PR and the Law

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Introduction
Amongst his many other aphorisms on the subject of building a business empire Warren Buffet said, If you lose dollars for the firm by bad decisions, I will be understanding. If you lose reputation for the firm, I will be ruthless.

A brand or reputation may take many years and considerable investment to create but once damaged, it is both expensive and time consuming to rebuild. It is therefore no surprise that Public Relations companies are increasingly calling in the help of specialist media crisis lawyers to manage crises prior to publication, rather than simply calling for them to begin the mop-up operation after the fact via litigation. Apart from the publishing boom, the internet (including emails, websites and blogs) and local radio, there has been a considerable increase in consumer TV programmes, the effects of which can be devastating if incorrect. There is a natural synergy between the services offered by PR companies, namely brand or image management, and the skills of a specialist media crisis lawyer, well versed in the laws of defamation, copyright, trade secrets and privacy. Accordingly, a call on a Friday night from a journalist threatening to publish defamatory, confidential or private information about an individual or company can often be dealt with by a combination of PR and legal skills.

By Keith Schilling

This article was first published in Solutions - the magazine of the Law Society, Dispute Resolution section, May 2007.