Free Chapter: Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators

Continuity Insights

Rothstein Publishing is offering Business Continuity professionals a free chapter from the new book Crisis Counsel: Navigating Legal and Communication Conflict, by Tony Jaques, Ph.D.

It probably won’t surprise you that one of the most common areas of disagreement between lawyers and communicators is about when and how to apologize.

The truth is that while apologizing seems simple, it’s not easy. Think about it at a personal level – how hard it is to genuinely apologize, even to your friends and loved ones. How much harder it is for corporations and CEOs having to do so on the public stage, in the glare of the news media, beset by concerns about avoiding embarrassment and protecting reputation and share value while surrounded by a phalanx of nervous lawyers and anxious communication professionals.

That prospect can generate a whole catalogue of reasons why you don’t want to apologize. Which in turn leads to the defensive questions: “Why should I apologize at all? What’s the worst that can happen?” Those issues demand both legal and communications involvement.

This free chapter will help you to:

  • Recognize why you should apologize when you’ve done something wrong.
  • Assess the legal implications of apologizing.
  • Learn from real-life examples how lack of a proper apology can trigger a crisis.
  • Avoid making the crisis worse by failing to apologize.
  • Know how apologizing can sometimes reduce legal liability.
  • Accept why you sometimes need to apologize, even when you’ve done nothing wrong.
  • Show how legal or political pressure can demand organizational apologies for historical issues.

Click here to download your free chapter from Crisis Counsel: Navigating Legal and Communication Conflict.

Learn more about Crisis Counsel: Navigating Legal and Communication Conflict and how it can help you to:

  • Balance reputation protection and legal obligation during a crisis.
  • Know why and how to apologize without increasing liability.
  • Weigh legal and communications advice when a crisis strikes.
  • Learn from original research which lets lawyers and communicators speak in their own words.
  • Draw practical everyday lessons from real-world examples of conflict between lawyers and communicators.
  • Navigate the legal and communication challenges of dealing with the media in a crisis.
  • Motivate lawyers and communicators to work better together.
  • Identify and avoid crucial areas of potential conflict from selected crisis case studies.
  • Understand the essential difference between corporate responsibility and legal liability.
  • Make decisions and do the right thing to protect your organization.
Continuity Insights

Similar Articles

Cyber Criminals Target Zoom Domains in Wake of COVID-19

Online communication has become the norm as we deal with the impact of the Coronavirus. But as our online usage of platforms like Zoom increases, cyber criminals have stepped up … Read more

Preventing Ransomware Attacks

To help IT leaders improve their organization’s ability to prevent incursions and defend against ransomware attacks in the current climate, global IT research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group published a … Read more

What ‘The Office’ Taught Us About Workplace Safety – Domestic Violence

Acts of violence in the workplace rarely come as a surprise, and are perpetrated by current and former employees, domestic partners of employees or, in rare cases, total strangers. According … Read more

Leave a Comment