MAHKET FOCUS 17

Courting attention~ Law firms are increasingly using PR to help buildreputation, enhance thought leadership, and attractprospects for new business. Tonya Garda reports

InAugust 200S, MinnOlpolis­based law fil111Faegrc & Ben­

MJn distributed a press releaseilnnc.'J\lOcin~d\Cfomliltion of it••nl.'W

food. ~riC1llnu-e. and hkiuds gml.lp(FABJ. After the announcement,

the finn arranged mt.>tliainterviews

Juring AgNite. a Septemher a~ri.

olltural gala that it co-sponsoretl

Juring the Repuhlinm NationalConvcnlinn. to demonstrate the

practice ~rollp'S expertise."[FAB practice le.de",] "'ere .hle

to start talking about the hot issues

of the day, which a( the time was

commodity prices," says KathleenLeach. director of marketing for

Faq<re & Ben""" "11,e articles th"taune out after AANirc set us up in

a positive IcaJc~hip light."

More than 30 years ago, the

Supreme Court casc Bares v. State

Hat of Arizona pennitted lawyer'S[0 advertise their services. More

ft.'t:ently, lelwfinns havc been usingPR to an'omplish a host of ~oals.

For many finn.;; and Iheir prn<..1itio­

ncrs, takin~ a thought leadership

position in spec..;ahy pmctice areasis chief amon~ them. In addition.competition among finns. the me­

dia's ntttf for ex pen commenhlry.and thed1aJK,=tolrsefTK...t!ia to 1"l"".\Ch

a favorahle rondusion to a c..'1lo"e(or

prevent bad public..ity as the case is[(icd) has made PR more of a fo(1.l••.

For the new FAB group. media

outrc3(·h focuses on trade prcs.c;inthe ~rkllhurnl and hiofuel space.

such as Fcedstuffs and Pork Exec;

regjonall)lL"illL.'\;S0I.Itk1s;find otheroutlets roverin~ farming issues.

"The lX"l)plewho can influence adeci.c;ion... when it comes to rl~al1

n:presc'>ntation are a tight group ofIc-.Jders.and thec;care the thin~ that

they're reaJin~." I.c-.Il'h says.lnc firm ic;alsocons1dcr;~ a n'KJVe

into soda! media [0 hdp establic;h its

thouRht leadership IX1Siticm.

"Wc\'e ht"m talking about sot.;almeJia, hll>gging, and Twiner," she

says. -lfthat·swhc,'reollrclier1tsare ...

we've got to he part of the discus·sion. While I'm somewhat appre·

hensive ... we {havc to] go there. "For guidance, Lc..•..Jch is turning

to LaBreche. its Pi{ firm for more

than a YL'Ar,&,h LaBreehe, CEO

of the fiml. says the legal pmfcs...;;ion

is perfectly positioned to Uf,C sl)cialmedia. But firms have to he cau­

tiou~ ahout not ~ivin~ away theiradvke for free.

"Th"t's their intellectual property:

~he S.1~.••Look at content that law

fjrm~ alreadYCTe<ue... \X'e·re~tartin~to creale more traffi(· on infonna­

tion they've already productoJ for

pllhlic ("()f}sumption."

A NEW APPROACH

Last year. Perkins Coie identified

its intellectual property UP) and

hotels and leisure ~rolipS as areao;;where the finn could differentiate

itself. Al-Ct)ftJin~ to Lori Anger. di­

ent relations manager at PerkinsCoie. the firm has taken a more

proactive appco<lch to brand itselfin these two are<ls.

" [Forthe h•• cl, and Ici,uregroup],

\\It: \.\Iurkc..'t!with lk"'.Mlsof the practK."t'to help )..'<..1 them Ol.ltthc..tt-Spt:4lking

al nlOfcft.-n(1.'S... and heJpin~ Iht'm

to become thou~t leaJers at theforefront of th<lt indmtry." Anger!\<tvs.111e firm used the same hK1.iCS

fo~ its rp praf..1it-e.she 8dtkThe hospitality industry has

declined with the rest of the econ­

omy in ret'ent months. Yet, PRhas allowCtI the firm to he nimhle

HOW LAW FIRMS USE PR

Thought leadershipLaw firms are using PR tocreate awareness about a

law firm. its practitioners.

and expertise in a specialtypractice area

litigation communicationLegal practitioners areenlisting PR pros to helppresent a case in the media,which can have an impact onthe outcome in the courtroom

Issues managementLaw firms that work incontroversial areas can

use PR to help correctmisperceptions in the mediaabout a topic

cnOtlgh to continue work with this

industry by aherin~ the messa~e."We >laned at the;,.,w,t of nppnr­

tlmny and as the economy hao;;gt)flC

Ikl\VIl, \\!C'veshifted focus from talk·

in~ about expertise of how to dodcalo;;and more into how to unv.ind

them, I:.lIlkmptcies, [etel" ",)'John

IleUerolan, partner and cofounderof I {ellennan Barer:z Communica­

tions. which has worked with Per­

kins C..oiefor more than a year.PR to;;llc;eJ not just on behalf of the

firms themselves. hut also in senice

to the cases thcy' rc litigating. litiga­tion comrmmiOltions can serve Itvital

,,)Ie in Itchicvin~ fa\O\)l"dbleOIlta'mCSfor law firms and their clients.

"I have had a number of cases

\\·herc ... the story has appeared in

the pressor isW)in~ to appt:'".Jrin the

press." says Tom Hoopes, attorneywith Lihbylln<~lC5, a &""m-b,,..,Jlaw finn. "As a lawyer ... you wanl

to influence the press becausc YOII

know [it] may impact the decision

maker arttl the Jm.'ssmay also impactthe brand of the client."The firm has worked on about

a dozen major cases with Rasky

13.1C1'!cin StralcWc (~ommunicarions.Joseph Baerldn, president of the

a~cnc..-y,says that in cases in which

he's worked with} loopes. there

were "daily meetings" to discusscommunications strategy.

"Lawyers who [understand the

importance of a)ffiJnunications] are

looking for advice on how to frame

their position before it's public,"Baerlein says."With the advent of the Inter­

net, [the media] is aU pervasive,"

f {oopes adds. "It can surround thecase and impact it in all kinds of

different ways."

JUSTTHE FACTS

Media cover~'C can also surroundan issue that is t."Onnectoo to a law

finn. making PR a critical ~),drtof the

effort to correct misperceptions.

DKit'r is im offshore f..'O'1>orateandfinance law £inn and fm;mdal ser­

vicepruvider\\;th a preserK'Cin off·

short' jtlri~i(1i()ns like the Ca)man

Islands, Many believe that openinRan offshore hmk aC'cotu1tand d()in~

hi Isinc..-s."in sllCh location~ is simple

"You ,vant toinfluence the

press because... press mayalso impactthe brand ofthe client"- 10m J !ooprs, attorney

Uhbyll,x,pcr

and unfll,'ulatt·t.J. With criticism of

dt)ing business offshore-comingfrom all sidt.'S.corft.'t.1in~ thflt Ix,lic....[in this economic enviwnm(:nt has

~aineJ impIH1anl"C'."[We uscO ro ,hu,k], 'We'll "'''IT)'

alnlto.lf drnts and IX'I( \\,my alx)('ltwhat the resl of the wt1rld thinks:"

says Denise Gower, s<'.'l1iorman~'Crof business development and mar,

kcring at <4ricr. "We ("dn't live in thatkind of cnvironmc..'nt r now 1. whit·h

is why PR is S() imfx)r1cmt."Ogier and Makovsky & Co. are

working to explain offshore le~alservices to variolls amlienn ..-s.

"We [are] re-c<jllCluin~ the gen-eral lTX."tliaamll wh;1t('fshllrc~J

scrvic..~ arc ... alxlUt." says MichaelGoodwin, VP of financial and

professional scrvia..-s at Maklwsky.

"We have to capitalizc most on their

expenise and intelk"t.1ual capital."Going forward. <ISf'at~rc & &..'11-

son's Leach explains.ltlw fim1s will

have to VUlture innt'asin~ly illli I the

d~hJspal'e. Whiletheth:"lghtdt~~ many P'dll<;C, there are still ~1(~­

sible benefits for the legal industry.

"SOtjaJ nc...1V,.·orkingis J.,'oin~to havea ... powerful effC'(1on how law)'l'f'Sbt·come credentialed," Iidlemlan

S3~. "The Iflwyt'rs and the mnrket­

ers are hcc{)min~ more savvy."

Adds Perkins Coie's An~cr: "Itseems to me that lx"t."<Iuscthe nc.."\\!!i.

can I~ snafCll so e:l.;;ily.it's like beingvalid(tted OVt'rand over again." •

Lwww.prweekus.com • April 6. 2009 • PRWeek