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.
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ReplyDeleteFrom what I have been taught about the differences between lawyers and PR, I understand that their intentions are very different. In a crisis situation, lawyers would prefer that the client remain silent to the media, at least until the matter is resolved so that no legal implications can come from a brash statement. PR practitioners would prefer that the truth be told quickly so that the public will respect the integrity of the client.
ReplyDeleteRonald Ware