To Market a Crisis Practice, Train the Attorneys in Crisis Communications

Law firms are increasingly marketing crisis management and communications to clients. Almost half of Am Law firms have a practice with “crisis” in the title.

Clients and law firms benefit when their attorneys can skillfully navigate competing interests in a crisis. Unfortunately for many attorneys, crisis skills are rarely taught; they are picked up haphazardly — if at all — over the years.

The better approach is a more formal training process that helps attorneys counsel clients through high-stakes situations.

The marketplace is calling for that expertise. Today’s attorneys are often expected to go beyond their strictly legal responsibilities and assist clients in protecting their reputation and business prospects. As Ken Frazier, CEO and former general counsel of Merck, said:

“Sophisticated clients don’t want ‘pure’ legal advice, they want workable solutions to their problems…at the intersection of law, business, technology, politics and moral judgment. Smart clients expect their lawyers to help them find solutions.”

Frazier’s viewpoint is especially salient during a crisis. Legal concerns are vital, of course, but they are not the only factor clients must evaluate. Every successful crisis campaign must carefully identify stakeholders, provide compelling narratives and develop robust engagement.

A training program in three areas can help attorneys better understand crisis management and enable them to operate more effectively as part of the client’s team.

Stakeholder Identification

During day-to-day legal work, lawyers often focus on what clients need in the courtroom and the boardroom. During a crisis, however, clients must also consider the concerns of multiple audiences, inside and outside the legal system. This includes employees, business partners, media, competitors, regulators, investors, advocacy groups and others.

As the crisis evolves, each group will express themselves, positioning and petitioning for their own interests. The collective opinion of these stakeholders, not simply the specific resolution of the legal issues, often determines the ultimate success of an organization’s strategy. Lawyers can be critical to this work. Merck’s Ken Frazier, for example, was so deft in handling the crisis surrounding the company’s withdrawal of the VIOXX drug, that he was promoted to CEO.   

Message Development

Effective messaging is vital in both legal argument and crisis communications. Unlike a legal argument, however, a crisis narrative expands beyond pure questions of law. A narrative is: a succinct argument, aimed at key stakeholders, to educate or persuade. A narrative is not: a slogan, a tagline or a repetition of legal arguments.

During high-stakes situations, clients need to address the concerns of different stakeholders, each of whom require slightly different information. For example, imagine a university whose basketball team has been rumored to haze players. Audiences as disparate as undergraduates, student athletes, alumni, donors, the school’s athletic conference, the local community, faculty, prospective students’ families and media will be looking for information, a vision, a rebuttal to criticism. Attorneys can help guide clients in communicating powerful arguments, while at the same time protecting the legal strategy.

Audience Engagement

Where legal proceedings are carefully timed and choreographed with strict rules, a crisis has no restrictions on when and how to reach stakeholders. The result is that clients and their advisors are constantly calculating what — if anything — to say, and how to reach those audiences.

Useful training for attorneys explores the different ways clients consider engaging with stakeholders, including town hall meetings, traditional media outreach, op-eds, videos, social media and other written communications. Decisions about those activities often take place quickly, while court proceedings can move at a slower place. When properly trained, lawyers can play an important role in discussions about strategy and tactics, as well as participating in the outreach itself.

There are significant revenue and reputational opportunities for law firms that can help clients successfully navigate a crisis. Through proper training, attorneys can move beyond being pure legal advisors and become true counselors to clients in high-stakes situations.