Winning in the courtroom is only half of the battle. Working with the Visible Strategies Litigation Support Group ensures you can also win in the court of public opinion.

The threat and reality of litigation poses certain risks to a company, its bottom line, and its leaders’ personal and professional reputations. Litigation can draw unwelcome and intense media and Internet attention, adversely affect investor perceptions, hurt employee morale, sully the personal reputations and credibility of all mentioned, and negatively influences other stakeholders such as business partners, advertisers, interest groups, and even government entities.

Litigation processes ranging from rumors, ridicule, and saber rattling, to out-of-court settlements, to courtroom trials represents a communications challenge that public companies and private entities cannot ignore. Rumors can go global in a matter of minutes. Visible Strategies litigation-support capabilities have been designed to help companies develop and implement successful communications strategies. The strategic plan can be implemented before, during and after sensitive litigation.

Our objective is to shape the public and private dialog before and during litigation, both inside and outside the courtroom. We work closely with our client’s counsel. Together, we help organizations develop communication strategies that are in alignment with ongoing litigation strategies.

We begin each litigation support engagement by conducting thorough Internet perception assessments and identifying the current reputation of each party in a particular matter in order to measure the potential impact litigation may have on our client’s reputation and credibility. We then develop a very specific, timeline-driven strategic program designed to best manage likely potential outcomes.

Visible Strategies litigation-support group activities include the following:

1. Research – From a historical perspective, we research the perception and web reputation impacts of litigation on corporations and people that have faced similar issues from an historical perspective. We additionally establish your reputation baseline.

2. Monitoring – Traditional and online media is monitored and analyzed daily for information relevant to the litigation, participant’s reputation and related events.

3. Message Development – Messages are created that resonate beyond the courtroom and into the court of public opinion. We translate legalese and deliver your key messages effectively to the general public.

4. Media Training – Our communications coaching service ensures spokespersons effectively and consistently convey key messages to all affected audiences.

5. Endorsement Development – Third-party advocates are sought out to relay – more importantly, reinforce – your key messages consistently and continuously.

6. Legislative Strategy – When necessary, we reach out to local, state and other legislators to determine potential allies and communicate facts.

Value Driven Results: We believe the key to all reputation building and management is to develop and consistently communicate specific, positive key messages. Legal actions have an impact on reputations and relationships. Without properly communicating your message, the harmful effects of the litigation can take years to resolve. Long after the legal situation is over, the impact of public litigation can far outweigh the costs of legal settlement. If your message is not communicated for maximum positive impact, it can take years to rebuild your reputation, market share, and stock value.