best practices Archives | Anachel | Partnering to Prepare and Protect

Maintaining Privilege: Litigation Communications

Posted on July 13, 2020July 9, 2020 by Carrie Cecil

Establishing privilege between a legal team and a litigation communications team is only the first step. Before you can start to work, the following four best practices must be put into place:

1. Establish clear communications channels for exclusive use by the legal and communications teams and exclusively for the case/client in question.

2. Identify all written communications with an “Attorney-Client work product” stamp.

3. Keep it clean: Only the attorney and the communications expert should meet, talk, email, converse. Neither the communications expert nor any members of the litigation communications team should ever directly engage with the client.

4. Prevent information leaks: establish a process (examples: automatic expiration dates for e-files, shredding practices for paper documents) for secure disposal and destruction of all written communications.

Are you an attorney who would like to learn more about setting and maintaining the privilege between your communications experts and the legal team? Reach out to carrie@anachel.com

Establishing Privilege: Litigation Communication

Posted on July 10, 2020July 8, 2020 by Carrie Cecil

Strategic communications efforts such as media outreach, publication of OpEds and owned media/social media activity is legal so long as these efforts serve the overarching legal strategy. However, privilege in litigations communications is not a given and must be established. In Calvin Klein Trademark Trust v. Wachner, privilege was not granted in part because the law firm’s client had a preexisting relationship with the strategic communications firm where it also performed public relations services not related to litigation.

So how is privilege defined, and why is having it so essential to litigation communications strategies? In the law of evidence, a privilege is a rule of evidence that allows the holder of the privilege to refuse to disclose information or provide evidence about a certain subject or to bar such evidence from being disclosed or used in a judicial or other proceeding (Wikipedia).

Privilege between the legal team and the litigation communications team is vital and can be established by employing these three best practices:

1. When initiating the engagement, the contract should be between the law firm and the agency, like us. Not the client.

2. The contract should clearly state that the purpose of the work is to provide “expert” strategic communications advice for litigation or in anticipation of litigation.

3. The scope of the work should use specific wording that connects the communications efforts to the legal strategy.

Would you like to know more about setting and maintaining the privilege between your communications experts and the legal team? Reach out to carrie@anachel.com.

Hiring a Media Expert for Litigation Communications

Posted on June 29, 2020June 17, 2020 by Carrie Cecil

“[T]he ability of lawyers to perform some of their most fundamental client functions…would be undermined seriously if lawyers were not able to engage in frank discussions of facts and strategies with the lawyers’ public relations consultants.” — Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding grand jury.

Because there are strategic aims and sensitive rules around disclosure during court proceedings, it takes more than a general knowledge of public relations strategy to manage litigation communications. Effective litigation communications requires a professional who understands the legal process, knows how to read filings and has case-specific/litigation experience.

The ideal litigation communication media expert believes in the power of relationships: he/she will become a part of the legal team, working in lockstep with the lawyers, and will provide the team with access to media and journalists who will be covering the case.

When hiring a media expert to handle litigation communications, ask about data forensics as it is essential they are up-to-date on the latest developments. The ideal partner will know how listening tools work, engage in active monitoring and analysis, understand how both reporting and rumor are impacting a case, and proactively recommend public appearances and information release.

ANACHEL Communications specializes in high-profile litigation, crisis and strategic communications. Our media training program and bespoke reputation management practitioners help our clients navigate the narratives when it matters most. To learn more about our litigation communications practice or book a confidential consultation to learn how we can help, feel free to email carrie@anachel.com.

The S.A.F.E. Resource Guide

Posted on June 22, 2020June 17, 2020 by Carrie Cecil

Our team is working with public and private sector officials and communications experts to develop strategic and crisis communications guidelines as well as media best practices that support your back-to-work operational plan.

New health and safety protocols are only one half of the equation: policies may keep your constituents safe but, without carefully constructed narratives, your constituents won’t feel safe. How, what and when you communicate during this public health crisis will influence the perception of your operational actions and your brand’s integrity.

S.A.F.E. combines the novel need for urgency, accuracy and empathy with tried-and-true expertise and multi-level implementation strategies and tactics. S.A.F.E. is a proprietary methodology for communicating Pandemic Age protocols and information within a framework that makes constituents feel safe.

Colleagues, partners and friends: we invite you to download our COVID-19 Communications Resource Guide today by visiting, and registering, on our Resources page.