How to Treat the Press: When the media spotlight lands on your case, think before you speakAuthor(s): JILL SCHACHNER CHANENSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 84, No. 6 (JUNE 1998), pp. 90-91Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27840299 .

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SOLO NETWORK

How to Treat the Press When the media spotlight lands on your case, think before you speak BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN

Tax lawyer Robert Kenny suspected that representing an

87-year-old, retired masonry contractor in an unusual con

stitutional law dispute would do wonders for his 4-year-old solo practice based in Law renceville, N.J.

The dispute hinged on the constitutionality of a govern

ment hiring private parties to determine whether individuals and businesses had tax liabili ty. But it also had the elements of a juicy news story: a David and-Goliath, can't-fight-city-hall struggle over taxes. Kenny says he thought it might cause a

groundswell of media attention. It did. Newspapers from the

Princeton, N.J., weekly to the venerable New York Times took an interest in his client's tale of woe. National Public Radio in terviewed him at length, and the case even provided fodder for the send-up Comedy Central on cable television. Kenny, who calls himself a frustrated advertising ex ecutive, says he relished the media opportunities the case brought him.

Learn to Appreciate the Attention Many solos shy away from the

glare of the spotlight. They often feel pressured to choose between serving the needs of the media and those of their clients, so they decline the public attention.

But in doing so, they are miss ing opportunities to build their prac tices and their presence in the com

munity, says lawyer Barbara Laza rus, a principal in the media con sulting firm of Gallagher Lazarus & Co., which is based in Chicago.

"Media relations are an impor tant part of the marketing puzzle.

Most lawyers in small practice set tings do not realize the potential value that working with the media has for them," says Lazarus, a for mer prosecutor.

Larger firms have come to ap preciate the value of media expo

Jill Schachner Chanen, a law yer in Chicago, is a frequent con tributor to the ABA Journal.

. .7tU

With clips from the case that put him on the map, Robert Kenny says, "Working with the media is time well-spent because you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd."

sure, and many have hired media relations professionals to run in terference for their lawyers and to smooth the process. Solo and small firm practitioners typically cannot afford that luxury, but they can reap the same benefits by understanding the news-gathering process and how they can contribute to it.

"Lawyers have a fear of the media," Lazarus says. "Reporters, in

general, are not out to make the law yer look bad. More often than not, it is the lawyers [who] are making themselves look bad."

Lazarus says the problem typi

cally lies in lack of preparation. While few lawyers would go into court without familiarizing them selves with the case file, many will simply answer reporters' questions without any preparation.

She tells lawyers to inquire im mediately about the reporter's dead line and return calls later, thereby giving themselves time to prepare more thoughtful answers.

Family law practitioner Scott C. Colky of Des Plaines, 111., says he used to respond immediately to press calls "as lawyers tradition ally do: I was verbose and tried to

Ideas Exchange The ABA Journal and Solosez, an ABA e-mail forum for solo and small-firm lawyers, have teamed up to let ABA members share advice online on this month's Solo Network topic. Excerpts from the ongoing discussion appear below. To join the chat group, send this message to listserver@abanet.org: subscribe solosez your e-mail address. (No other words are necessary.) Or preview Solosez at www.abanet.org/solo/home.html.

On media contacts Jean Maneke (jmaneke@juno. com), Kansas City, Mo.

I assume that I am not being given all the facts by a reporter who is asking for my opinion. I couch my "for attribution" opinions as "based upon the facts you've told me ...

blah blah blah." That way, if I need to backtrack the next day when the mayor calls (or the city attorney), I can say truthfully that my opinion was based on what I was told. Where did I learn all these great procedures? I spent 10 years as a reporter before doing the law thing.

90 ABA JOURNAL / JUNE 1998 ABAJ/LONDA SALAMON

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advocate my client's position in the paper."

Those off-the-cuff experiences were overwhelming, Colky admits, and often disruptive to his practice. "I was not prepared for them. I think

most solo and small-firm practi tioners are not used to having that kind of interaction with the media."

Through media relations train ing, Colky says he has learned to gain a semblance of control over in terviews by focusing on the mes sage he wants to send.

As an example, he cites a high profile dispute in which his clients are seeking custody of their grand children. Drug abuse has been an issue in the case, which has caught the attention of the media. Colky will answer reporters' drug abuse questions, but he says he always brings the interviews back to the issue of the children's best interests.

Break it Down for Better Understanding Kenny advises lawyers never to

assume that reporters understand complex legal issues and jargon. He attempts to simplify the discussion by using terms and examples famil iar to lay readers.

He also cautions lawyers to re member that an interview is not free advertising. Balanced stories must present several positions, one of which will almost certainly be contrary, he says.

Says Kenny: 'Working with the media is time well-spent because, as a solo practitioner, you have to dis tinguish yourself from the crowd. ... I have had clients tell me that they hear me on the radio when they are in their cars and they say, 'Hey, that's my lawyer.' It makes them feel good about you as their lawyer."

And as every marketing direc tor knows, it never hurts to have people talking about you.

Shell J. Bleiweiss (sbleiweiss@ aol.com), Chicago

At my previous large law firm, we had such stringent rules governing what an attorney had to do before he or she could re spond to a media inquiry that it amounted to refusing to comment. On more than one occasion, what this meant was that the reporter

went directly to the client instead ?sometimes with a good result, sometimes not. As a solo practi tioner, I am free to respond in the

way that I believe to be best for the client.

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