What is PR and Communications in a Law Firm?

The world of PR and Communications is a very interesting and vital function for any company, but especially in law firms where they are exposed to high-profile cases where the spotlight is well and truly focused on them. These roles are dynamic and varied – no two days will ever be the same! So being adaptable and keeping your finger on the pulse are qualities which will get you far.

The role of the PR and Communications team is to promote openness and positive profile-raising initiatives – both internally and externally. It is vital for firms to manage their reputations through social media, press releases, newsletters and articles in an authentic and considered way. Being ‘the voice of the firm comes with enormous prestige and responsibility, so being curious, creative, personable, articulate and informative is a delicate balance.

Key Responsibilities

Internal Comms and External Comms

Sometimes PR and Communications roles are split into ‘internal’ and ‘external’ – with internal comms focusing more on communications within the firm aimed at the audience of colleagues, whilst external comms are more focused on client and public communications. There may be differences in terms of content and tone of voice, but the overriding purpose is to keep open lines of communication and updates directly from the firm.

Internal comms is important for keeping open channels of communication and sharing news and developments throughout the firm and teams. Encouraging employee engagement, a sense of community and building a positive culture. This opens a dialogue between Business Support, Partners/Associates and Senior Stakeholders – ensuring a cohesiveness across all levels. You may be heavily involved with other teams, such as Events to promote upcoming staff parties or HR to work on diversity and inclusion pieces.

External comms is more PR focused and relates more to media relations and keeping communication with the public and clients. You may be working on reputational or thought leadership articles with the aim of building a reputation for the firm as being a trusted advisory.

Writing Content and Articles

You will be conveying stories and articles with various audiences and channels, so maintaining a tone of voice whilst relaying important information is a skill which you will craft. Communicating a message comes in various forms – you may be writing a press release, creating a thought leadership article on a relevant current affair which concerns the firm or even circulating an internal newsletter to update staff on the developments within the firm. Whatever the communication and whether it is internal or external, it needs to be compelling, reach the target audience and have a positive impact on the firm’s reputation. Being the trusted source of information is the ultimate goal – whatever information you put out will reach an audience of potentially thousands (if not more), so the importance of the quality and accuracy of content produced is paramount.

Managing Media Relationships

Building and maintaining key media relationships with editors and journalists is hugely important. From pitching press releases on new developments and announcements to publishing stories to highlight the firm’s expertise to various media outlets, you will actively seek out opportunities for profile-raising stories to be shared in the media. Thought leadership pieces and articles are important to reach the right audiences – so approaching key contacts and building strong relationships to facilitate exposure is vital.

Monitoring Coverage and Reputation Management

Your reputation precedes you – so you need to ensure it’s positive! Your purpose is to maintain the integrity of the firm’s reputation and brand. With news travelling fast these days with leaps in technology and how information is shared on various social media channels, you will need to closely monitor stories and mentions so that you can be in a position to swiftly communicate the firm’s voice. Firms are trusted pillars of credibility - ensuring an untarnished public image and mitigating potential risks is key to your role in order to safeguard the firm’s reputation. Acting as a guardian by having processes to avoid risks or react with crisis management initiatives is important in every firm.

Career Progression

Initially, you may be involved in both internal and external comms and decide to specialise in one or the other as you grow your career and develop your skills. You may find yourself gravitating towards PR if your interests are more within public comms, media relationships, thought leadership and reputational issues or you may prefer working internally with internal teams to support newsletters, events promotion and bringing all levels and teams together. Within both specialisms you will need to be very creative, proactive and have a curiosity to find and promote stories which highlights the best of what the firm has to offer.

This is an incredibly rewarding career path - helping to shape the tone of voice of a firm, enhance its credibility and reputation and build relationships internally and externally.