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The Lawyer's Guide to Public Relations

By Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi
October 01, 2003

There is definitely an art to becoming the object of the press's affection. If you are lucky enough to have an in-house public relations department, your “luck runneth over.” However, for most lawyers whose wish list includes “personal appearances” either via print media or electronic media, it can be a challenging and sometimes frustrating experience. There is hope, and it comes in the form of having a personal public relations/professional development plan. While most business development efforts focus on marketing, public relations can be a key component to one's overall success. Public relations is different than marketing in the sense that it requires a more personal approach to one's professional development plan. It requires an individual to hone a separate set of skills that enables one to speak, be quoted and appear as a spokesperson in a specific area of expertise.

I am a believer that everyone can have an “in print” or “in person” public persona, and there are many individuals who are lucky enough to have both attributes. The in print persona is the easier part of the public relations professional development plan. It calls for the preparation of two lists that can be divided into two categories: a list of publications where one can place an article for publication, and a list of journalists who can be contacted with information about an individual's expertise with the view toward becoming the expert in the area and thus a resource for the journalist.

The list of publications can then be subdivided into two targeted lists. The first list is comprised of national, regional and local newspapers, magazines and journals specifically targeted to the legal profession. This list has the utility of building one's reputation as well as establishing oneself as a referral source to colleagues. Publications like The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal are widely recognized examples of national publications targeted to the legal profession; The New York Law Journal (New York) and The Legal Intelligencer (Pennsylvania) are examples of regional publications. These publications accept bylined articles and also publish cutting edge new stories that usually contain expert opinions in a specialized area of law.

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