Media --why should you be interested?

You may not be interested in the media, but the media is interested in you.

That paraphrase of a famous quote about war has become my standard answer to attorneys who ask me, "Why should I care about the media?"

Potential answers: To build your practice? To control your reputation? To defend yourself, your clients, and your firm? To get the word out about the good things you and other bar members do? To build name recognition? To inform the public about your services without the need to buy advertising?

Even if you are determined to foolishly avoid all proactive media contact, and to respond to journalists' questions by sprinting away and screaming "no comment" over your shoulder, you would be foolish to believe you can practice law in a bubble.

If you are an attorney the media is interested in you.

Why? As an attorney you wear many hats. You are an educated expert on legal matters, an officer of the court, representative and spokesperson for hundreds of clients, a small business person, an employer and a community leader. The media can become interested in you in the context of any of these roles, or all of them.

The media also might become interested in you for some not-so-obvious and less pleasant reasons. Your contentious divorce that includes allegations of sordid behavior. A law partner arrested after killing a child while drunk driving. A receptionist caught embezzling client funds after being suckered by a Nigerian email scam. A fire that burns down your office including all your client files and the backup tapes an employee forget to move to an off-site location. Your local bar association exploding amidst allegations of criminal wrongdoing among leadership. An associate accused of selling drugs out of your law office. The suicide of a law partner who had been struggling with addiction issues.

Each of those things actually happened to an unfortunate attorney who suddenly discovered the media was very interested.

Of course you might just want to develop an interest in the media as part of your overall public relations plan. A good relationship with local journalists should be a part of your practice building and rainmaking activities.

You should strive to be the local media's "go to" gal or guy regarding general legal issues. Don't worry about straying outside your area of practice. Any attorney can handle media questions about things like the difference between criminal and civil courts, the make-up of the state appellate court system, the meaning of legal terms like "affiant" or concepts like governmental immunity.

This sort of relationship with the media --and the potential clients who watch and read the stories-- gets your name out in the community and builds your reputation as an expert.

And media interviews are like any other skill--you become better with practice. Better that practice be informal and proactive and on your terms and serving your interests than put it off until you are "ambushed."

Plus if you ever find yourself fielding calls regarding accusations stemming from your nasty divorce or that allegedly drugged out associate you might find some solace in the knowledge that the journalist you are talking to has been asking *you* for help for the past few years.

Develop an interest in the media.