Crisis communications: a checklist for being prepared.

• Author: Sullivan, Kevin L.

Law firms, like all companies and organizations, should be prepared to handle a crisis before one occurs. A crisis stuns the affected individuals and may slow reasoning and response. A coherent step-by-step plan can guide them without hesitation. Crisis communications management is not best learned "as you go." Mistakes can compound the existing problem.

Attorneys sometimes find themselves helping clients deal with media when a crisis occurs. Attorneys may be faced with managing a crisis for their own firm. What follows is a checklist meant to serve as a guide for developing a crisis communications plan, whether it is for your own firm or to help your attorneys help a client prepare for a possible crisis. This readiness helps you, or the company your firm is counseling, remain poised and allows you to concentrate on your response.

Have a crisis communications plan in place

You will be more poised and able to deal with all of the pressures and problems bombarding you when you can follow a plan. The plan allows everyone to know his or her role during a crisis. There are several elements to a plan, but keep in mind: You must be flexible and ready to change your plan as circumstances change.

Identify your crisis communications team

A small team of senior executives should serve as your crisis communications team. The CEO or top executive should lead the team, with the organization's top public relations executive (or outside PR counsel) and legal counsel as chief advisers. Other team members should include the heads of major company departments, such as finance, personnel and operations. The team needs to provide advice while also being kept informed. They also have to ensure that business continues.

Develop a list of key personnel

There should be a list that includes the names and contact information of all senior executives and managers. Contact information should include mobile and home phone numbers, vacation home phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other alternative contact information. These are people who must be contacted immediately when a crisis breaks. Form a communications tree to ensure that everyone is contacted quickly. Each key person should have an up-to-date copy of the list available to them at all times.

Designate a spokesperson

Ideally, there will be one person who speaks for the organization during the crisis. The leader of the organization will have the most credibility with the media and with outside audiences. If this...