Ken Starr gave public relations a wonderful gift. So did tobacco lawyers. Their attacks on privilege and their abuses of it mean that lawyers must now act like lawyers if they
want the protection of privilege ? not like business or PR consultants. Knowledgeable PR practitioners can now play a far more significant role on management's strategic legal
advice team and have given PR advisors greater latitude to become more critical elements of management's strategic advice team.
Are you ready? Can you handle working with attorneys successfully?
Do you remember the television series "Paper Chase?" A great scene transpires in Houseman's contract law class when he dramatically tells his students, "You come here with
minds of mush . . . you leave thinking like lawyers." I use this scene with my attorney/client colleagues to help them understand the public relations aspects of any litigation
setting. They come into it thinking like lawyers. It's my job to get their brains thinking more like mush. It can be a tough sell. Are you up to it?
Almost any attorney can be a good PR practitioner. It's virtually impossible to make just any PR practitioner into a good lawyer (at least not without law school training).
Today, lawyers are leaving their profession to enter the public relations arena. But, they aren't any more skilled practitioners just because of their legal training.
Attorney/PR practitioners have a duty to divorce themselves from the practice of law so as not to mislead anyone about their role in any particular case. The circumstances run
parallel to the former reporter who must overcome aspects of their past professional life to become an effective PR practitioner.
To become a player in the growing field of litigation visibility public relations, review these tips:
- Learn the law. Take at least one business law course in some educational setting.
- Go to court. See a jury selected, listen to testimony, watch the judge.
- Get on a jury at your next opportunity.
- Understand due process.
- Find lawyers to coach and teach you.
- Read law journals and other legal sources. Subscribe to The National Law Journal, Lawyers Weekly USA. Subscribe to publications from the various professional sections of the
American Bar Association. - Study and follow successful lawyers and litigators. Get on the mailing list of law firms that have special newsletters.
- Get to know lawyers the boss or your client
respects. - Forget lawyer jokes and focus on the process.
- Choose. Work on the plaintiff's side or the defense side. Become an expert on the side you choose.
Train your mind to understand how lawyers think but remember our strategic value is in the charmingly intuitive approaches some might call "mush."
James E. Lukaszewski APR, Fellow PRSA, is chairman of The Lukaszewski Group, a consultancy specializing in crisis communication management and has pioneered the field of
litigation visibility management. He has recently authored, in collaboration with the PRSA, a three-volume crisis management strategy series, available through http://www.PrandMarketing.com. Reach Jim at [email protected] or 914/681-0000.