Developing the skills required for being a quality attorney takes a lot more than is taught in law school. There are a variety of soft skills and analytical techniques that are simply not dealt with in more traditional training methods. To really stand out from the crowd of lawyers and to make a real difference, additional skills training through our programs can help provide that edge that you are looking for.
More specifically, one of the many elements not focused on in law school is handling the media. For more prestigious cases, lawyers are commonly called upon to illuminate the general public about a case as well as to feed the never ending 24 hour news cycle. This means that several common questions are raised.
How do media situations arise? The obvious answer is that when a case strikes the public interest that the media follows. This may be the case when suddenly microphones are thrown in front of you as you walk into or out of the courtroom. Sometimes, however, the other side is reaching out to the media and it may be good strategy to approach the media yourself. Our class can help work on both of these aspects along with how to entice the media with a good story or approach. Likewise, we'll help you learn appropriate protocols pre and post interview.
What is an interview like? Most lawyers haven't experienced such situations and don't understand the ins and outs. For instance, how do you handle a one camera interview as opposed to a two camera interview? There are also differences between an in-studio and on location interview. Our workshops not only discuss such things but can include on-camera interviews with our team playing the media and showing the results while discussing methods of improvement.
What is allowable to discuss and what is advisable to discuss? These are two very different questions. While the law can be very clear as to what discussions are legal to have with the media, the differences between ethical choices and strategic pitfalls are also important to understand. Our workshop can walk you through these issues and help you determine the content to include and the content to exclude from such interviews.
What recourse do I have to correct editing of the content? The simple answer is that interviews are conducted after a series of agreements are made. You can protect yourself by getting them to agree to terms, but this is unlikely. Likewise, the media has their own way of interpreting such agreements and often they are overruled by the news director regardless of what the field producer agreed to. Your only recourse after that is through the courts, but of course at that point the damage has been done. Our workshop better explains the inner workings of the media and their decision processes.
What is different between print, TV and radio in terms of presentation? They all have very different ways that they operate and the way that material is chosen for use. Having a better understanding of this process can help you better choose your words and improve results. Through a series of examples, we demonstrate how things can be accidentally or purposefully taken out of context and how to remedy those situations prior to them happening. We use role play, video and games to demonstrate these.
Simply contact us to find out how we can help you achieve the success you desire in the courtroom through media training outside of the courtroom.
We understand the need for confidentiality and review all such agreements to ensure a level of secrecy to maintain your relationship with your clients. We will usually not take control of work product and rather not take any material off-location to help ensure our relationships with our clients. Simply ask us for more information about how far we will go to protect our clients.
Whether for Appellate, Business, Civil, Constitutional, Criminal, Entertainment, Family (including Trusts, Estates, Divorce, Elder and Juvenile), Intellectual Property, Medical, Military, Securities or Tax Law, or any of the other branches, we either already have a program that can assist practitioners or can develop a special program to improve performance.
Locations. We have people already in most major cities around the country or can make arrangements if needed. This includes the top cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte and practically anywhere else you can imagine. We also have access to Canada, Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean if you would like to conduct something while at a retreat. Simply contact us to find out how we can help you.
Contact Us. Contact us by email at info@legalimprov.com or by calling (866) 219-4386.
