Big Brother is watching. Any unfortunate comment by an attorney can be caught in the blizzard of new media devices and can spell disaster for a case. Here is a primer of what attorneys should watch for and how to overcome instincts that could turn an attorney into a victim.
Case in point: A capable reporter was working on a special report about the death of a child due to negligence. The case made national headlines. The plaintiff’s attorney spent days going over the details of the case with the reporter. He introduced him to expert witnesses and provided analogous material from other cases across the nation. The reporter’s intent was sincere — it was a public safety issue about which he felt passionate. And yet, when a major network aired the coverage, the facts were distorted, the sound bites irrelevant, the crucial information missing and the entire presentation mangled. What went wrong?
