Tag: litigation communications

Media Relations and Litigation Communications

Posted on by Carrie Cecil

“Dealing with the media in a high-profile case probably is not a matter for amateurs…Lawyers cannot be faulted for concluding that professional public relations advice was needed.”–Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York re: grand jury

The higher profile the case, the more requests for comment are received. Savvy reporters and journalists know how to disarm their sources.  And while it’s flattering to be sought after, members of the legal team must stay focused on the case/client:  

1.    Understand the rules of “on the record” and “off the record.” 

2.    Be professional, polite and speak definitely.

3.    Share prepared key messages with the reporter to stay aligned with the legal strategy.

When the reporter persists, which they undoubtedly will, as it’s their job, use bridge transitions such as, “Thank you for your interest, but the real point is…”  “May we schedule another time to talk?” Transitions will professionally point the conversation in a new direction, place it on pause and give the litigation communications team time to research the following:

1.    Who is the reporter?

2.    What publication or outlet does the reporter represent? 

3.    Does the reporter have knowledge of the story? 

4.    Has the reporter previously covered the story? 

5.    What is the reporter’s story angle?

6.    Who else has the reporter spoken to?

7.    What is the reporter’s deadline? 

As appropriate, the litigation communications team will arrange for an interview with a representative from the legal team and/or the client.  Preparations such as media training, Q&A sessions, and mock interviews will be held prior to the interview to ensure the conversation is aligned with the overall reputation management strategy.

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.  Reach out to carrie@anachel.com to find out how our expertise and experience can help your practice and clients.

Access is Key to Unlocking Litigation Communications Expertise

Posted on by Carrie Cecil

The biggest mistake legal teams make when engaging a litigation communications expert is failing to give access. Access to all relevant members of the legal team and transparency regarding the legal strategy is key to unlocking litigation communications expertise.  With privilege in place, the legal team can safely do the following:

1.    Provide the litigation communications team with relevant information as it becomes available.

2.    Ask for input on how legal actions might be viewed through the media lens.

3.    Honor the process:  reputation management works best when it is proactive.  

4.    Discuss potential outcomes to help the team prepare a character/brand profile and counter/supportive narratives ahead of time.

5.    Share anticipated filings:  communications experts can provide input (tone, language) on the document to maximize positive media impact.

Litigation communications experts work with the media to create more balanced, accurate, and less sensational coverage of a lawsuit.  Through reputation management practices and media strategies, litigation communications experts insist coverage of a lawsuit goes beyond the victim versus villain narrative.  

Are you an attorney who would like to learn more about how outside communications counsel can benefit your legal team? Reach out to carrie@anachel.com. 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.

Maintaining Privilege: Litigation Communications

Posted on 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

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.

Helping Litigators Win in the Court of Public Opinion

Posted on by Carrie Cecil

“A defense attorney may pursue lawful strategies to obtain dismissal of an indictment or reduction of charges, including an attempt to demonstrate in the court of public opinion that the client does not deserve to be tried.”

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy re Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada

Is it inappropriate to engage a communications professional to influence the outcome of the court case by encouraging early or favorable settlement or by pressuring the prosecution into bringing lesser or no charges?  Absolutely not!  In fact, it would be unprofessional not to: every case or dispute is tried in front of a judge within the legal system AND in the court of public opinion on social media and influencer circles.  

All too often, perceptions become reality.  A case could be settled in favor of a defendant but, due to a poor communications strategy before or during a trial, the defendant’s reputation could suffer permanent damage, resulting in financial and opportunity loss.

The litigation communications experts at ANACHEL Communications specialize in high-profile reputation management.  We carefully craft media relations strategies for our clients so that when litigation is resolved, careers and livelihoods continue to thrive.

If you’re an attorney who would like to hear more about our approach to litigation communications or book a confidential consultation to learn how we can help your practice, feel free to email info@anachel.com. 

Creating Effective Core Messages

Posted on by Carrie Cecil

How are Messages Created?

The message development process cannot be done in a vacuum.  It requires time and the direct input from the C-suite and obviously must be consistent with the organization’s vision and overall strategy.  The best way to generate key messages for an organization is by conducting a facilitated SWOT analysis to discuss the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.  

Image result for swot

The SWOT Analysis is a simple but useful framework for analyzing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, while opportunities and threats are external factors that can have an effect on the overall business. Ideally the weaknesses will be offset by the strengths, the threats should be addressed with a specific crisis protocol and there should be a plan to take advantage of the opportunities.The SWOT Analysis delves into each of the four areas by asking several interrogative questions similar to those provided below:

Strengths:

  • What are organization’s strengths?
  • What does the organization do better than others?
  • What makes the organization’s mission unique?
  • Which people in the organization bring strengths?

Weaknesses:

  • What are the organization’s weaknesses?
  • How can the organization minimize or eliminate the weaknesses?
  • What do competitors do better than the organization?

Opportunities:

  • Identify the organization’s underserved audiences/customers
  • Which strengths could be utilized better to eliminate current weaknesses and/ or threats?
  • What are the changes in regulations or mindset that can help the organization better achieve its mission?

Threats:

  • Which emerging competitors pose a threat to the organization?
  • How could current or future government regulation affect the organization’s mission?
  • How has the media negatively covered the organization?

The Core Message

When the SWOT is completed there should be ample information to create core messages and supporting proof points. Below is an example of a message about March Madness and how messaging could be used to describe it. The primary message is concise, informative and declarative. The proof points support the primary message with facts and useful information.

Key message:

The NCAA Division I basketball tournament known as “March Madness” is the best competition and most enjoyable event in all of sports.

Proof points:

  • All 68 teams have an equal opportunity to win the championship.
  • To win the championship, the team must win six straight games.
  • The tournament has compelling storylines and buzzer beaters over nearly three weeks.
  • It has to be the greatest, it’s called March Madness!

Message Deployment 

Once the message development process is complete there should be three or four core messages that appear in all of the organization’s internal and external communications.  Message consistency is essential to convincing audiences to take positive action. Messages are not just for the media. The organization’s core messages should be adopted by the marketing team, used in advertising, social media and executive presentations.  

Thank you to Anachel Partner, Ramsey Poston for this insightful blog.

For a concierge consult, we’re here for you. Reach out at info@anachel.com.