Working with Lawyers

You now have an overview of how various laws and governmental regulations affect your work as a public relations writer and specialist. A basic knowledge of the law should help you do your work in a responsible and appropriate manner, but you also should realize that a smattering of knowledge can be dangerous.

Laws and regulations can be complex. You are not a trained attorney, so it should be obvious that you should consult lawyers who are qualified to answer specialized questions regarding libel, copyright, trademarks, government regulation, and invasion of privacy.

Your organization's own staff attorneys or outside legal counselors are your first source of information.

At the same time, remember that lawyers can tell you what to do or not to do; they should not tell you what to say or how to say it. They are experts on the law but not on effective communication. They don't understand that the media want information now or that "no comment" is perceived as a guilty plea in the court of public opinion.

Indeed, a major area of fiction in any organization is the clash between the legal and public relations departments. Lawyers generally prefer to say little or nothing in most situations, whereas the public relations staff perceives its role as providing a steady flow of information and news about the organization to multiple publics. It is a never-ending tug-of-war. At the same time, it is essential that the legal and public relations staffs cooperate in the best interests of the organization.

Great care must be taken in releasing information about litigation, labour negoti­ations, complex financial transactions, product recalls, and plant accidents. Numerous laws and regulations, to say nothing of liability considerations, affect what should or should not be said.

It is often important to draft a proposed statement or release and submit it to legal counsel for approval. The release should give as much information as possible and be phrased clearly and concisely. The object in such a release is to convince the public that the organization is not hiding behind legal technicalities but, at the same time, must protect itself from possible lawsuits and litigation.

Your relations with legal counsel will be more pleasant and more productive if you keep abreast of new developments. To do this, you should maintain a file of newspaper and magazine articles that report on legal developments and decisions relating to public relations. This might include new regulatory guidelines, consent decrees, libel awards, trademark infringement suit, product recalls, and court decisions on employee privacy.

To ensure the best cooperation and mutual respect between the legal and public relations functions, here are some guidelines:

• Each department should have a written definition of its responsibilities.

• The heads of both departments should be equal in rank and report to the organization's chief executive officer or executive vice-president.

• Both departments should be represented on key committees.

• The legal counsel should keep the public relations staff up to date on legal problems involving the organization.

• The public relations staff should keep the legal staff up to date on public issues and media concerns that will require an organizational response.

• The two sides should regard each other as allies, not opponents.