Dealing with disaster

When bad publicity knocked, Clifford Chance handled it well, writes Charles Stewart.

Would other firms' crisis management plans work as well?

Clifford Chance is a media-savvy outfit.

The law firm recognises the valuable role of media relations in building a powerful brand and rarely does a day pass without one of its partners appearing in the national press offering comment on a business issue.

But a couple of weeks ago these same partners would have choked on their cornflakes as they read a particularly pithy and insightful front page lead story in the weekend Financial Times.

In a delicious irony for many impartial observers, the commentator had become the commented on.

That a memo detailing grievances about working practices in an office on the other side of the Atlantic should receive prominent coverage in the FT three days running is a stark demonstration of the challenges that solicitors' firms face in maintaining global brands.

Law firms aren't alone.

A PR Week magazine survey into the concerns of the world's largest companies found that 49% of communications directors said keeping spokespeople 'on message' and preventing leaks were their biggest challenges.

On hearing of the unrest among US associates as detailed by the American Lawyer survey ranking, it could be argued that James Benedict, Clifford Chance's managing partner for the Americas, did the right thing in asking his employees to provide a 'brutally honest' assessment of life at the firm.

But resentment does not build up overnight and it appears that he must have underestimated the extent of the associates' grievances and their desire to air their concerns to a broader audience.

It is a testament to Clifford Chance's swift and effective rebuttals that the media's attention waned after a few days.

With no evidence of bill-padding, there was no Andersen moment.

But law firms would be wrong to see this as a one-off incident.

We live in an increasingly puritanical society and, after the corporate scandals of recent years, professional service firms can expect their every action and deed to be scrutinised.

It is clear that law firms are in the firing line.

Managing a crisis is never easy, but it is more difficult without a detailed crisis management plan.

This should include a thorough risk assessment anticipating and analysing all potential discords between stakeholder expectation and corporate performance.

In Clifford Chance's case, the discord was not the bill-padding allegation, but the firm's failure to integrate its acquisition of Rogers & Wells.

Disgruntled employees with their access to a company's darkest secrets are a journalist's lifeblood.

And given its Web site boast that it is 'a truly integrated global law firm where our people believe in one approach', Clifford Chance may be considered lucky to have been spared the grilling John Ormerod, Andersen's UK managing partner, received from Jeremy Vine over similar marketing claims in an infamous Newsnight interview.

When a crisis does strike, the best plan in the world will not help if communication is mishandled.

Senior spokespeople must be briefed and mobilised quickly.

Communication should be clear and simple and focused on a few key points to ensure consistency of message, while the media should be monitored to ensure that any misreporting can be rebutted fast.

With media banging on the door it can be tempting to overlook the need for simultaneous communication with all stakeholders.

Clients will be worried about the quality of your work and the prospect of being drawn into damaging media speculation, employees will fear for their jobs and personal reputation, while suppliers will look nervously at unpaid invoices.

All need constant reassurance.

There is no doubting that Clifford Chance handled its crisis well - even if it did fail to anticipate the cause at an early enough stage.

Only time will tell whether this oversight will tarnish its reputation in the long term.

Charles Stewart, an account director at Kelso Consulting, specialises in advising professional firms on all communications issues