Lawyers have been encroaching into the area of crisis management for many years. But the trend is accelerating, and there is little evidence that crisis managers and communication professionals are adapting to address this evolving relationship.

The challenge is not just petty “turf-warfare” and maneuvering for influence in the boardroom. It should be about achieving optimal outcomes in managing a crisis and delivering the best possible protection for corporate and individual reputation. That requires lawyers and crisis managers operating at peak effectiveness and collaborating in their respective specialised fields of expertise.

However, it’s the lawyers who are more resolutely expanding their role and advocating openly about it, though not necessarily with consistent positive results.

The most recent data comes from a study which evaluated 100 American law firms through interviews and their websites to determine the prevalence of crisis management communication. The research by Florida-based Poston Communications, released late last year, found 89% of the firms referenced “crisis” as part of their practice area descriptions; 49% maintained a dedicated crisis management practice at the forefront; and 35% presented crisis management as a supplemental service.

CEO David Poston advised that law firms aspiring to excel in crisis management must develop a proactive and comprehensive communication approach. "To foster growth and client satisfaction, firms should establish and effectively promote their capabilities in crisis management," he counselled. “Those willing to innovate and take charge of crisis communications are more likely to thrive in a competitive market.”

Claims of expertise

It goes without saying that what a company lists on its website or letterhead does not always equate to recognised professional expertise. This applies equally to some PR consultancies. Yet the trend for law firms to claim expertise in crisis management as part of their broad offering is strong, and evident across all geographies.

However, such crisis management advice is often provided by lawyers with little to no operational crisis experience, rather than by trained communication professionals. Indeed, the Poston study found only 2% of the firms evaluated employed experienced crisis managers.

Moreover, a similar trend – and a similar paucity of trained crisis managers – can be seen among the big accounting firms, with major business consultants also claiming crisis management expertise as part of what they call a “comprehensive, integrated service offering”.

While this emerging development is typically framed in terms of risk assessment and reputation management, the encroachment upon traditional crisis management is very apparent.

A good example is the report titled; “The evolving role of General Counsel in an age of polycrisis”,  released by  the British-based international law firm Clyde and Co.

On the basis of 225 executive interviews worldwide, the 2024 report found 74% of General Counsel said, “Proactively assessing the risk landscape” was an important aspect of their role, and 81% asserted the same for “Horizon scanning to pre-empt issues”. They concluded this indicated lawyers had a strong focus on anticipatory risk management and that these aspects (traditionally core activities of professional communicators) “will undoubtedly remain a crucial part of the General Counsel role as businesses continue to grapple with a polycrisis of risk.”

Interestingly, their survey cohort did not include any senior crisis management or communication leaders, and the word communication did not appear even once in the report.

Lawyers believe lawyers should lead

Confidence of lawyers in their own ability in a crisis is nothing new. This was shown in my own research from 2020, in conjunction with SenateSHJ, a reputation and change communication consultancy based in Australia, along with their partners in PROI Worldwide. We recorded and analysed interviews with experienced crisis lawyers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. While responses varied, when asked who should take the lead in a crisis, most said it should be the lawyer.

Overall, the lawyers said the main strengths communicators bring to a crisis are understanding stakeholders and the ability to develop succinct messages. Yet many of the respondents remained firm in their view that they could not envisage crisis situations in which the communicator should take the lead.

At the same time, lawyers’ own credibility is declining. The 2024  Gallup Honesty and Ethics Poll, showed only 16% of Americans rate lawyers’ honest and ethical standards as “High” or “Very High”. This was down from 21% in 2022, though still ahead of business executives, insurance salespeople, stockbrokers, advertising executives, car salespeople and Members of Congress.

In another recent study, about half of corporate lawyers in a worldwide survey for FTI Consulting said their remit has evolved over the last five years — beyond the traditional legal functions — to include a variety of crisis management responsibilities.

Moreover, the FTI report showed only about one quarter of the companies surveyed were making proper use of their communication professionals in formulating a litigation response.

So, what happens when lawyers take the lead? Or more specifically, when companies prioritise legal advice regarding an emerging issue or a crisis?

While communication professionals and crisis managers are by no means immune from making bad calls and errors of judgement, every PR person has their favorite example where dubious decisions by lawyers in the face of a crisis generated damaging headlines or made an existing crisis worse, especially when reputation was at risk.

Which leads to the obvious question: what can be done? It is self-evident that lawyers and communicators need to work together, but that is not enough to resist growing legal encroachment.

Appealing to the core motivation of top executives

Clearly the answer is not to denigrate legal advice, but to appeal to the core motivation of most top executives, namely adding value to the organisation.

The executive group need to be reminded that no issue or crisis is ever solely a legal question, and that experienced crisis managers can add significant value to the organisation and enhance its decision-making.

Without such positive change, professional crisis managers risk being relegated to junior partners, simply supporting the lawyers in developing and implementing crisis response.