Since I began thoroughly researching law schools and the admissions processes about six months ago, I found myself reading a lot of articles about careers in the legal field. While browsing around the American Bar Association's website today, I found an article titled "Why Law Firm Public Relations Fails." After reading the title, I realized that public relations can truly be tied to any and every field. Although there are some distinct differences in the job descriptions of lawyers and public relations practitioners, after reading the article, public relations practitioners and lawyers have to work together to ensure the success of public relations at law firms.
According to the article, one reason why public relations practitioners and lawyers at law firms should work together is because lawyers tend not to answer calls from public relations agencies, and miss opportunities to share their feedback about matters that may be in the media. As we all have seen in recent years, traditional journalism has been overshadowed by citizen journalism with the increase of social networks, online forums and blogs. Things written by citizen journalists can readily be picked up by news organizations looking to be the first to broadcast news and not checked to see if the facts in the story received are indeed facts, so stories become viral and the public will believe what is out now whether the story is true or false. Therefore, lawyers should work with public relations agencies in responding in a timely manner to preserve their image and their brand, so that it will not get tainted by the media.
In addition, according to the article, lawyers tend to disrespect the value of the public relations practitioners and fail to see how they can work together. After reading that I thought about how I can use my public relations skills to bridge the gap between lawyers and public relations practitioners. When I become a lawyer, I can persuade other lawyers how we could preserve or enhance the image of the law firm favorably in the court of public opinion while still adhering to the laws of the land.
As I learned in my public relations courses thus far, doing the right thing and being seen doing the right thing will make the public see that the organization or individual is genuine in its practices therefore winning the acceptance of the public.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Personal Statement and PR
As you know, I am applying to various law schools. One of the components of the applications is a personal statement. Since the majority of law schools do not grant formal interviews for applicants, the personal statement has replaced traditional interviewing.
Realizing that the personal statement is a way for admissions officers to get to know me without actually meeting me, I plan to show, on paper, what I can offer to the prospective institutions, thus persuading them to admit me. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to incorporate my public relations skills and writing skills to write a great personal statement.
When I came up with a theme for my personal statement, I began writing ideas for main points and supporting details for my essay. At first glance, I felt as if I was selling myself short because I failed to go into detail about myself, specifically by not mentioning good things about myself. Throughout my life, I have been described by older people as being modest or humble when in actuality I thought that if I said too much about myself that I would appear to be boasting or being pretentious.
However, when I began reading James Hoggan's "Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for a Skeptical Public," I realized that for many reasons I had to be my own PR person when writing my personal statement. One reason being that these law school admissions officers are not super heroes and cannot read my mind. I "...can't sit around and assume that everyone will notice that [I] have done something right ...," and that I "...must take [my] reputation into [my] own hands" (p. 4). I also learned that it is not about me seeming as if I am boasting about myself, but it is about realizing that “it’s a matter of making sure that people who are important to [my] business* know what [I] am doing” or what I have done (p. 12). (*Business, in this context, means admissions council.)
After I establish my reputation, I have to believe what I am writing is true (which, of course, it is) so that others can believe I am credible and will be able to trust what I am writing, too. In addition, I also learned that proof and support of my good reputation and credibility lies in the hands of the people whom I ask to recommend me for law school. Just as what Hoggan emphasized in his book, in order for me to further establish my credibility and reputation, I need to be aware of how my public (this case being the people writing my recommendations) thinks of me. This will confirm what I have written about myself in my personal statement and my other application materials, so there will not be any discrepancies in what I am portraying and the person recommending is writing about me.
Realizing that the personal statement is a way for admissions officers to get to know me without actually meeting me, I plan to show, on paper, what I can offer to the prospective institutions, thus persuading them to admit me. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to incorporate my public relations skills and writing skills to write a great personal statement.
When I came up with a theme for my personal statement, I began writing ideas for main points and supporting details for my essay. At first glance, I felt as if I was selling myself short because I failed to go into detail about myself, specifically by not mentioning good things about myself. Throughout my life, I have been described by older people as being modest or humble when in actuality I thought that if I said too much about myself that I would appear to be boasting or being pretentious.
However, when I began reading James Hoggan's "Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for a Skeptical Public," I realized that for many reasons I had to be my own PR person when writing my personal statement. One reason being that these law school admissions officers are not super heroes and cannot read my mind. I "...can't sit around and assume that everyone will notice that [I] have done something right ...," and that I "...must take [my] reputation into [my] own hands" (p. 4). I also learned that it is not about me seeming as if I am boasting about myself, but it is about realizing that “it’s a matter of making sure that people who are important to [my] business* know what [I] am doing” or what I have done (p. 12). (*Business, in this context, means admissions council.)
After I establish my reputation, I have to believe what I am writing is true (which, of course, it is) so that others can believe I am credible and will be able to trust what I am writing, too. In addition, I also learned that proof and support of my good reputation and credibility lies in the hands of the people whom I ask to recommend me for law school. Just as what Hoggan emphasized in his book, in order for me to further establish my credibility and reputation, I need to be aware of how my public (this case being the people writing my recommendations) thinks of me. This will confirm what I have written about myself in my personal statement and my other application materials, so there will not be any discrepancies in what I am portraying and the person recommending is writing about me.
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