, match options with organizational goals, and then consider launching initiatives through multiple outlets. If you do not have time to research this or determine if or how to weave social networking into your organization, call experts in legal marketing and PR services and ask them for social networking strategy advice.

Whether or not sites that are popular today will evolve and remain popular next year cannot be predicted, however, given every teenager knows of this technology and actively uses it, your customers and prospects of the future are developing social networking finesse and will expect to connect with you in a few years in these ways.  If the popular “must have” social networking sites of today fade into the abyss, rest assured, new “must have” networking outlets will emerge to satisfy social networking needs in business. Think of today’s big buzz social networking websites like a wave that has water in it that you can choose to ride or let pass. If you miss this one, certainly there will be another. Because no one knows how long this wave will be upon us, rather than simply waiting for this to pass, there are plenty of good reasons to investigate and consider getting involved today.

Why use Social Networking for Legal Marketing and PR

Connections through social networking sites allow groups to quickly catch up on each other’s business, while also allowing for the free-flow of information.  People are increasingly becoming more excited about checking their social networking page rather than checking email for good reason, spam has a difficult time finding its way into your “friend” list and the platform for interaction is growing increasingly dynamic.

How extensively you get involved with social networking initiatives depends upon how these initiatives align with your firm’s goals. Your firm may want to leverage a site like Facebook to create a client group, post news, share client success stories or post YouTube videos of client testimonials and demos. LinkedIn has recently added greater flexibility into their site as well. For any firm sending out electronic newsletters, or client communications, creating a chat group or client networking group on these sites provides another outlet for sharing important content that may otherwise get buried if it were delivered as an email message.

Top 10 Social Networking Best Practices

  1. Conduct your own investigation. Before you determine whether or not to invest resources or any energy into creating a business profile and joining a site, investigate the leading sites and kick the tires! Social networking sites require zero “real cash” outlay, costing only the investment of research time.
  2. Select social networking opportunities that support business goals. Test the waters before you dive in, ask your prospects, clients and employees which social networking site they prefer. Not every site is going to be a fit and align with your firm goals.
  3. Get the word out – and if needed – educate your clients! Connect to your prospects, clients and who’s who in your channel. Introducing a “chat” group on Facebook for clients makes little sense if your clients have no understanding of how to create a profile or get connected.
  4. Structure or limit the time invested in managing a social networking site.Whether responding to posts, making connections with people, or adding content to your profile, make regular updates once or twice weekly. Calendar for 15-minutes one time per week to maintain each site.
  5. Avoid getting personal. Publish content relevant to your expertise to establish thought-leadership status. No one really wants to know if you just finished a cup of coffee or if your dog has fleas.
  6. Don’t over-stimulate with too much content. Keep postings brief and informational.
  7. Resist begging. Create a consistently informational space and followers will line up to “friend” you.
  8. Avoid posting on what may be sensitive topics. Events will unfold in the industry or within a competitors business that may be highly tempting to post about. The safest approach is to stay neutral, be informative and remain professional.
  9. Measure your activity. You cannot analyze what you cannot measure. Track your tweets, followers, time spent, and conversions.
  10. Keep current on social networking trends.Subscribe to a social networking blog or legal industry RSS feed  to receive legal industry social networking, marketing and PR updates daily or weekly.

Recommended Social Media Resource Webcast

Watch this YouTube webcast video, The Business Value Behind Social Media featuring social media experts Charlene Li, David Meerman Scott and Chris Brogan as they weigh in on social media and discuss the latest strategies and opportunities that executives face when considering the implementation of social media initiatives. This webcast was recorded at the Premier Business Leadership Series in Las Vegas in November 2010. Please note, although informative this video is approximately an hour long.

© 2010 Edge Legal Marketing

The Ten Commandments of Drafting a Social Networking Policy

The National Law Review’s featured Guest Bloggers this week are from Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. Vanessa L. Goddard provides some concrete do’s and don’ts for drafting a company Social Media policy.  Read on:

You’ve probably heard this “fact”: if Facebook was a country, it would be the fourth largest country in the world! Web 2.0 has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, including the workplace. As a result, most lawsuits in which employers become mired are fraught with electronic data issues. To guard against a wide range of legal claims, as well as reap the benefits of a global marketplace, many employers are instituting social networking policies. But, as with any policy, a social networking policy must be carefully drafted to meet your business needs. With that, I introduce to you the 10 Commandments of drafting a social networking policy:

NUMBER ONE: Thou shalt NOT use a sample policy pulled willy-nilly from the Internet.

While your search results will pull up dozens of fine looking policies, you won’t know who wrote them, the legal jurisdiction from which they hale, or the business interests the policy seeks to promote. Many times, a bad policy is worse than no policy at all.

NUMBER TWO: Thou SHALT work in harmony to craft a policy appropriate for your business.

If you decide that a social networking policy is appropriate for your business (and it may not be), the combined cooperation of your IT department, human resources, legal, and company decision-makers is necessary to formulate an effective policy.

NUMBER THREE: Thou SHALT know the risks and guard against them.

Employee use of social networking media can have wide-ranging legal ramifications for employers. Possible claims include: harassment, discrimination, defamation, invasion of privacy, and a variety of statutory violations.

NUMBER FOUR: Thou SHALT proclaim that the eye of the employer sees all.

Notify employees that they have no expectation of privacy in their use of company technology, that their activities should be work related only, and that their communications may be accessed at any time.

NUMBER FIVE: Thou shalt NOT take the name of the employer in vain.

The policy should require disclaimers be used indicating that the opinions stated therein are those of the employee and not the employer.

NUMBER SIX: Thou SHALT respect thy co-workers, customers, competitors, and employer.

Require employees to act respectfully in their social networking/blogging activities. Provide guidance on what is and what is not appropriate behavior.

NUMBER SEVEN: Thou shalt NOT steal or do other really bad things with your employer’s computer.

The policy should prohibit disclosure of confidential information, the use of legally-protected/copyrighted information, and the dissemination of personal information of co-workers.

NUMBER EIGHT: Thou SHALT know the consequences of thy actions.

Inform your employees that their social networking activities on the job are subject to all company policies and explain the consequences of violating your social networking policy.

NUMBER NINE: Thou SHALT spread the word throughout the masses.

Distribute the policy. Have your employees sign off on their receipt and understanding of the policy. Provide training on the policy.

NUMBER TEN: Thou shalt NOT commit random acts of destruction.

You MUST ensure that your litigation hold policy incorporates procedures and methodologies to capture and preserve social networking data in the event of litigation.

© 2010 Steptoe & Johnson PLLC All Rights Reserved

About the Author:

Vanessa Goddard’s primary focus is in the area of labor and employment law. She has been involved in representing clients in various employment cases, including sexual harassment, deliberate intent, age, race, and disability discrimination, wrongful discharge, and various other employment-related torts. She is admitted to various state and federal courts as well as the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  304-598-8158 /www.steptoe-johnson.com

Is Your Email Service Provider the Best?

This week’s Business of Law Guest Bloggers at the National Law Review are from Duo Consulting.  Sonny Cohen of Duo provides some good specifics on what to look for in an emailing service.

We recently received this question from a law firm marketer. I’ve edited it slightly for brevity and anonymity:

“Our email service is earning a big #fail at this point. We’ve used (Name Brand provider) with great success for small jobs and I’m talking with them about an enterprise solution. Do you have a provider you love (or a crappy one I should be warned away from)? What are the pros and cons of the systems you’ve used?”

The question, submitted to a listserv, engendered responses of affiliation with one ESP or another because they liked them, had no problems, or other good indications of service. But email delivery is more complex than you might first imagine and one size does not fit all. It is not (yet) a commodity. Personal recommendations of quality service or indications of being satisfied are a good start of an evaluation but an insufficient qualifier for engaging an email service provider. Like the acquisition of almost any service (legal or technical) it is important to understand requirements.

This is not intended to be comprehensive but merely to illustrate my point. Get this part and you might get there is more to the story. So let’s take a look at these simple factors:

  • What does your email subscriber base look like? gmail.com? or bigcompanyname.com?
  • How big a mailing would you execute at one time?
  • What is your mailing frequency?

If you send a lot of email frequently to corporate email addresses, the email reputation is critical to getting into the inbox of your subscriber. The better email service providers (ESPs) do 2 things. First, they manage the reputation of the email addresses from which they send the email (their IP addresses). The best ESPs offer you the opportunity to set up your own email address on their system. This will look something like email.lawfirm.com and email will come from something like sonny@email.lawfirm.com So while it still looks like your business, it is isolated from your domain (lawfirm.com) and from the email sending behavior or misbehavior of other clients of this ESP. Are you with me?

What happens if you send an email to a lot of people at the same domain such asxxxx@client.com where xxxx is lots of different people? When all these emails show up @client.com at one time, they look like spam. It may even look like an attack on the email server. The corporate email server receives these emails so you probably see these emails as being delivered. But they never make it into the inbox of the individual email recipients.

The better ESPs offer the capability to throttle the sending of emails so that they don’t look like a spam attack on an email server. It more closely resembles natural email commerce. Good commercial ESPs can afford to throttle the send of their emails. Spammers cannot because they’ve got way too much email to send. Are we getting esoteric yet?

ESPs are commercial companies and not a part of any website development company’s core competency. We have our favorites but we are not linked at the hip. Email services built into CRM systems such as Interaction, Salesforce, etc. are bulk mailers and do not have these deliverability features and a deliverability desk (personnel) focused on managing IP reputation. This doesn’t make them bad by any stretch. But it does affect deliverability performance.

Finally, the best ESPs are becoming messaging companies capable of delivering text messages and voice messages. If your communication strategy is to be first to market with targeted information, you may find that a text message alert system is a client service you haven’t yet considered. It is unlikely that your “economy” bulk email guy who is “friendly to deal with”  offers these extended and diversified contact capabilities. And maybe you don’t need it and never will.

Being able to track email performance is a common feature but it is not the test of a quality system. And these tools may not even provide accurate or complete information regarding the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Even the best (i.e. more costly) ESPs come only close to precise. Third party firms like Return Path and Pivotal Veracity might provide this higher level of email evaluation and deliverability improvement.

Price is not always a guarantee that you will get better delivery services like what I’ve identified above. But a low price pretty much guarantees that you will not. For my part, I think reaching targeted contacts for a few pennies is a pretty good deal. If you are driven to cut that penny in half, you should at least know what you are getting and what you aren’t.

Whew! Hope this is helpful. Oh yeah, who do we use? ExactTarget. But remember. One size does not fit all. Think about your requirements.

Email open rate is only one indicator of email success

© 1999-2010 Duo Consulting

About the Author:

Sonny works closely with Duo’s clients to develop their online business and marketing strategy. His tactical responsiblities include: Implementing and managing paid search engine campaigns;  Consulting on and implementing permission-based email; Providing strategic online marketing consultation to law firms and others using web analytics to help drive website and business performance and Conceputalizing and implementing social media marketing.

312-529-3003 / www.duoconsulting.com

Twitter Do’s & Twitter Don’ts

As included in the Business of Law Section of the National Law Review Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations provides some solid Do’s & Don’ts for Twitter:  

With millions of unique visitors each month, Twitter is still at the top of the social media game. Some people still use Twitter to catalog boring details of the day. However, savvy and smart users realize Twitter’s usefulness as a concise way of marketing and reaching out to consumers and media.  Read the following do’s & don’ts to continue being one of the savvy and smart users.

  • Do make quality friends. Capturing an audience on Twitter is important, but don’t start following 857 people in one day. Start with a few friends, some movers and shakers of your industry, some legal reporters—listen to their tweets, and offer relevant replies. Then continue to follow a few new people week by week. Don’t just follow to follow, but actually think about why you want to connect with a certain person – think “strategic following.” Then contribute meaningful posts each day that others might find interesting as a way to build your own following.
  • Do protect your reputation. Twitter can be used to solidify your brand image, and it is an indispensable medium when crisis hits. Maintaining a Twitter account can help your firm when a damaging story hits cyberspace because a response on Twitter is often the fastest way to acknowledge the problem or issue. Failing to address any breaking news that involves your company makes you look at best, incompetent and at worst, guilty. Confidentiality laws may render tweeting a bad idea, but you should always pay attention to what’s happening and be prepared to do damage control when necessary.
  • Do be efficient. Building relationships on Twitter can facilitate communication about your legal specialties and expertise. However, using Twitter effectively and appropriately can be a time-consuming job, so try and implement applications that will help you be more efficient like TwitterFeed, TweetDeck and ÜberTwitter. It is also more efficient to partake in niche topic conversations about your practice areas instead of tweeting about the world of law in general. Specificity trumps generality.
  • Don’t be boring or narcissistic. Stick to tweeting about pertinent topics and find ways to express your personality through the links you post, rather than tweeting about how many briefs you’ve written that day or what color tie you’re wearing. Share links to legal headlines or comment on stories related to your expertise. Participate in discussion, reply to other users’ tweets, re-tweet their tweets—Twitter is not a one-person game, so don’t try to be the center of the universe.
  • Don’t turn off your censor. In cyberspace, a record of your most inappropriate tweet will live on in infamy long after you’ve cooled down. Never forget that what you say on Twitter can come back to haunt you, so rude or tasteless comments can come back to haunt you. Play it cool and don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t say in public; after all, Twitter is incredibly public.

Copyright © 2010 TC Public Relations

This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at:  http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/

About the Author:

Tom Ciesielka, President of TC Public Relations, has worked in public relations, marketing and business development for more than 25 years and has enjoyed working with clients ranging from law firms to distinguished authors to national and local companies. He feels privileged to have established trusting working relationships with these clients and values every opportunity he gets to help businesses grow.  He is also a former board member of the Legal Marketing Association in Chicago and has spoken at Chicago Bar Associations CLE programs.  312-422-1333 / www.tcpr.net