PR Firms Around the World Launch FirstInternational Communications Network for Litigation and Corporate Crises
Five communications consulting firms recently announced the establishment of an international network to provide clients with crisis and litigation communications support as needed around the globe. The five founding members of the Crisis & Litigation Communicators' Alliance (CLC-Alliance, www.clc-alliance.com), each a boutique agency specializing in communications strategy in crisis and high-value litigation matters, include Hellerman Baretz Communications (www.hellermanbaretz.com), based in the U.S; Bell Yard, based in the UK; Results: S. Holzinger, based in Germany; PreventK, based in Austria; and Roland Binz Kommunikation & Image, based in Switzerland.
The number of business crises that straddle borders has accelerated in recent years—not just affecting large companies. The arrest of a German hedge fund founder for allegedly defrauding banks on two continents, for instance, or the accusations of a worldwide campaign by Intel to protect its microprocessor monopoly being but two recent examples. The members of the CLC-Alliance were keen to establish a collection of consultancies in key jurisdictions, on call to provide expert guidance wherever events are anticipated or actually unfolding.
"A corporate crisis doesn't need a passport," said Spencer Baretz of Hellerman Baretz Communications, the CLC-Alliance's founding member in the United States. "As a member of the CLC-Alliance, when a client crisis or litigation occurs internationally, in partnership we can provide overseas expertise of the same caliber we each provide our clients domestically."
