9 Ways You're Ticking Me Off: A PR Primer
We've been together a long time, so let me cut to the chase: For such an elite segment, you—lawyers, firms and corporations—are often shockingly unsophisticated in dealing with the press.
March 18, 2019 at 11:51 AM
4 minute read
I know I'm not the most lovable sort. As a columnist, I have some irksome habits, like a penchant for snooping for gossip or pressing people for gory details. I can't help it if I'm a hound dog who just can't stop digging for that tasty bone.
And, so long as it's not something negative about you or your firm, you eat it up. But let's be honest: We need each other. You want me to help enhance your brand, and I need you for my stories.
We have a tricky relationship. Often, when we see each other in social settings, we're like BFFs (yes, I am on hugging terms with quite a few of you). Yet, I know you regard me with caution. How many times do you ask in the course of a conversation at some cocktail party or dinner, “This is off-the-record, right?” (My personal rule: If I'm holding a cocktail, you're safe.)
We've been together a long time, so let me cut to the chase: For such an elite segment, you—lawyers, firms and corporations—are often shockingly unsophisticated in dealing with the press. I'm aghast at how you bungle simple questions or make stupid demands.
Permit me then to tell you what annoys the hell out of journalists:
Don't love me only when you need me. You know who you are. You chase me down in faraway lands to tell me about your firm's most awesome achievement (The win! The women's initiative! The new gym!). But what happens when I ask about something sticky, like that fat rainmaker who's done something naughty or your diversity record? Radio silence.
Don't ask me for a draft of what I'm writing. Obvious, but bears repeating: I am not on your PR team, and you have no veto power. You will have to sweat it out until the story comes out.
Don't cower behind your flack (e.g., the public relations peep). It's always stunning when a hot-shot lawyer will talk to me only in the presence of his PR maven (yes, it's usually a male partner with a female flack). Frankly, I'd be a lot more impressed if you have the balls to talk to me without supervision. Seriously, am I that scary?
But if the flack insists on being present, s/he should zip it. Some of my peers are bothered by flacks sitting in on interviews, but I can tune them out, so long as they are seen but not heard. The only time flacks should interject is to provide factual information.
Don't ask me to cover some boring award. I don't mean to sound dismissive, but I couldn't care less about most industry awards. Nor do I care about those “good citizen” honors either, like how the head of your ERISA group was named “Top Cub Scout Leader of Montclair.”
Don't pitch me an “exclusive” that's not exclusive. Come clean if you're pitching the same story to other media outlets. And for goodness sake, tell me if you're doing so within my own news organization! If someone else at Law.com just featured that dynamic duo you've been selling me, why would you think I'd want the leftovers?
Don't cancel our interview because you got a better gig with the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Journalists have fragile egos, particularly the ones who don't work at the Times or the Journal.
Don't try to get me fired by complaining about me to management. This happens, usually under the guise that I'm not being fair or respectful. (Fair I can understand, but respectful?) This is like tattling, which is way beneath your pay scale.
Finally, it's always better to comment—particularly if you feel the story might be unfavorable to you. There's only one way to get your side across: Tell me. I tend to be much more sympathetic if you make an effort. I'm only human.
Contact Vivia Chen at [email protected]. On Twitter: @lawcareerist.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLetter from Asia: Will Big Law Ever Care to Understand Asia Again?
Stars and Gripes: Firms Need a 'Superstar Culture' to Crack the U.S. Market
6 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Legal Marketer’s Guild to Gift Giving
- 2'A Never-Ending Nightmare': Apple Sued for Alleged Failure to Protect Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
- 3Judge Awards $200K in Attorney Fees Following $80K Employment Discrimination Award
- 4Managing the Ladder: An Overview of Modern Equitable Subrogation
- 5People in the News—Dec. 10, 2024—Margolis Edelstein, Duane Morris
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250