Litigation public relations, and its pro and cons.

                Litigation public relations (LPR) is the profession of influencing events surrounding legal cases, using mass communication techniques. LPR specially comes to play when a case becomes popular and extends beyond the courthouse to the people of the street. LPR uses public relations practices such as focus groups, surveys, and court room exhibit preparation.

Involvement and influence of pervasive media on public opinion and court cases has its pro and cons. This conflict can also be traced in the US constitution. The first amendment guarantees freedom of speech and press whereas the sixth amendment guarantees fair and open trials. Some states have more strict laws on pretrial public communications. Most of these regulations derived from rule 3.6 of the ABA’s model rules of professional conduct.

Public relations practitioners who are assigned for LPR tasks, work for attorneys and aid them in pretrial concerns. The aid includes using public opinion polls and focus groups, coaching lawyers and clients in dealing with media, and most controversially, influencing the jury pool before the trial takes place.   

Whether LPR is a good or bad practice remains controversial. This controversy can even be found in the constitution; as guarantees of freedom of press do not necessarily accommodate the guarantees of fair trial. LPR can be beneficial because it gives the person/organizations a chance to preserve their reputation in the court of public opinion. The drawback of the LPR remains its nature of influencing court proceedings by expressing extrajudicial statements and by stirring up public opinion.       

Resource: Guth David W, Marsh Charles. Public Relations A value-driven approach, Pearson: 4^th Edition.