Media relations typically form an essential cornerstone in any PR project or retainer. Historically, agencies have put their clients into the media spotlight to promote, raise profile, respond to negative publicity, repair reputations and create thought leaders and indeed thought leadership. Done well, media relations can be extremely powerful; enabling lawyers and indeed the broader firm to broadcast their key messages to their target audiences and often beyond. Strategy-led media relations is a tactic used to support a broader set of business goals, themselves driven by the firm’s business strategy; and is usually therefore just one tactic amongst a range of other effective and measurable tactics aimed at achieving or exceeding the said goals in order to deliver the strategy. But over the course of the past decade (and probably earlier) media relations and the media has been changing. As social media has grown as a news source (albeit an unregulated and often factually incorrect one), some traditional media sources have contracted. The printed newspaper is the most obvious casualty, with readership figures for the National publications tending to have halved over the previous decade, for example: The Sun – readership figures: 3,006,565 in 2010; 1,410,896 in 2019. The Daily Telegraph – readership figures: 691,128 in 2010; 360,345 in 2019.
How to become a media expert – if only the answer to that question was easy. Well, in some ways, it is. The route to becoming a media expert isn’t particularly complicated, and it’s certainly not some magical dark PR art. It is quite simply a combination of some or all of the following: 1. Spotting the real story 2. Opportunity 3. Confidence 4. Resilience 5. Relationships I’ll examine the five elements here: 1. Spotting the real story Sometimes a story breaks, and it’s easy for everyone to see what the story is. However, sometimes the skill lies in getting underneath its skin, to examine how the headline might provide opportunities to talk about many other aspects, almost like an orange separating into segments. For example – COVID19 (sorry, I promised myself I wouldn’t go there) COVID is the headline story (still). However, the segments or secondary stories include – employment law: can employers force employees to get vaccinated? Immigration law: can countries close borders to their own citizens and can children with parents living in different countries travel for contact? Medical negligence: can cancer patients sue the NHS for delayed treatment or diagnosis resulting in a more serious prognosis than would normally be expected. The list goes on. Anybody with an ability to segment a story, and work out where their narrative or angle fits in, is already miles ahead of the competition. Go and look at the news today, and see what your story is. 2. Opportunity Sometimes opportunity just comes knocking. It certainly did for Ayesha Vardag when she represented Karin Radmacher in her divorce back in 2010. Ms Vardag now carries the tag of ‘Britain’s most expensive divorce lawyer’ and is often in the press (albeit ‘cardigan-gate’ perhaps undermined the adage that any press is always good press). Why? She got a great client, won an impressive case, and capitalised upon that success to create a powerful media brand. See also, Nick Freeman AKA Mr Loophole; former driving offences solicitor to a certain Mr Beckham; and Fiona Shackleton, divorce lawyer to Paul McCartney (and recipient of a jug of water over her head courtesy of an angry Heather Mills-McCartney back in 2008). You could rename this section ‘luck’ and still be correct. That said, many people have amazing opportunities to PR-themselves with these sorts of matters, but let the chance pass. Don’t be that person. 3. Confidence You must have confidence to become a media expert. Arrogance doesn’t usually go down too well with journalists, but equally, you need to be able to discuss your area of expertise in a confident, clear and accessible way. If confidence is something you struggle with, our top tips for handling imposter syndrome are worthwhile checking out. 4. Resilience If you don’t have a multi-million pound divorce to manage or footballers who keep you on speed dial, what’s to be done? There are still many, many opportunities to build a media profile. Keep up with the news agenda, look out for media opportunities, and don’t be afraid to push your expertise. Also, start small and don’t be snobby about the trade or regional press (for example). It is pretty rare to get straight onto the TV or radio (if that’s your aim), without putting significant effort first with smaller publications, and getting a name for yourself as an expert in your field. Also, remember that the media isn’t there to make you famous. It’s to report on whatever events are happening on any particular day in question. You will be ignored, turned down and sent away with a flea in your ear… Don’t take it personally, it happens to everyone – particularly the flacks (as the hacks like to call us). 5. Relationships If you are able to secure opportunities, be nice! Keep in touch with the journalist / editor / producer you’ve dealt with. Be available, be helpful and be polite. We all know that it’s relationships that really make the world go around, so guard and nurture them. You never know where the editor of a tiny one-man-band publication will end up. Victoria Moffatt is the founder and managing director of LexRex Communications, and a former solicitor. To find out more about our services, please visit: https://www.lexrexcommunications.com/ You can also contact us on 0161 393 6121 or email us on info@lexrexcommunications.com Connect with Victoria on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn
Now that face to face meetings are out for the foreseeable future, how confident are you about your ability to present your best self via video whether it’s calls, meetings or broadcast interviews? Expert tips from ex-BBC media trainer and PR expert. We are faced with working very differently whilst juggling uncertainty and family needs whilst working from home during constant changes with very little time to prepare. For many, dialling into video calls was an infrequent occurrence taking place in one of the office meeting rooms. Being ready for regular video calls, meetings and potentially broadcast interviews whilst working from home can be stressful and hard to manage when you’re not confident or prepared. However, some straight-forward tips, preparation and practice can get you ready and confident. One-hour webinar for lawyers We are planning a one-hour webinar for lawyers with an ex-BBC media trainer to do just this. It will cover: 1. How to come across well on camera 2. What to wear and some appearance basics 3. How to set up your workspace to look as professional as your usual office 3. Video etiquette and some important ‘don’ts’ As ever with LexRex Communications training, the webinar will be expert, hands on steps with real time advice and practice during the session – yes we WILL turn the camera onto each delegate. At the end of the session you will come away with: 1. Confidence in your ability to run video calls professionally 2. A video-call ready space in your home office 3. Knowledge that will enable you to look and sound great on screen Limited to 5 Places Get in touch to reserve as soon as possible as we are limiting spaces to just 5 places. The webinar will operate under Chatham House rules. As with all LexRex training we provide a safe professional space to get specific advices relevant to you and your practice area. The session will be run by our MD Victoria Moffatt and our regular ex-BBC media trainer Fiona, and guarantees to be expert tailored advice. Our joint media training sessions get 100% recommendation rate and fantastic feedback. Get in touch directly with us here at LexRex Communications via email or call 0161 393 6121
Last week LexRex Communications MD Victoria was on the phone to clients to reassure them that, even with the anticipated school closures, the team would be continuing to support and to check-in on their plans with regards to what they should be saying to their clients; in particular how to reassure, provide information and update on service delivery during the coronavirus outbreak. Most of our clients have in place disaster plans that cover exactly this sort of thing. But we recognise that the current situation isn’t necessarily something that everybody would have prepared for. Accordingly here are some top tips from Victoria for approaching communications with your clients as the UK to adapt to the daily changes and uncertainty caused by the epidemic. 1. Stay up to date with government advice. It’s important to know exactly what the official advice is, and to follow it. 2. Review your disaster plans, including the communications elements of these. Try to keep these up to date as the official advice changes. 3. Communicate with staff. It’s really important to maintain an ongoing dialogue with teams and where possible provide reassurance. 4. Communicate with clients. How you do this will depend on your existing relationships with clients, the services you provide and how your firm works. Communicating may look like fee earners picking up the phone for a reassuring chat, could be a holding statement on your website, a statement via social media, an email, even a letter. Ultimately you need to consider what will work best for your clients. 5. Recognise that this is a developing situation and that you cannot control it. Also, remember that people like to feel looked after, and your communications should aim to be reassuring, realistic and informative. The situation is evolving constantly and the team here at LexRex Communications are on hand if you would like particular advice on any of the above.
As the festive season draws near we’re pretty amazed by the year that we’ve had – celebrating 7 years in business, new team members and record breaking year of PR coverage for our clients and more. We’re looking forward to an exciting 2020 and in true PR style we couldn’t leave 2019 without sharing some of our highlights. 7 years in business LexRex Communication celebrated seven years in business this year and it has been fantastic to look back over the growth of the business with such fantastic clients and some pretty impressive milestones achieved. We celebrated and the LexRex family came together at Grand Pacific on Thursday 10 October to raise a glass and of course a selfie frame. Founded In 2012 by Managing Director and founder, Victoria Moffatt we are the only specialist legal communications agency outside of London, and over the past 7 years LexRex has built a roster of specialist and award-winning law firms. That is certainly a highlight worth celebrating. Amazing new clients We continued to expand our reach across the boutique law firm market this year with new clients, firstly we were appointed by Court of Protection specialist Hugh Jones Solicitors early this year. Hugh Jones Solicitors is the biggest firm of independent Court of Protection solicitors in the country and throughout this year we have landed some fantastic coverage across specialist press, with comments and interviews. We were also delighted to welcome our new client, employment law experts Robinson Ralph last month and landed employment solicitor and founder, Simon Robinson an interview on BBC Radio Stoke to comment on the latest employment law issues in the national news – not a bad way to welcome a client on board. Launch of a new legal sector event series For some time we have wanted to do series of events that could add value to our clients and others in the northern legal market; this year we hosted our first panel event with Chambers and Partners. We invited the Chambers and Partners Guide editors up to Manchester to share their insights into how the Guides are prepared, the rankings decided and how law firms can create submissions that stand out from the crowd. Not only was it of huge value to attendees, we will be creating video content and expert guides to roll out in the new year. Specialist media training We delivered expert media training and created the next round of legal PR superstars. Whether it is challenging questions on the court steps at the right hand of a key client or an interview on a breaking news topic on the breakfast TV couch, we have created specialist Media Training for Lawyers and have delivered it throughout this year to some amazing candidates. It is a course that is in demand and we’re lining up dates for 2020 as we speak. Growing the team We welcomed new team members into the LexRex family this year, expanding the reach of our talented PR expertise. PR specialist Sophie Chadwick and marketing specialist Sarah Wilde joined us this year and we have hosted our strategy days as a team throughout the year enabling us to build even more value for our clients and the northern legal market. We continue to scale the business and we are proud to grow a specialist team of PR, media, communications marketing and social media experts that can deliver outstanding results for the legal sector. We also have exciting plans for expansion in 2020 so watch this space, Award worthy PR coverage We delivered record breaking and award-worthy coverage. Over the summer we created the Pet-nups media campaign with Maguire Family Law and, amongst national press and radio coverage including The Guardian, The BBC and The New York Post, we even saw the campaign feature on BBC’s long-standing panel show, Have I Got News For You. As we head into 2020, not only is the press interest in this still buzzing, we also saw the campaign shortlisted for a prestigious Chartered Institute of PR Award. As the year draws to a close we saw a record-breaking volume of coverage over the past couple of months and throughout the year we seen media highlights in The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Marie Claire, LadBible. The Mirror, BBC, Fox News and The New York Post to name but a few. Here’s to even more amazing media highlights and headline grabbing press for LexRex clients in 2020.
We have been threatening a series of events for the legal sector for quite a while now, and earlier in the year we actually started planning how these might look, and the value they could deliver to our clients and others in northern legal market. As the only specialist legal communications agency outside of London, we decided to invite the Chambers and Partners Guide editors up to Manchester to share their insights into how the Guides are prepared, the rankings decided and how law firms can create submissions that stand out from the crowd. The panel interview was hosted by our very own Victoria Moffatt, welcoming Chambers Guide and Chambers High Net Worth Guide editors to share insights, tips and know-how. The event took place on 3rd December at the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub and we were delighted to welcome clients and contacts from across the region’s legal sector. Split into two sections, our questions covered the actual submissions process and content and the handling of referees and data, before moving on to cover Chambers’ place in law firms’ marketing strategies and the value it brings to listed teams and individuals. “Excellent guests – really useful to get a real insight into the subject matter.” Our top three takeaways from the event were: 1. Be really clear about what makes a work highlight: When including new work highlights it isn’t necessarily the deal’s value that makes it interesting to the research team. If you are a team that handles mostly mid-market deals – include these as they showcase where your true expertise lies. And if, say, you have only handled one high-value deal, that is also absolutely fine to include. Be honest though – the research team will see through any attempts to inflate or overstate your expertise or specialisms. 2. Showcase your team not your hierarchy: Make sure Chambers get feel for your team and who is actually doing the majority of work on the matter. The editors don’t want to see just lead partner on every highlight when others in team really drove the work. 3. Keep communicating with your referees: Manage the communications with your referees and keep them engaged. It is sometimes difficult do avoid referrer fatigue however, where you have certain clients that you need to put forward for several submissions, explain the process to them and keep them up to date on who will be getting in touch and when. This will help to keep clients engaged. Because we want our events to be inclusive, we also filmed the panel session; and will be creating a video summary and an event report sharing the highlights and key points of the discussion. If you’re on our mailing list, we’ll be in touch to let you know how to get your hands on both the video and the report. If you’re not on the mailing list, please do add your name now by emailing info@lexrexcommunications.com The feedback we received from the event showed there’s a real desire for practical, hands-on support for getting the directory submissions process right. For that reason, we are currently working on an exclusive LexRex guide to creating stand-out directory submissions. Please email info@lexrexcommunications.com to pre-register your interest. Of course, we can also just pick up the process for you in its entirety. If that’s something you’d like to discuss – drop us a line on info@lexrexcommunications.com Chambers and Partners has been the leading source of legal market intelligence for over 30 years. Their 85 experienced researchers annually rank law firms and solicitors in the UK, providing a wealth of localised knowledge and trusted market insight. With the latest figures standing at over 10,000 individual UK solicitors and over 5,000 law firm departments ranked each year – just what can firms do to ensure their submissions get noticed? And how is the market currently using the Chambers and Partners Guide? Meet the panel: Steven Preston Deputy Editor UK Guide (currently Acting Editor) Steven became a Deputy Editor on the UK Guide having started at the company as a researcher. He studied undergraduate Law at UCL followed by a Masters in Human Rights Law at the same university. Simon Christian Editor HNW Guide Simon was a researcher and later a deputy editor on the Chambers UK team, before becoming editor of the Chambers High Net Worth guide. He has an LLB in Laws from University College London. He also studied for the BPTC at City Law School and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple. Lydia Burt Deputy Editor UK Guide Lydia started at Chambers as a researcher on the UK and USA guides, before being promoted to Deputy Editor on the UK Guide. She graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BA in American and English Literature, before studying for an MA in Film Studies at UCL. Victoria Moffatt Managing Director LexRex Communications LexRex a specialist PR and communications consultancy serving the UK legal sector. Victoria was previously a practising solicitor and has many years’ experience of working with Top 100, multi-disciplinary and niche law firms; both in practice and during her communications career. Future events and panel guests This event is the first in a series where we plan to bring you access to sector experts and promote discussion and knowledge sharing across the UK’s northern legal market. If you would like suggest topics or legal thought leaders that you would like to see on one of our panels contact us on info@lexrexcommunications.com Lex Rex Communications is a boutique PR and communications consultancy for the legal services industry with unique expert knowledge and understanding of the legal marketplace. Founded by Victoria Moffatt; an former lawyer with several years’ experience in high-street and commercial firms, followed by time at two of the UK’s leading PR agencies, LexRex is the only specialist legal communications agency outside of London, having built a roster of specialist and award-winning law firms.
Should we DIY our PR? Advice for law firms… Honestly, I’m not going to lie to you – I WON’T tell you that DIY PR for your law firm isn’t for you. Why not? Well because for some firms, it makes sense to DIY their comms, at least in the short term. So what are the benefits of DIYing your PR? 1. Cost – sort of Certainly doing your PR in-house or by yourself will not require you to spend any cold, hard cash. So for the start-up law firm, it may make sense. However, don’t forget that the time you spend working out your key messages and target audiences, creating a strategy, pitching to journalists, creating angles, carrying out research, and drafting comments, features, and curating / creating content across your social channels, and engaging; is all time that could be spend (probably more immediately profitably) fee-earning or undertaking business development activities. Key take-away: PR hours tend to be cheaper than lawyer hours, and we’re generally better at the strategic and delivery side of things 2. Creating and owning your relationships There’s something to this. Relationships are powerful things, and are very necessary for PR. So yes, building relationships with journalists is a GOOD IDEA. However, you’ll need to create a strong network of journalist relationships to ensure that your coverage isn’t heavily skewed into one or two publications, tv or radio shows (repeat performances are good of course, but you don’t want to miss out on other areas to showcase your expertise to your target audiences). Key take-away: building relationships with journalists is never wasted time, but keep the net wide 3. Making use of slack time Again, a reasonable reasoning for DIY PR is the logic that it can be used to fill otherwise ‘dead’ time. This is a sensible proposition, as long as this PR time is properly carved out and utilised. Don’t let it become the never-reached or actioned item on the ‘to-do’ list, or everybody loses. Key take-away: ensure you prioritise PR 4. How difficult can it be? Yep, fair enough. It isn’t a dark art and you can quickly learn to ‘do’ media relations and other elements of PR; in the same way that you can do your own accounts, serve your own papers, create your own logo and make your own tea. But didn’t you go into the law to practice it? On a slightly left-field note, the personality type of an analytical, problem-solving lawyer doesn’t typically display the same strengths or features as that of a typical a PR. So whilst you can certainly do it, don’t count on enjoying it… Key take-away: remember your strengths In conclusion: DIY PR for your law firm is certainly something you can do. However, before you commit to it, remember that outsourcing is a great way to free up your own time to work upon, rather than in, your fledgling law firm. And if you are thinking about PR at the moment, our handy guide on choosing the most appropriate PR agency may be helpful. If you’d like to know about how PR can support your law firm, please get in touch on info@lexrexcommunications.com About LexRex LexRex Communications is a boutique PR agency serving the legal services market. Working in partnership with boutique law firms and businesses that serve the legal profession, our team is passionate about the law and its practice. Managing director and founder of LexRex Communications Ltd, Victoria Moffatt is a former solicitor turned legal PR specialist. She practised in South Yorkshire and Leeds over the course of her 6 year legal career. Victoria honed her PR skills at some of the UK’s leading and award-winning PR agencies in Manchester; working across a variety of prestigious law firm accounts including regional big-hitters and Top 100 firms. Driven by great communications and measurable results, Victoria loves creating and implementing bespoke campaigns. Her strengths include understanding exactly what clients want to achieve, and creating strategies that meet their objectives. LexRex is singularly focused on helping the legal services industry stay in the news, for the right reasons. To find out more about our services, please visit: https://www.lexrexcommunications.com/ You can also contact us on 0161 393 6121 or email us on info@lexrexcommunications.com Connect with Victoria on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn Check out our social channels: Twitter LinkedIn
I don’t often write legal PR content aimed at high street firms, as until recently, our focus has been boutiques. However, things have changed and we’re now pleased to be working with those behemoths of the British legal market, and accordingly, I’d like to share some of my expertise in these PR tips. 1. Access to the boss Decisions in PR need to be made quickly, and without fear of come-back. So be available when necessary, and be happy to provide sign-off for quotes, bylined articles and award entries. If your PR partner is constantly banging on your door (physically or metaphorically), that’s a good sign. It means we’re busy delivering against your requirements. 2. Knowledge about the firm Your PR partner needs the down and dirty on the business. If they don’t know about the skeleton in the third floor stationery room, this could cause trouble for you in the future. Ensure you trust your PR fully and that they are fully briefed on anything that could cause issues for the firm or any of its staff in the media. Tell them about financial problems, redundancy, harassment claims or any disastrous ongoing matters. They can’t protect you from negative news if they don’t have the full picture. Also, rest assured; this information is in very safe hands – we are the keepers of bad news. 3. Ability to speak freely Your PR partner may occasionally be the bearer of negative news, but let them be honest with you. Don’t be the shouty managing partner who thinks nothing of bullying staff or contractors. Be professional and trust our expertise – you’ll get much better results. 4. An understanding of what you are trying to achieve Ensure your firm has a business plan, along with some key deliverables, and know what ‘success’, and indeed failure look like. Then tell us about it! We can then create a strategy to dovetail with yours, and ensure that what we deliver supports your business goals. Bringing somebody in to ‘do’ PR without any plan is unlikely to make much of a difference to your bottom line (or indeed any other business aim if not profit-related). 5. Autonomy and respect We won’t come in and tell your staff what to do. Of course not – they are experts in their roles. However, quid pro quo and all that… don’t demand a press release for a new website, and don’t tell us that a case you won 6 months ago is a great news story. We understand the media inside out. We also know what makes a great angle, and what will ensure an editor blocks our email address before you can say ‘I have a great story for you’. So these are our 5 great PR tips for high street law firms. We hope you enjoyed them and please do leave a comment with your thoughts. You can find our more about how we work and our services here. We are now providing online PR training for law firms and will shortly launch our first *free* course. If you’d like to sign up or know more about our PR courses, drop us a line info@lexrexcommunications.com By Victoria Moffatt LexRex Communications is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to boutique law firms. We help lawyers stand out from the crowd. If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on info@lexrexcommunications.com. You can also tweet us LexRexComms or @vicmoffatt. You can also connect with Victoria on LinkedIn.
When it comes to selecting an agency to deliver legal PR for your law firm, the choices, budgets and levels of service available can be bewildering. So how to go about selecting an agency that will meet your requirements, deliver what they promise and keep your partners happy? 1. Consider competence… Any PR agency offering legal PR services needs to understand the law and its application, and must be able to create content that is legally correct and easily understood by the firm’s target audiences. Don’t be tricked into thinking its your fee earners’ or junior staff’s role to create content – it’s not, your PR agency should manage this for you. How? You could provide a couple of brief scenarios and ask the agencies how they would respond to them. For example, a firm with a family law department could point to the recent Steinfeld judgment and ask the agency to create comments, along with an example media list of where they would seek to place said comments. This exercise should help to establish whether the agency team understands family law, and secondly, the media list will help to identify whether they understand your target audiences. Do this across 2 or 3 different service lines, and you will soon build a picture of your shortlisted agencies’ competencies and shortfalls. 2. Consider capacity… Heard of ‘pitch and switch’? It’s an unfortunate and decidedly dodgy practice whereby an agency will select an amazing pitch team to win the work, which it then hastily disassembles at delivery time. It’s really important to ensure that the all singing, all dancing team you meet during a pitch process will actually be responsible for the day to day delivery. And if not, you should at the very least get to meet the account executive, manager, and director before signing on the dotted line. Don’t forget at that point to check capability as per point 1. How? Just ask the right question before making any final decisions. 3. Consider chemistry… This should be an obvious one but… can you work with these people? Yes, creative industries can attract unusual personalities (but hey, so can the legal profession!) That said, it really is so important that you get along with your PR team. They should know the ins and outs of your business (and if they don’t, you may want to consider why that’s the case). How? Be realistic and honest. If an all-singing, all-dancing agency has impressed with their ideas, strategy and enthusiasm, but half of the management team hate them – don’t take them on board, it’s not going to work. 4. Consider ROI and strategy Again, this should be a complete no-brainer… but before you put together your invitation to tender, understand what you are trying to achieve both within your business AND by appointing a PR agency. PR strategies can support business aims, but only if everybody understands what these are. To this end, it’s important to agree what success will look like and agree some metrics. These could be sales-, audience-, key message- based, a combination of some or all of these, or different ones entirely. So be clear about what you want to achieve, and know understand what success, and indeed failure, looks like. Still stuck? Give us a call. We can provide a consultancy service to ensure you choose the right PR agency for your firm, the first time around. LexRex can save you thousands of pounds of lost billing time by weeding out the chancers and ensuring your PR agency hits the right notes, from the start. By Victoria Moffatt LexRex Communications is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to boutique law firms. We help lawyers stand out from the crowd. If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on info@lexrexcommunications.com. You can also tweet us LexRexComms or @vicmoffatt.
