What Litigation Communications Is, and What It Is Not.

Litigation communications is the work of finding out what the other side is saying about a case in public, and making sure the plaintiff’s account reaches the press and the public, inside the rules on trial publicity, under counsel’s direction, for the life of the case. It is not public relations for the law firm, and it is not advertising for clients.

What it covers

On a matter, it is five things run together. Research: what the defense is already running, who the audience is, and what the public record says. Strategy and messaging: the story and the language it runs on, built from that research. Client communications: direct, consent-based contact with claimants and survivors, on a set cadence, for as long as the matter runs. Media placement: the story put in front of the audience the case depends on, not just a national masthead. Daily monitoring: what changed today, caught before it becomes a problem.

The order matters. Most people start with placement. I start with research, because on every matter I have worked, the defendant had a communications operation in place before the complaint was filed, and you cannot answer what you have not seen.

What it is not

It is not marketing for the firm. A firm that wants to be known for more than its last verdict needs a different engagement, on a different timeline, and I run that separately. It is not claimant advertising. Ads reach some people. News stories reach the people the ads miss, which is why a case of 8,000 women grew the way it did. And it is never contact with jurors, witnesses or the venire. Everything I do is structured as privileged attorney work product, at counsel’s direction, within Rule 3.6.

Why the plaintiff side usually has none

Defendants retain national crisis communications firms as a matter of course, often before you file. Plaintiff firms rarely retain anyone, because the work looks like a cost rather than a case function. It is a case function. The first step costs nothing: text me a case name and, the same day, you have in writing what the defense is running against it. What I do, in full →