Crisis Management – Case Studies

When the Media Calls a Law Firm, Discretion Matters.
[Media Relations]

Law firms have no shortage of highly sensitive matters. Aside from proactively generating press releases and story pitches for the media, one is also the first line of defense when things go sideways…for the law firm OR the client. Once the media gets wind of a potential story, it demands strategic and skillful interaction with reporters and attorneys to keep the story fair, favorable or even quiet.

Stories come from nowhere sometimes and the communications person is almost always the last to know. Knowing the media/reporter, what they want, and what they know is critical. It is also key to avoid combative responses and earn a reporter’s trust. The end goal is to provide information fairly and judiciously and control tempers and instincts of all involved.

Most reporters have one goal…an accurate story. But if they cannot get information by their deadline, they will go with what they have no matter how it makes one side or the other look. Being responsive but understanding the give and take involved can help you get info and respond accordingly. Certain tactics can even slow the story and help turn the tide or tone of the reporting. No two issues are the same and the parties involved are always different, so the experience to view the entire scene from 30,000 feet as well as ground-level provides an advantage.

Stories can come from anywhere and the communications person is almost always the last to know. Knowing the media/reporter, what they want, and what they know is critical. It is also key to avoid combative responses and earn a reporter’s trust. The end goal is to provide information fairly and judiciously and control tempers and instincts for all involved. 

Information Protection/Identity Theft
[Media Relations – Mitigation]

SITUATION: A Dallas-Fort Worth national network affiliate reporter planning a ‘Shame On You’ feature on a firm client reached out to us for comment. The story was based on an identity theft/improper information protection angle based on several misdirected communications containing detailed loan application information. It was assumed the lapse led to subsequent financial losses from identity theft.

RESPONSE: In cooperation with the firm’s legal counsel, the client’s legal counsel and external public relations counsel, we coordinated an interview with the client CEO and reporter. Providing supporting information, documents and process clarification, we developed counter points addressing the reporter’s perception of the situation.

RESULT: Significant mitigation of unfavorable story and a favorable interview with client’s CEO. Story was essentially turned the nature of the story from ‘criminal mismanagement’ to ‘cautionary tale’ presenting the client in a much better light.

Texas County Justice Center Melee
[Media Relations – Mitigation]

SITUATION: A Dallas-Fort Worth national network affiliate reporter reached out to us for comment regarding our construction client involved in a political fracas regarding a project in a neighboring county. A county seat in North Texas undergoing construction of a new justice center, halted construction based on disputes among county commissioners and subsequent lawsuits. Construction was nearing completion and the suits were based on misinformation and political posturing. Our client, a well-reputed national construction company, found itself in the middle of the conflagration. Client was being accused by one county judge of not fulfilling contractual obligations and sub-standard construction practices. The claims were verifiably false but the reporter did not have full input by all parties involved in the situation.

RESPONSE: In cooperation with the client’s legal counsel, leadership and external public relations counsel, we provided a full account of the timeline, contracts and records of fulfillment and other documents to clarify the situation. We also provided the reporter an interview with our counsel for the client to illuminate (on background) specific questions as to the story’s accuracy.

RESULT: Favorable: Near reversal of potentially negative feature as a result of preparation, clear message and “assisting” the reporter.

Nigerian Barge Trial (Enron)
[Media Relations–Long-term Story Management]

SITUATION: A white-collar criminal attorney within the firm served as lead defense counsel in the first criminal trial resulting from the Enron debacle. The attorney represented one of four former top executives of a global financial corporation facing conspiracy and fraud charges related to the sale of an interest in several energy barges for the provision of power to the city of Lagos, Nigeria. The “Nigerian Barge” transaction, as it was referred to, allowed Enron to illegally book about $12 million in pretax profit, when in fact there was no real sale and no real profit.

As the global financial services corporation had cut its own deal – publicly firing bankers and agreeing to the outside oversight of its structured-finance transactions and promising cooperation with prosecutors’ ongoing investigation – there was very high media interest from national and legal industry outlets. From the onset reporters wanted information regarding the defense strategy, details about progress and anticipated potential outcomes for the client – a near constant flow of inquiries during the two years until the completion of the trial.

RESPONSE: Key to our strategic management of the demand, was to keep the media reasonably sated. We set out to provide minimal yet substantive information when available, while limiting our information to trusted reporters who would keep communications unattributed and ‘on background’ until the trial outcome, and do this within the bounds of client confidentiality restrictions.

RESULT: Neutral: While the nature of the case did not lend itself to a positive “result” for our attorney, we were able to prevent misinformation  by establishing mutually trusted exchange of information with reporters who covered the story fairly and confidentially. The high-profile status of this matter and the avoidance of negative reporting was however, beneficial to the reputation of the attorney and the firm’s ability to handle notorious white-collar matters.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Action
[Media Relations – Mitigation]

SITUATION: This matter was an exercise in ‘making the best of a bad situation’ in that there was no question to the veracity of the story and therefore little or no room for positive presentation. A law firm agreed to pay a fine of $1.2 million to the SEC for violating a court order in a pending lawsuit against a privately-held investment advisory firm, one of the law firm’s former clients.

RESPONSE: Over the months-long story, focus efforts on mitigation and containment of the core story through cooperation with authorities and reporters. Coordinate with involved stakeholders, legal counsel and outside public relations counsel to ensure responsiveness and authenticity with all communications and official statements and providing only facts, no spin or perceived effort to affect the story.

RESULT: Stabilized a negative story. What was bad news from the start, was contained to the facts alone, as the team worked to mitigate any potential for the story to grow or worsen.

Local Government Preparation for Y2K
[Crisis Planning and Response]

SITUATION: The Year 2000 calendaring problem, or Y2K, related to the uncertainties in the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates beginning in the year 2000. It was a reasonable assumption that the inclusion of a 20th-century date in critical and pervasive computer programs could cause various and potentially catastrophic errors. There was true potential for these errors to cascade from system to system and create serious problems with infrastructure, travel, financial services, power grids, military and emergency services and even air travel. There was no shortage of potential glitch scenarios.

While it was widely believed Y2K system patches and reprogramming efforts would resolve this, there could be no certainty until after 12 a.m., Dec. 31, 1999. As a result, preparations for worst-case responses had to be in place. The City of Dallas utilizes computers and electronic systems for every element of its day-to-day operations, controlling critical communications, utility service delivery, public safety and emergency services. This meant that far-reaching efforts needed to be made in forecasting and preparation for countless potential failures.

PREPARATION: Our Public Information Office team began planning 12 months in advance. Working with every City department and using a wide swath of data projections, scenarios, testing and exercises, we developed a proactive communications strategy for the City of Dallas and its various departments well in advance of Y2K. This plan included a suite of nimble response scenarios for everything from best to worst-case outcomes from the event itself. This included an all-hands-on-deck, 24-hour watch by all critical City staff from 12 p.m. Dec. 31, 1999, through 12 p.m. Jan. 1, 2000.

RESULT: Jan. 1, 2000 passed without incident. But the knowledge gained from the Y2K exercises revealed weaknesses and strengths within departmental communications systems that proved highly valuable in updating and upgrading technical and procedural elements. These led to more dependable and responsive service-delivery and public safety for the citizenry of Dallas.

Local Government Response to 9/11
[Crisis Planning and Response]

SITUATION: 9/11 is a textbook case for emergency response. The event was an unprecedented tragedy with repercussions far beyond the event at ground zero. Unexpected and shocking, it immediately demanded clear, broad thinking regarding potential subsequent targets of vulnerability, of which the City of Dallas had many. Even the City’s robust, comprehensive crisis plan didn’t include planes intentionally flying into corporate towers. This event required immediate and extraordinary response to bring the most critical and timely information to citizens, first responders and City staff.

RESPONSE: As a Public Information Officer assigned to city-owned radio station WRR 101.1 FM, I served as liaison to multiple City departments needing to disseminate information and coordinate internal and external communications. From writing and airing public service announcements to preparing the station to become a central communications platform for emergency public broadcasts, our team managed myriad tasks related to City operations as well as coordinating responses by local and national media outlets.