Winning in the court of public opinion

This is heightening client stress—three-quarters of litigators say their clients are concerned about reputational damage resulting from media coverage of their case. Moreover, three-quarters of litigants say public relations strategy is ‘sometimes’ or ‘frequently’ considered alongside the broader litigation strategy.

In terms of reputation management, clients perceive the biggest threat to be losing control of the narrative—this, along with rumour, speculation on social media and inaccurate reporting are considered more of a threat than a leak of confidential information. Asked whether potential reputational consequences have ever stopped a client from pursuing litigation despite a ‘watertight’ case, 57% of litigators said ‘yes’, and a further 6% said ‘almost’.

Despite the importance to clients of reputation management, however, only 16% of litigators ‘frequently’ seek specialist litigation PR advice, while 63% ‘never’ or ‘infrequently’ do so. 

The report, published by communications and litigation support firm Infinite Global this week, is based on a survey of more than 1,000 Chambers-ranked litigation and defamation practitioners in the UK in the second half of this year.

Ryan McSharry, director and head of litigation PR (UK) at Infinite Global, said: ‘Reputation has become a decisive factor.

‘Litigators have a clear understanding of the need to balance legal objectives with public perception. Yet, despite concern regarding reputational risk and wide acknowledgement of rising media scrutiny during court proceedings, media expertise and relationships are not common. This can result in not just heightened risk, but also missed opportunities.

‘Instead of viewing PR as an obligation per court directives or open justice requests, there are a full range of tactics that can be employed to proactively shape the narrative, manage public perception and counteract misinformation.’