The media will be talking about our clients. Or at least some of our clients. So how do we decide whether (and how) to join the conversation?
Twenty years ago, our United States Attorney’s Office indicted former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell. Sally Yates called a press conference at the Russell Building. Local and national media filed into the conference room on the sixth floor and set up their microphones and cameras. Yates walked into the room and stood behind the podium, but she looked nervous and unsettled. Why? Standing at edge of the room was Bill Campbell himself, staring defiantly toward her with his held high. After the press conference, he gathered the same reporters outside the building and professed his innocence. Although a jury later convicted him, and the court sent him to a federal prison, the media gambit certainly made a splash.
But let’s talk about your cases. Have you ever turned on the news to see the United States Attorney standing on the steps of the Russell Building telling the world your client has been indicted? Have you ever received a phone call from a reporter asking for a comment about your client’s case? Have you ever had a client demand that you call reporters to say he’s been falsely accused? If not, you will. So, what the heck should we do next?
Start by reading the (dry and dull) Local Criminal Rule 57.4. But then immediately sign up for the St. Crispin’s Day CLE, where two engaging media savants will share their brilliance with all of us.
Hannah Riley (right) is a communications expert, writer, and Director of Programming for the Center for Just Journalism. She has worked at the intersection of media and law for over a decade, most recently as the Communications Director for the Southern Center for Human Rights.
Josie Duffy Rice (left) is a journalist, writer, law school graduate, and podcast host whose work is primarily focused on prosecutors, prisons, and other criminal justice issues. She is the writer and host of the podcast UnReformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children.
If you have not yet signed up to join us at Crispy, here is the registration link. And here is the fun-filled, action-packed agenda. We can’t wait to see you.