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PM Forum - Frankfurt
Legal PR in the right proportion
For most professional firms, pro-active media work today is a natural part of their public image. A deal announcement today, a by-lined article tomorrow, an expert statement the next day - statistics show that media presence of lawyers and tax advisers has steadily grown over the past years. And especially at a time of smaller budgets, communications and marketing departments are interested in compensating savings in marketing budgets with considerably increased media outreach. But how much publicity does a law firm really need? And how much is beneficial? Poor external communications can become an internal problem. And how is the growing competition for media presence received by the journalists?
Questions like these were in the focus of interest at the first PM Forum Germany event in 2010 which took place at Simmons & Simmons imposing premises on the 22nd floor of Frankfurt Fair Tower. About 30 PR and marketing managers of international and mid-sized German law firms came to listen to Joachim Jahn, business editor with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and one of the best-known journalists in the legal area, and his fellow editor Corinna Budras, also a trained lawyer. Both are – amongst other tasks – in charge of the weekly legal and tax page of FAZ, and thus have a profound understanding of judicature and legislation as well as a deep insight into the legal market as such.
The speakers described how they have observed the changes in legal PR over the past years. Both agreed that the constant professionalisation of law firms’ media relations has made their work easier in many ways as dealing with one key person who coordinates all media pitches as well as enquiries and ad-hoc expert statements is much easier than handling with a whole partnership. Still, they clearly pointed out some basic rules which the firms’ spokespeople and PR managers should have in mind when addressing a publication with a story idea, expert statement or by-lined article. Joachim Jahn vividly illustrated the do’s and dont’s of legal PR while providing an insight into the everyday work in a media department. Corinna Budras, focussing also on articles about the legal sector and law firm stories, stressed that legal expert views are always most welcome – but not all experts’ can always be considered. She also put emphasis on the sometimes difficult process of authorising quotes and the lawyers’ concerns towards being cited in clear words and with a decided opinion.
A lively discussion after the presentation gave room for the firm members to make clear their position. They underlined that the daily business of internal PR managers is bound by some constraints as well. Not only does their work include much more tasks than handling media relations. But also do they always have to have in mind the firm’s - and especially the firm’s clients’ - interests. From this perspective a statement which will give a good media quote maybe damaging from a business point of view. A successful cooperation between law firms and journalists therefore is always built on mutual understanding and well reflected approach. As a result, a quote given by Joachim Jahn in a former article on the relation between law firms and legal editors fit well for both sides: Less can sometimes be more.
Manuela Schönrock
Silke Haars Kommunikation
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