Litigation communications

Litigation is conducted in court and reported everywhere else. We work with a client’s lawyers so that what is said outside court helps, or at least does not hurt, what is argued inside it.

We act in commercial disputes, regulatory and criminal investigations, group actions, judicial reviews and arbitrations that have become, or may become, public. We are usually instructed by, or with, the client’s solicitors or counsel, and our advice is given on that footing.

The work is mostly restraint. A statement made in the first week of a dispute will be read aloud by the other side’s counsel two years later; a holding line that is exactly true and no wider than the facts is worth more than a persuasive one. We help clients decide when to speak, when not to, and how to say “we will not comment” in a way that does not sound like an admission.

Open justice means that hearings and judgments are reported. We prepare clients for both: for the day the claim is issued, the day of the hearing and the day the judgment is handed down, which is the day most people will remember.

What it involves

Communications strategy for disputes, investigations and judicial review, agreed with counsel
Statements and lines for issue, hearing and judgment days
Monitoring and handling of court reporting
Preparation of witnesses and spokespeople for public hearings
Advice on reporting restrictions, privilege and contempt, alongside the client’s lawyers
Communications with employees, investors and counterparties during proceedings

In practice In 2022 the practice was named litigation communications team of the year. Frances Idowu, who leads it, practised as a litigation solicitor for six years.

Litigation communications

What it involves

Who to talk to

Case studies

From the Journal