CRISIS AND LITIGATION COMMUNICATIONS
Help your clients manage a crisis.
In today’s fast-moving social media environment, every organization exists in a state of pre-crisis. Seemingly minor issues can quickly escalate to become major reputational threats. Your client’s initial response to a crisis or litigation situation sets the tone for how others judge them and will have a significant impact on the ultimate outcome. CSI recognizes the connection between the response to a crisis and potential future litigation and offers a full range of Crisis and Litigation Communications Services, starting with a seasoned team of crisis and litigation communications experts who are on-call 24/7 as an additional resource to you and your clients.
It's critical that legal and communications strategies are in sync
CSI's Critical Communications is the link between managing perceptions in the court of public opinion and insulating your client in the courtroom. We harness our expertise in non-verbal communications and psychology-based messaging to protect your client's reputation and business goals when they are at risk because of a crisis or legal situation.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning includes thinking through possible crisis scenarios and developing effective messaging. Our senior communications counselors typically work as part of the legal team, helping to ensure your clients are protected by attorney-client privilege.
Crisis Preparedness
CSI works with your clients to develop actionable crisis plans, including risk assessments, scenario planning, message development, spokesperson preparation, and effective social media policies. In coordination with the management team and other key personnel, crisis scenarios are identified, and draft response materials are created to help a company frame and deliver an effective narrative during an actual crisis.
Risk Assessment
CSI will review the policies that govern employee conduct and procedures that guide your client’s crisis response to identify how they might be vulnerable to a crisis before it happens.
Media Relations
CSI provides the full range of media relations services, including messaging, spokesperson training and support, spokesmanship, and development of media materials and outreach, including backgrounders, whitepapers, litigation websites, and social media strategies.
Dealing with the Media
We help shape the narrative and use media strategies to tell your client’s side of the story. Different from PR, the goal is to limit the lifespan of the story and, where appropriate, to align with litigation strategy. CSI is a pioneer in the jury consulting industry and we have adapted our psychology-based techniques to create messaging that will resonate in a crisis situation.
Engaging with Stakeholders
Customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and others can be misinformed through social media and other rumor sources. CSI helps you to keep your client’s stakeholders informed of the facts.
Media Spokesperson Training
In crisis situations, business leaders are often thrust into the media spokesperson role. We help your client’s representative become an effective “face” of the organization, delivering key messages and critical information, while also conveying the organization’s values and commitments.
Crisis Management
A crisis event often precipitates a legal
challenge, whether it’s litigation, government
investigations, and/or regulatory action. How
your client responds to the initial crisis will set
the tone for everything that follows. Your client’s
best response requires experienced crisis
communication counselors who see the broader
situation, understand the fast-paced flow of
events, and can help your client respond quickly
– and strategically – so they can achieve their
ultimate objective.
Rapid Response Team
A senior team with experience in high-stakes,
high-profile situations s prepared to work
on-site with you and your client to support your
client’s legal and communications teams.
Crisis Simulations
Our team can work with designated client representatives to brainstorm and develop potential crisis scenarios and prepare training simulations to mimic an actual crisis. Participants, often including outside counsel, work as part of a team to craft key messages, prepare their response, and designate team members to act as spokespersons. CSI clients find these simulations to be extraordinarily valuable to the management team because they’re better prepared to leverage the full resources of the organization in the event of an actual crisis.
Critical Communications Highlights
Our crisis and litigation communications teams include Ph.D.s in psychology as well as seasoned trial consultants and communications professionals.
Our cross-functional teams work in tandem to ensure synergy in the strategic, tactical and legal plans for each client.
When engaging CSI’s Critical Communications team, companies are assured all client communications remain privileged and confidential, from media planning to trial.