[Editor’s Note: PR professionals work in a variety of reporting arrangements. Some PR departments report to the CEO. Other communications teams report into marketing. PR is subsumed under external or government affairs in other organizations. In this first article in a series, we find communications reporting to the general counsel. Please contact our editor, [email protected], with reporting arrangements you’d like us to profile.]
It’s a common refrain among communicators, particularly if they’re discussing crisis communications. When a crisis response lacks an apologetic tone, is filled with corporate jargon or isn’t forthcoming, communicators often speculate that a lawyer, not a communicator, wrote it.
A prevailing belief is that there’s a built-in animosity between the legal and communications teams. This is ironic, of course, since legal and communications have the same goal: to protect the brand.
There are legitimate reasons for communicators and legal to be at odds. Legal prefers staying out of the limelight. Preventing stories is their job, not creating them.
VP, External Comms and PR
Choice Hotels
Lorri Christou is VP, external communications and PR, at Choice Hotels, a hospitality franchisor based in Rockville, MD. Publicly traded, the 80-year-old company is one of the world’s largest hotel chains, owning brands like Quality Inn, Cambria Hotels and Clarion Hotels. In 2018, it franchised nearly 7,000 properties in 40 countries and territories.
A Great Relationship
A veteran communicator, Christou reports to the General Counsel’s (GC) office. She says she has “a great relationship” with her boss. “I like her as a person,” Christou said.
From a professional perspective, Christou says the GC’s legal prowess has “helped me do my job better.”
Since Choice Hotels is a franchisor, as opposed to the owner of individual hotels, precise communications are required during a crisis. Her relationship and regular collaboration with the GC have honed Christou’s skill in creating such communications. This, she feels, is a distinct advantage. “It helps me craft communications that are more legally sound,” she says.
In addition, Christou has benefitted from observing the legal thought process. “Lawyers do a thorough job of preparing and consider an issue from many angles” before they enter a situation. These qualities have rubbed off on Christou. They have made her “a more a strategic communications professional.”
“As trained advisors, GCs are equipped to help communicators think through options, weigh trade-offs and complicating factors and make intelligent decisions,” Jo London and Jim Moorhead, senior PR pros at APCO Worldwid wrote in PR News last August.
Christou says the GC has learned from her, too. “She appreciates the way I use words to position things…how I supply context and color” as opposed to reciting facts coldly. In short, the GC appreciates her storytelling abilities.
Digital Creates a Partnership
Partner
K&L Gates LLP
Elisa D’Amico, a partner at law firm K&L Gates, LLP, agrees that a strong relationship between legal and communications benefits brands and organizations. She sees this partnership as a necessity in a digital world, particularly during a PR crisis.
“Information is moving so quickly, if a company doesn’t respond” rapidly when warranted, it risks alienating customers and other stakeholders, she said.
Ignoring or covering up a crisis will not make it go away. While there may be certain situations that warrant a conservative approach to crisis response, in today’s social media-fueled world, companies generally lack the luxury of waiting to respond, D’Amico says. The best course of action often is to quickly triage and evaluate the situation, and respond publicly. Having legal involved will ensure that the company’s response contemplates potential legal ramifications from any company statement, she says.
With legal and communications “in the same room” during a crisis, she said, legal can “pivot quickly...and bless PR’s work.” PR can do the same for legal.
Working Throughout the Enterprise
Besides protecting the brand, legal and communications share at least one other element—both work throughout the enterprise. As a result, they must be adept at building relationships in all parts of a company. Perhaps this explains an advantage of the PR-GC reporting structure. An example is how Christou and the GC’s office revised Choice Hotels’ press release process.
When Christou arrived at Choice Hotels, at least four sets of eyes from the GC’s office were needed to approve a release. Christou and her legal colleagues streamlined the process.
They were able to do so, she says, “because they have a relationship with me…they trust me and and know that I respect their legal perspective...I’m part of their team.” She adds, this relationship “helps us get things done…and leads to quicker approvals.” This smoothly functioning situation belies the enmity that exists, perceived or actual, between some legal and communications teams.
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