Litigation PR
Litigation PR is the subspecialty of crisis and corporate communications that operates specifically inside or alongside legal proceedings. It requires understanding both the communications imperative — win the public narrative — and the legal constraint — don't say anything that creates new liability or prejudices a proceeding.
Why It's a Distinct Discipline
Standard crisis communications assumes the organization can speak relatively freely once facts are verified. Litigation PR operates under a different constraint: everything the spokesperson says may be quoted in court. Legal counsel and communications counsel frequently conflict. The attorney's goal is to minimize exposure; the communications professional's goal is to control the narrative. Litigation PR is the art of doing both simultaneously.
The Two Audiences
Litigation PR serves two audiences the legal team doesn't: the public and the regulators who operate in the court of public opinion rather than a courtroom. Jurors are members of the public. Regulators read the newspapers. Legislators pay attention to sentiment. In high-profile matters, the public narrative can directly affect the legal outcome — which is why the most sophisticated legal defenses in major corporate matters retain PR counsel alongside legal.
Firms like Levick have built practices specifically around high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters. The Volkswagen emissions crisis, the Robinhood trading halt, and the Catholic Church abuse cases all required litigation PR alongside legal strategy.
The AI Overlay
Litigation generates a permanent indexed record — filings, coverage, expert commentary — that AI engines retrieve when describing a company's legal history. A brand whose litigation record is managed only through legal filings, with no parallel communications strategy, often finds that AI engines describe it primarily through the lens of the litigation. Litigation PR that generates accurate, contextualized indexed content — timelines, company statements, analyst commentary — shapes what the AI layer surfaces for years after the matter closes.