Public relations experts may be asking right now: Could Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski have ridden out the investigation and bad press related to allegations of sexual misconduct?
The reality is that no one will know.
The same issue hovered over former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Some lawyers who had worked with him over the years thought he caved prematurely. But, again, we will never know.
What we do know is that Kozinski has announced his retirement. Here are early details about this development in Abovethelaw.com by lawyer-journalist Kathryn Rubino.
A public relations expert in managing crises by individual brandname players should publish a book with guidelines on how to prevent personal panic as the crisis unfolds and even deepens.
The classic role model for turning around a scandal to his advantage is former Nixon Administration lawyer Chuck Colson. He transformed his stay in prison into a platform for developing a prominent spiritual movement. It ministered to prisoners. When he died, he was not only revered. He was loved by those he served.
Currently, global crisis czar Gene Grabowski, partner in kglobal, hammers that the problem is never the crisis per se. In this seminal op-ed, Grabowski observes:
" ... if you're in business in the 21st Century, you will inevitably know crisis. That's forgivable. Simply put, if you manage your crisis well, you will recover. Conduct yourself poorly, and the consequences will be painful - and expensive."
Meanwhile, members of the legal and business media are watching how superlawyer David Boies manages being outed as allegedly enabling Harvey Weinstein. Here is Ronan Farrow's coverage of that in The New Yorker. And, here is the analysis in Bloomberg how he is positioning and packaging himself.
Get a second opinion about your marketing and advocacy communications. No pressure. No charge. Please contact Jane Genova, janegenova374@gmail.com or @genova_jane.