Use the right language – preferably English
It can be a risky business telling lawyers when you first meet them that I’m a journalist. It usually ends up with me being pinned in a corner and forced to listen to a long list of complaints about how we’re always give the legal profession a hard time.
We always jump on the bad news and never print the positive. We slam fat cat lawyers but ignore all the good things like your legal aid cases that barely pay and pro bono work which is done for nothing. As journalists there’s not much we can do except take it on the chin and then explain as politely as we can that when it comes to getting a good press, lawyers are their own worst enemy.
The bad news is that if you want to improve your public profile you’re going to have to stand up and do it yourselves; the good news is that it’s not that hard to do. The first and easiest way is to make yourselves available for comment.
Journalists often do stories with a legal element that need a comment from a solicitor. You would think this would be easy but I can assure you it isn’t. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve rang around ten or 12 firms trying to get someone to help and drawing a blank. One of the most recent was earlier this year when I was doing a story for Central Television about a man who had got himself hopelessly in debt after signing a loan deal with horrendous compound interest penalties.
We wanted a lawyer to explain the pitfalls in the small print of these forms. It was a great opportunity for the legal profession to be the knights in shining armour whose only interest is to serve and protect the public. Sadly it was an opportunity that went missing. The client wanted his own lawyer to do it but the lawyer was too busy that afternoon. So were nine or ten others I tried, including local law society representatives.
It wasn’t as if we needed a lawyer with specialist knowledge. It’s television for goodness sake, we only wanted something simple and straightforward. But no, the opportunity for a solicitor to promote both himself and his profession in front of hundreds of thousands of people went missing. We spoke to the man’s MP instead which from our point of view wasn’t nearly as good. MPs tend to be seen by journalists as rent a quote merchants.
Of course, solicitors do sometimes get so concerned about some issues that they are prepared to speak out. Unfortunately, they don’t always speak out in a way that’s going to win public support and media coverage.
The current debate about the threats to legal aid is a good example. I was interested to read the Solicitors Journal about the Law Society Conference entitled ‘Legal Aid – Is it failing our system of justice? There were several good points made but it all had the air of a group of lawyers talking to themselves, nothing to grab the attention of the general media.
And then Russell Conway, of Kensington firm Oliver Fisher described how a 62 year old man from Merthyr Tydfill had to travel six hours on public transport because the decline in legal aid meant there were no specialist solicitors near his home. Straightaway, my journalistic ears pricked up. Suddenly the story had moved on to a new plain.
Why? Because suddenly it stopped being a group of lawyers talking to each other in abstract terms about their concerns for their profession. Now it had become a story about an injustice being done to an elderly man by a pernicious system that was denying him legal advice in his own area.
Bar chairman Guy Mansfield spoke of the need to persuade the press, the public and the politicians that legal aid is a major issue. He’s right of course and the best way to do that is to switch the focus of the debate so it’s no longer about the effect on lawyers, it’s not even about abstract concepts like failing justice systems. Instead, it’s about the public. Let them take centre stage and you’ll get all the publicity you want.
The man from Merthyr Tidfyll is a concrete example of what is wrong. It’s something the public can understand and relate to.
One final point, when you do speak out, please make sure to speak our language. Keep it simple and you’ll do much better. Any solicitor wondering why the public has not responded with interest and gratitude to the pro bono campaign could begin why asking himself why such a laudable project was called pro bono. This is Britain, not ancient Rome. Why the Latin? You’re addressing a public that prefers Coronation Street to the Coliseum – and that includes most business executives.
As far as most people are concerned, bono is a singer in a rock band. Solicitors acting pro bono means nothing to the public and so is unlikely to attract the attention of the media.
But lawyers working for nothing? Hey, now there’s a story. Shout about…but in English please
back to Solicitors Journal articles
This article first appeared in the Solicitors Journal.
Nick Kehoe is a former News Editor with ITV. He now runs Media Coverage, a company offering CPD accredited media courses and providing press releases and newsletters for law firms.
Contact Media Coverage, Suites 1-13, Imex Business Park, Shobnall Road, Burton on Trent, DE 14 2AZ.
www.media-coverage.co.uk Email: nk@media-coverage.co.uk.
Phone 01283 566270.
Media Coverage Ltd
Media Coverage Ltd is a leading provider of editorial and design services for law firms.
We produce high quality print newsletters, email newsletters, press releases and website articles for law firms across England and Wales.
Click here to find out more
about our services.
Or take a look at the images below.
Professionally produced newsletters for law firms to send to their clients. More...
You can attract visitors to your website by offering them stimulating articles covering changes in the law. More...
Press Releases and Advertorials
Save time and improve your press coverage by letting us write articles for you. We’ll even provide the ideas. More...
Our CPD approved media training courses for solicitors cover everything from getting coverage in newspapers to how to conduct television interviews. More...
When clients see the quality of our newsletter design they often ask us to produce their brochures as well. More...
