The landslide election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States was a watershed moment in American history – and one that demonstrates just how radically the communications paradigm has shifted in 2008. The rules are changing before our very eyes. Americans have voiced their frustration with business as usual and the bitter partisanship that was beginning to define 21st Century politics. They are hungry for answers to our most pressing problems, ... Read More

According to data recently released by law firm marketing consultants Alyn-Weiss & Associates, the number of transactional, corporate, and defense law firms that employ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to generate new business has nearly tripled over the last two years. For the better part of the last decade, the plaintiffs’ bar remained a full Internet generation ahead of the defense when it came to Web savvy. Now, it seems that the competition – at least ... Read More

Last month, the international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski published the fifth edition of its annual litigation trends survey. It is the largest survey of its kind – providing valuable insights from 358 in-house counselors in the U.S. and UK on what are likely to be the most significant sources of corporate litigation in the coming year. The survey results confirm the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same. For ... Read More

As more companies and organizations confront the prospect of downsizing, careful planning is essential to controlling short and long-term reputational impact. As with any high-stakes situation, it is usually best to deal with bad news as early and thoroughly as possible. Everybody knows that their lives could change as a result of the current financial crisis. As such, senior executives need to keep employees informed – or risk the panic that will inevitably come as ... Read More

I know what you're thinking. You've conquered the blogosphere. You've "friended" colleagues to build your Facebook social network and you are LinkedIn up to your eyeballs. You have embraced the power of the Internet and effectively demonstrated your social media savvy. And now, just as you are about to pat yourself on the back for being ahead of the curve, the next new media craze becomes the talk of the office. At first, you convince yourself that you misunderstood the water cooler conversation. Your colleagues must ... Read More

In a high-anxiety environment – such as the one created by the current financial crisis – wild rumors all too often carry the weight of fact. When a company’s stakeholders hear troublesome news, they don’t have the luxury of waiting around for confirmation. They’ll opt for the knee-jerk reaction almost every time. Just ask Apple investors whose stock lost ten percent of its value in ten minutes after false reports that CEO Steve Jobs had ... Read More