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05 March 2010 / Clare Rodway
Issue: 7407 / Categories: Features , Media , Profession
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Controlling the beast

Contrary to popular belief, “litigation PR” is not a dark art: it is much better described as conducting PR in a strait-jacket—the key difference with litigation PR being that it operates in an unusual, highly regulated environment because of the various court reporting restrictions and sub judice rules and so forth.

In essence, litigation PR is the art of managing media coverage around cases, either to manage the impact of the litigation on the client’s ongoing reputation, or to encourage early or favourable settlement in the case of civil cases. There is an entirely ethical way to run litigation PR programmes, so there is no need for clients to be deprived of the benefits that good media handling in these situations can offer: the benefit of an additional tool in their litigation armoury; the benefit of protection to reputation; and the benefit of ensuring their side of the story is clearly heard and understood by those audiences most important to them.

For those considering making use of what litigation PR has to offer, or

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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