In the event of a legal crisis for your business, something that must be given high priority is your PR and communication strategy. With how quickly information spreads via the internet, news media, and social media, what should be a simple legal matter settled in the courts, can soon be blown out of proportion and cause serious damage to your reputation (regardless of the legal implications or outcome).
At the same time, stakeholders and parties interested in your business can lose confidence and this could ultimately cost your company money and future investment. Because of the potential consequences, having an effective public relations strategy for a legal crisis is vital and this is what is discussed below.
Identifying the Nature of the Crisis
The first step is to identify what the crisis is. Is an employee looking to start a conviction appeal? Has a customer opened a lawsuit against your business? Is your business embroiled in some type of industry action that could have legal ramifications? The identification process should involve ascertaining core facts such as:
- The scope of the crisis
- The parties involved
- The potential legal implications
- How this crisis could be perceived by the public
- Potential reputational damage
With these factors understood, you can essentially know the scale of the crisis and therefore, the scale of the response you need to put in place for your PR and communication strategy. Make sure that all the relevant parties are included in the discussion including legal representatives as they will be able to give accurate info on the legal implications.
Developing a Communication Plan
Once the scope of the legal crisis is fully understood, you can develop a communication plan to control the fallout from the event. It is essential that your messaging remains consistent for internal and external channels, and that you have a set stance that you take on the crisis.
This helps avoid mixed messaging and making your business appear weak or to have communication difficulties, it also makes you appear in control. You also have to consider how you will communicate and the channels you will use, these could include:
- Internal emails
- Website updates
- Social media posts
- Quotes or articles for news outlets
How much you divulge, the approach you take, and the channels you use will depend on the severity of the legal crisis.
Engaging with Stakeholders
It’s also essential that you engage with your stakeholders. These are the people invested in your business and they will be rightly concerned if they hear from the wrong sources that your business is embroiled in a legal issue. Make sure that your stakeholders are addressed promptly, and that you calm any worries they have. It’s also important to control misinformation spreading to stakeholders.
Decisive PR and Communication
The key to successful public relations and communication during a legal crisis as we can see is to act decisively and swiftly. To do this, it is first advisable to create a PR plan for situations such as these that your business can put into action the instance a legal issue occurs.
By doing so, you can control communication, prevent misinformation from spreading, and protect your company reputation while the legal proceedings are happening. At the same time, you can keep stakeholders in the loop and retain their confidence.