Legal Conversation

Jonathan Bernstein crisis litigation, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, litigation-related PR, media training

Working with the media in litigation-related situations can reap serious rewards for lawyers and their clients. While the first option for dealing with the public is usually a crisis management professional, when dealing with legal matters lawyers hold the advantage of attorney-client privilege, which is a major aid in protecting …

New Salmonella Case

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, public relations

A recall was issued for over 150 items containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein after salmonella Tennessee was discovered in products made by Las Vegas based Basic Food Flavors. The FDA, conscious of criticism received for slow action in the past, launched an aggressive crisis response effort with a list of potentially …

Eliminating Filters

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Response, social media

Having a bulky, lumbering communications structure does nothing but obstruct crisis management. In a recent post on his blog, social media consultant Mack Collier used the example of Southwest Airline’s disagreement with director Kevin Smith, who was allegedly asked to disembark from a flight because he was too large to …

Real Live Answering Machines

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants in Carlisle have alleged they were ordered to imitate answerphones between 12pm and 2pm on Monday, so that when callers got through, the workers would say: “Due to the high volume of enquiries we are currently experiencing, we are unable to take …

Talking about Toyota

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, reputation management

Last week’s Business Matters podcast,  now available as a 20-minute .MP3 file, took a look at the various aspects of Toyota’s landmark crisis by interviewing several professionals, including Bernstein Crisis Management President Jonathan Bernstein, on what it all means to Toyota and their customers. Although the recall is already being …