Crisis communications: #1 in a series

"Crisis communications" is a term of art in the media and PR business.

It refers to handling the media and public opinion in an emergency. Sort of like those in-case-of-fire escape plans we are all supposed to create for home and office, but usually don't.

Unlike the case of the rare but catastrophic fire, however, I can assure you that you will experience the much more frequent and just as catastrophic media or public relations emergency. It will happen.

"But I don't handle those high profile cases," many attorneys tell me. "So why would I ever need to worry about that?"

Why? As I explained in a previous post, 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 and the public might become interested in you and your firm in the context of any of these roles, or all of them. Or for some not-so-obvious and less pleasant reasons.

Like these. Your contentious divorce that includes [certainly unfounded] 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 unfortunate attorneys I know who never thought they might need to worry about things like media relations or a crisis communication plan.

At some point you will have a need for crisis communications.

What to do? Take a few simple steps and be ready.

[And get to work on that fire escape plan, too!]

[See Crisis Communications #2]