BigLaw, LittleLaw: Public relations is as strategic as litigation

"But we have a marketing person."

That's what the managing partner of a major law firm told me as the pile on of bad publicity continued.  One of the partners had done a plea bargain for "borrowing" from client funds.  That was the same sort of thing Will Gardner got nailed for on "The Good Wife."  This law firm's "marketing person" been telling the media "no comment."

The legal sector seems to have a blind spot about the need to put itself out there with the same strategic focus with which it prepares litigation. That's the first part of the problem.  The second is that they are often clueless how to select a public relations firm.

For the second part there's an easy solution.  It's the O'Dwyer's Directory of PR Firms.  Each year a new edition comes out.  A sort of shopping guide, the 340-page print directory lists 1600 public relations firms.  For 500 of them there is a detailed description of their special areas of expertise, be it professional services, tech, financial, or food and beverages.  The 2012 edition is now available.

You can order the directory for $95 from the J.R. O'Dwyer Company, 271 Madison Avenue, #600, New York, New York 10016, 212-679-2471 or toll-free 866-395-7710.