Train wreck communications continue at Slater and Gordon
Law firm Slater and Gordon has been in crisis since February 21, when an email containing damaging allegations and staff salaries dropped into staff inboxes. Since then reporters at the Australian Financial Review have been peeling back the layers, this week revealing a Slater and Gordon payroll manager suspended in November was a convicted fraudster. Communications expert Peter Wilkinson has been following the story for Mumbrella as an unfolding case study in how not handle a crisis.
A couple of observations on the Slater and Gordon train wreck:
- The problem S&G faces is a PR problem more than a legal problem. Some lawyers struggle with that.
- While we often complain about poor journalism, we should credit excellent investigative reporting, like the work being done by the AFR’s professional services team. Holding the powerful to account goes beyond politicians to include culturally below-average businesses.
- Typically, in situations like this, management blames the media and the people leaking to the journalists. You can practically hear the top dogs at S&G cursing the AFR’s Maxim Shanahan for his exposés.
- It’s a fair guess that the people leaking to the AFR journalists would have preferred a responsive complaint structure within the organisation.
- Poor management often occurs slowly, one incorrect appointment at a time. Once a cultural decline becomes apparent, poor managers will do everything to avoid confronting the bleeding obvious: that they are the problem.
- There are still a few lawyers who see reputation through a legal rather than a communication professional’s lens. That is regrettable. Only a few lawyers have the skills we communicators have refined. Those who stick with the legal lens argue due process should take a legal route, often via the courts. This is why, away from the courts, in the court of public opinion, they are like fish out of water.
Peter Wilkinson
- Typically, journalists working on a story know much more than they are writing about. So, as the S&G saga drags on, including a slow journey through the courts, the exposés will continue, along with the reputation damage.
- Like any other crisis, the lesson here is to design a plan and execute it nimbly to get ahead of the gossip, rumours, and leakers. The bolder and more innovative the plan, the quicker the remedy. The longer S&G waits, the higher the price it will pay for its lack of nimbleness, with disillusioned staff and clients (current and prospective).
- At this stage, a short-term proactive engagement with staff, clients, and the media will not create a good outcome, just a less bad one. A good outcome — a reputation rebuild — typically takes years, until memories fade, and starts with brave internal management corrections followed by a well-thought-out strategic communications plan.
See also: Slater and Gordon salaries leak: What went wrong
Peter Wilkinson is chair of Wilkinson Butler and a crisis communications expert.
Peter Wilkinson is spot on with his analysis of how some lawyers struggle with strategic communications aimed at resolving cultural and reputation issues. Ultimately attracting and retaining staff is a communications challenge not a legal one.
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