Some PR Advice to Law Firms Facing Bad Press: Be Honest, Tell a Positive Story

Legal Marketing

Some PR Advice to Law Firms Facing Bad Press: Be Honest, Tell a Positive Story

Posted May 12, 2008, 05:48 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A well-publicized mass e-mail by a fired associate at Paul Hastings is raising questions about the proper way for law firms to handle news of lawyer dismissals and other negative press.

The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) is raising the issue after a mass e-mail to colleagues by Shinyung Oh claiming the firm mishandled her dismissal six days after her miscarriage. Oh says the firm told her she was being let go for performance reasons, despite prior glowing appraisals of her work. "What I do not understand is the attempt to blame the associate for not bringing in the business that should have been brought in by each of you and to hide your personal failures by attempting to tarnish my excellent performance record," Oh wrote.

Eileen King, global director of public relations for Paul Hastings, in an interview with the Am Law Daily denied that Oh was let go as part of firmwide layoffs, but said some associates left as part of the performance review process. She told ABAJournal.com that its overall head count is up for the year.

Law firm consultant Peter Zeughauser told the Wall Street Journal that law firms generally are reluctant to characterize firings as layoffs for fear it will hurt recruiting efforts. Firms facing economic pressures may be more willing to fire lawyers, and the reason is often due to a mix of economic and performance reasons. So how should firms respond to media inquiries when they dismiss lawyers?

Dan Weiner, co-chair of the personnel committee at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said the best advice for law firms is to be honest. "In the world of inside sources and blogs, everyone knows why you're doing what you're doing anyway," he told the Wall Street Journal.

Legal Blog Watch raised the public relations issue in regard to another story about charges by an associate at Bingham McCutchen that the firm mishandled her complaint she had been drugged at a holiday party. The law firm quickly reacted with a statement that said it took the complaint seriously, took prompt steps to investigate, and provided personal safety training to staff.

Legal Blog Watch concluded Bingham handled the PR offensive well. The blog offered advice on the best way to respond to such negative publicity from the book Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference, by Richard S. Levick and Larry Smith of Levick Strategic Communications. Some of its PR nuggets:

--Instead of offering an explanation, narrate the steps taken to resolve the problem.

--Go beyond what is expected.

--Have an alternative, positive story to tell.

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Posted by Tiffany - 2 months, 5 hours, 40 minutes ago

Debra, Paul Hastings should take your advice. Eileen King, Global Director of Public Relations for Paul Hastings, is a liar. On May 12th she claimed publicly that Paul Hastings is not laying off associates. The truth is that Paul Hastings partners were advised at their annual partners’ retreat in Palm Beach on April 3rd and April 4th last month that they would be required to lay off senior associates in each of Paul Hastings’ offices worldwide in order to deal with slumping business in Paul Hastings corporate department. In addition, Paul Hastings began laying off corporate and real estate associates last fall and has thereafter continued to stealthily lay off associates, approximately two at a time, to avoid media attention. When the firm starts “cutting muscle and not fat” and says as much to the associates it is laying off, and then tries to claim publicly it is not laying anyone off, it’s downright dirty.

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