Good morning. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are holding
on lines 3 and 4 looking for comment about the incident
you thought would go away when you first learned about it yesterday.
In reality, traditional media and social media leap on stories like these:
Sexual misconduct…hidden cameras…data theft…OSHA & discrimination complaints…
active shooter situations…treatment errors…worker strikes…
accusations of fiscal mismanagement…employee fraud…billing errors…
insurance disputes…medical equipment defects…environmental situations…
M&A…management transitions…regulatory issues…loss of star rating
It’s a simple fact: controversies today are tried in the Court of Public Opinion
more often than in the Court of Law.
As almost any general counsel of a large, publicly traded, consumer-oriented company will tell you, legal controversies today are tried in the Court of Public Opinion — at least as much as in any Court of Law. Every organization, especially large, publicly-traded corporations, has much to gain (or lose) by the way a legal controversy is positioned in the media. Because the value of a company’s reputation is immeasurable — and perhaps its largest uninsured asset — a corporation loses when the brand image is tarnished, even if the corporation technically wins at trial. Furthermore, since most legal controversies are settled prior to trial, the Court of Public Opinion has arguably become the most important battleground affecting not only good will and market share, but legal bargaining power and settlement negotiations. Managing this battleground, therefore, has become integral to many corporations’ legal strategies.
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics
“An attorney’s duties do not begin inside the courtroom door.”
Gentile vs. State Bar of Nevada
News now breaks first on social media, with traditional media sweeping Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for leads. Whether your law firm, client or bar association is immersed in crisis or dealing with a hot-button issue, your news can easily “go viral” in moments. Since it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only a few seconds to destroy one, “managing the message” is a necessary skill-set for attorneys, as well as CEOs, government leaders, executive directors, business and nonprofit executives.
Hennes Communications regularly works with and for outside and general counsel for corporations, government agencies, non-profits, schools, hospitals and educational institutions, helping them communicate their way through legal and reputational challenges ranging from criminal charges and claims of medical and professional malpractice to labor and employment issues, food and product liability issues, ownership and transition disputes that threaten the very existence of an organization. We are practiced in the art of working with attorneys and, in fact, are frequently brought in by attorneys who recognize the value we bring to the table. We often work with legal teams by immediately preparing for the Court of Public Opinion so their client is not declared “guilty” before they can even be heard in the Court of Law. In fact, we can sometimes help prevent a situation from spawning a lawsuit.
Our seminars, all previously-certified for Continuing Legal Education credits, include:
- Crisis Code Blue to Cool, Calm, and Collected:
Crisis Communications for Healthcare Executives & Their Attorneys
Our signature seminar can be done as a short, 45-minute to 1-hour seminar, appropriate for breakfast or practice group lunch meetings, or as a 2 to 4-hour seminar. Especially in today’s world of immediate information, when reporters won’t wait long for you to return that call before posting the story online and where virtually everyone is a “journalist” armed with a camera and able to reach thousands of people with one simple Facebook message, health care executives and their attorneys simply cannot wait until a legal decision is rendered. They must be prepared to vigorously defend their situation in a wide variety of venues, as well as media outlets. Hennes Communications often works with legal teams by immediately preparing for the Court of Public Opinion so they, the organization they serve and their client are not declared “guilty” before they can even be heard in the Court of Law — and sometimes, we can help forestall a situation from even spawning a court case at all. This seminar includes: establishing & maintaining “control of the message”; when a reporter calls – making your points and not just answering questions; reporter’s agenda vs. your agenda; dealing with the press proactively and reactively.
Our newest seminars aimed at legal audiences and their clients include:
- Winning on Social Media: Crisis Management in an Echo Chamber
Law firms, lawyers, companies and business leaders spend years building a sterling reputation that social media trolls can tear apart in seconds. Social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat and more – have become a primary information source and a dominant driver of reputation for individuals and organizations. Experience has shown that the faster and more forthright an organization is when it responds to thorny, emerging issues on social media, the more likely it is to contain or neutralize what might otherwise become an extended and damaging attack on its reputation and brand. This one-hour seminar places heavy emphasis on pragmatic, practical tools you can use to help your clients or your law firm succeed on social media.
Learning Objectives
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- How the fundamental rules of effective crisis communications apply to social media.
- How to leverage your social media accounts and make them work for you in reaching key stakeholders – the people who care most about you and your organization.
- How to evaluate social media threats and how that assessment informs your response.
- Social Media and the Courts: A New Frontier
Three have been more “trials of the century” than we have had centuries. This seminar explores why trials have been big news for decades, but also how profoundly coverage of those trials has changed with the digital revolution in communications – and what lawyers need to know about it. Topics will include: a brief history of high-profile media coverage of trials – and the sudden, recent change in how the coverage works; how and why social media are now crucial for journalists and why you must understand “iterative reporting”; social media’s impact on jurors and court rulings; the scarcity of research on how social media and digital journalism impact witnesses and trials overall; pros and cons of social media and digital journalism in trial coverage.
Learning Objectives
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- Lessons from jury misconduct on social media that led to mistrials and reversals.
- Understanding iterative journalism and what it means to attorneys and firms in the media spotlight.
- Do’s, don’ts and best practices for effective use of social media by attorneys.
- Getting to the Truth: How to Detect Fake News
Fake news is not new news. Masters of the art include Benjamin Franklin. But in the digital media era, when information – true and false – travels in seconds, fake news has become a prevalent challenge in society. This seminar delves into the history of fake news, explores how we are living through a second coming of Yellow Journalism and provides practical tips for how to recognize fake news – and avoid spreading it.
Learning Objectives
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- Lessons from history may show how to overcome the latest fake news era.
- Understanding confirmation bias and why it is the gasoline thrown on the fake news fire.
- Practical tips for recognizing fake news and how to be a better – and better-informed – news consumer.
- Crisis Communications and Social Media for Attorneys & Public Officials
For elected and public officials, social media represents special challenges – and special opportunities. Accessibility, information-sharing and gauging public interest are easier and more convenient than ever before. As are the opportunities to criticize, organize opposition and spread misinformation. And when a crisis hits, it will play out on social media. This seminar will help participants understand the influence of social media – and how it’s only going to grow. How public officials can use social media to the benefit of their organizations and constituents. And you’ll explore how to apply the best practices of effective crisis management on social media in a public setting.
Learning Objectives
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- How public records and sunshine laws work on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
- The critical step of distinguishing personal accounts from campaign and official government accounts.
- How to use social media to help achieve public policy goals.
- Journalism, Social Media & the Courts: A New Frontier (How Digital Journalism and Social Media are Changing Court Coverage)
This is a 1-hour seminar speaking to the fact that journalists have had a long love affair with reporting on lawyers, the courts and high-profile trials. That coverage looked the same for decades. Then, suddenly, just a few years ago, everything changed. Now, trials are covered live on Twitter. Lawyers’ opening and closing arguments are dissected in real time. And social media itself, with its recent dramatic impact on jurors and court rulings, is finding itself on trial. This seminar discusses how coverage of the legal system – in conventional media and on social media – has changed in the digital age, and what lawyers need to know about it. Other topics include a brief history of high-profile media coverage of trials – and the sudden, recent change in how the coverage works; how and why social media are now crucial for journalists and why you must understand “iterative reporting”; social media’s impact on jurors and court rulings; the scarcity of research on how social media and digital journalism impact witnesses and trials overall; pros and cons of social media and digital journalism in trial coverage.
For more information, please call us at 216-321-7774 and ask to speak to Bruce Hennes or Thom Fladung. For a short video of Bruce speaking, click here.
Hennes Communications has worked with the following organizations providing health care and similar services:
Associations & Organizations
- Absolute Health Services
- Affordable Care LLC
- AIDS Task Force
- Akron Children’s Hospital
- Akron General Health System
- Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services Board of Lorain County
- Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services Board of Summit County
- Alembic Health Communications
- Allegiant Healthcare
- Altercare Integrated Health Services
- AultCare
- Beatitudes Campus
- Bethesda Senior Living Communities
- Bridgewater Retirement Community
- Brookwood Management Company
- Capital Health Care Network
- Care Alliance Health Center
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- Castlewood Treatment Centers
- Children’s Hospital & Medical Center
- Christian Village Communities
- Communicare Health Services
- Community Alliance
- Concordia Care
- Continuing Healthcare Solutions
- Desert AIDS Project
- Eliot Community Human Services
- Eliza Bryant Village
- Eliza Jennings Senior Care Network
- Embassy Healthcare Management, Inc.
- EveryAge
- Firelands Regional Medical Center
- Five Star Quality Care
- Graves-Gilbert Clinic
- Grow Well Cleveland
- Hays Medical Center
- Henry County Hospital
- Hospice of the Western Reserve
- Hudec Dental
- Judson Services, Inc.
- Lake Health
- Lantern of Saybrook
- LCADA Way, The
- Legacy Health Care
- Louisa Ridge Adult Day Services
- McGregor House, The
- Menorah Park
- MetroHealth System
- Mohican Young Star Academy
- Montefiore
- Mt. Sinai Health Foundation
- Multicare Management Group
- National Church Residences
- Navigate 360
- New Avenues to Independence
- North American Dental Group
- North Branford Dental Group
- Northeast Ohio Medical University
- Physicians Pharmacy
- Pomerene Hospital
- Premier Physicians Center
- Providence Life Services
- Retirement Housing Foundation
- SafeGenerations
- Sisters of Charity Health System
- Southwest General Health Center
- Stein Hospice
- St. Vincent Charity Medical Center
- Summit Pain Specialists
- Surgical Spine Associates
- Trialtus Bioscience
- True Health Diagnostics
- University Hospitals
- U.S. Acute Care Solutions
- ViaQuest
- Village at St. Edward
- Wings of Change Therapy
Oher Organizations
- Achievement Centers for Children
- AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
- Akron Area YMCA
- Battered Women’s Shelter/Rape Crisis Center of Summit County
- Beech Brook
- Bellefaire JCB
- Berea Children’s Home
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland
- Caring for Kids
- Center for Families & Children
- Center for Victims
- Cleveland Catholic Charities
- Cleveland Foundation, The
- Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland
- Hattie Larlham Care Group
- HELP Foundation
- Highland County Water Co., Inc.
- Holden Forests & Gardens
- Humane Society of Summit County
- International Association of Better Business Bureaus
- Jewish Community Board of Akron
- Jewish Community Center of Cleveland
- Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland
- Jewish Family Service Association
- Milestones Austism Resources
- National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians
- North Coast Community Homes
- Ohio Guidestone
- Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine
- Youth Opportunities Unlimited
Hennes Communications has also worked with many top law firms – and their clients – in the U.S. You can find a partial list here.
Contact us today and speak to one of our specialists.
Article: How Lawyers & Crisis Communicators Can Work Together