Objectives
Osbornes Law is a leading law firm with a national and international client base across personal injury, medical negligence, family, private client, housing litigation and residential and commercial conveyancing. With offices in Camden and Hampstead, the firm employs 150 staff and has been helping private clients for the past four decades.
The management team approached Black Letter Communications (BLC) to help drive the firm’s growth, showcase the fantastic work it does for clients and give it a greater voice in the media. BLC created a sustained campaign to publicise all of the firm’s departments across national, regional and trade media.
What we did
BLC devised a PR strategy focusing on the firm’s strong human-interest cases in the practice areas where clients were willing to speak out, such as in personal injury and medical negligence. Where such cases were not available due to client confidentiality, we targeted relevant media with monthly topical issues-based press releases, keeping the firm front of mind for comment amongst journalists on key legal issues.
We began by giving the partners and fee earners an in-depth understanding of the PR process, how the media works and what was needed to maximise coverage for the firm. We ran a series of interactive workshops with each team, using our many years of combined journalistic and PR experience to explain how we could get their expertise and cases into the media. We also used the sessions to gather stories which garnered instant results in the form of strong national media coverage. Thereafter, BLC continued to attend team meetings and meet fee-earners individually, keeping the flow of stories from the firm coming across all i departments.
Additionally, we drew on our expertise in working with law firm clients – some of whom are vulnerable, injured or traumatised – to help them tell their personal stories by drafting press releases and comments and offering media advice. BLC also supports those who are thrown into the media spotlight, perhaps due to a court case, inquiry or inquest, and do not want press intrusion. By employing a series of media tactics, honed over many years, BLC helps shield clients from the media, while also shaping the story to the client and the firm’s benefit. BLC has recently helped Osbornes’ clients through the Croydon tram crash inquest and during the Basildon maternity scandal.
For those departments unable to talk about their cases due to confidentiality BLC attended monthly meetings with each team to uncover topics that may be of interest to the media. This has resulted in monthly press releases which have been covered by the personal finance sections of national media including The Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Express. This regular flow of press releases also resulted in the firm starting to receive requests from national consumer journalists for the firm to answer reader questions and provide comment.
In the first year of BLC being retained by Osbornes Law, we achieved record coverage of more than 1,000 mentions across national, regional and trade publications as well as on broadcast media. This activity has increased website traffic and led to direct client instructions.
Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Business Development at Osbornes Law, said: “Working with Black Letter has undoubtedly increased the firm’s profile in the media and improved knowledge across the firm of what it takes to get into the press. The results speak for themselves as there isn’t a month that goes by that Osbornes isn’t mentioned in the national press. Black Letter’s ability to root out stories and draft engaging press releases has been integral to our success.”
