While these breaches of trust are not acceptable, they have been known to happen from time to time. Because of this, it is important that the external messages be developed in the first 12-24 hours and that the firm's key spokespeople have a list of message points to be communicated, as well as answers to possible and probable questions. Many of these will mirror some of the internal communication points, so these two pieces work side by side. As the legal marketplace becomes more competitive, and lateral moves as well as other career choices become a more frequent fact of life, we need to remember that the question is not if these things will happen, but when. This is the second of a two-part article.
Partners are no longer at firms for their professional lives.
And these moves virtually always entail partners with some profile and portable business. Sometimes they even include named partners. In this issue, marketing consultants Deborah McMurray and Richard S. Levick, talk about how to communicate with clients and the media, respectively. In a world where expectations and goals change rapidly, we've come to assume that our lawyers won't begin and end their careers at one firm. So I don't think the depatures of some attorneys at your firm is going to cause undue concerns among your clients.