Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | September 26, 2016 | wbjournal.com F OC U S B U S I N E S S & T H E L A W N early three years ago, James Donnelly was con- tacted by a reporter from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette regarding the Higgins Armory Museum, the venera- ble, now-defunct Worcester institution whose collection had just been sold to the Worcester Art Museum. As Donnelly, a lawyer at Mirick O'Connell in Worcester who served as the museum's president, tells it, the Telegram's Shaun Sutner had been con- tacted by a group of people who were upset about the museum's dissolution and the previously mentioned sale. They claimed Higgins trustees failed to explore alternatives before picking the Worcester Art Museum, and that trust- ees hadn't tried hard enough to keep Higgins Armory alive. Donnelly invited Sutner up to his office to chat about the concerns that had been brought forth. During their hourlong conversation, Donnelly said he explained, in detail, efforts made by the trustees to ensure the best possible future for the museum and its collec- tion. He also tipped Sutner off on some activity from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office and the Supreme Judicial Court. His transparency with members of the media – and through them, the public – allowed for a fuller, more bal- anced final story, Donnelly said. "He certainly made the points the unhappy people wanted to make, but was able to put them into broader con- text, so people got the whole story," said Donnelly. When it comes to managing a public relations crisis of any magnitude, there are many legal and communications- related steps a business can take to weather the storm, lawyers and public relations experts said. A crisis in and of itself doesn't mean it's the end of a line for a company – it's how an incident is dealt with that can determine whether a business sinks or swims. "I can think of many instances when the company went out of business because they weren't prepared to deal with the situation," said David Ball, president of Ball Consulting Group, LLC in Newton, which works with sev- eral clients in Central Massachusetts. Legal protection Douglas Radigan, a partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, has been involved in crisis management strategy for com- panies dealing with everything from fatal job site accidents to drug patent challenges. In a crisis situation, before anyone talks to the media – or, ideally, before information becomes public in the first place – it's import- ant to understand exactly what the facts of a situation are, Radigan said. During the fact-finding pro- cess, a lawyer can be helpful because execu- tives can share things they discover along the way because of attorney-cli- ent privilege, he said. "If you take the first initial steps cor- rectly, using an attorney, you can learn the facts of the situation without signif- icant legal risk," said Radigan. Once the facts are unearthed, the lawyer can help determine what infor- mation can be made public under the law. For example, if an employee embezzled money, it's not only import- ant to come clean and present the facts, but it's also necessary to understand the privacy rights of the people involved with the incident. "If you're careless about what you say, you can violate privacy rights or expose the organization to a libel suit," Donnelly said. "Lawyers play an important role in helping you make the point you want to make, without crossing some red line by revealing information that was private." A company should designate a spokesperson, so there is a singular voice relaying a clear message coming from the organization, he said. That person should be well-versed on the legal lines he or she needs to stay away from before picking up the phone to call a journalist. Wrong patient kidney removal The industry a business falls into can dictate its response scenario, Ball said. Crises are, in general, more likely to happen at a hospital or a manufacturing plant than at a retail store. In August, Saint Vincent Hospital made headlines after reports surfaced that a surgeon performed a kidney Crisis planning BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer When a legal issues hit, companies need to cover their liability while winning in the court of public opinion Douglas Radigan, a partner at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, says in public relations crises, a natural tension builds between lawyers who want to iron out the problems and liability vs. PR teams seeking to stay ahead of the news cycle. P H O T O / N A T H A N F I S K E James Donnelly David Ball

• Cover