In conversation: Managing crises beyond the courtroom

In a crisis, most organisations still follow a predictable sequence: call the lawyers, manage the fallout, then bring in communications. That order, according to APRW managing director Cho Pei Lin, is exactly where things go wrong.

Speaking on Marketing Connected's “In Conversation” podcast, Cho, who helped pioneer litigation and disputes PR in Singapore, said crises are often mishandled because communications is treated as an afterthought.

“Organisations will often say, find a lawyer first to give us legal advice, and then the matter gets thrown into the public space,” she said. “When it reaches the public space, they try to control the narrative and only then bring in PR. By then, the news is already everywhere.”

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She argued that litigation PR, or more broadly crisis communications, should be embedded from the start alongside legal and operational response.

“What is most important is to bring in the firefighters, the legal team, and the comms team at the beginning, or as early as possible,” she said. “It needs to be a holistic approach, not sequential.”

However, she noted that most organisations default to sequence under pressure. “It’s human nature. There’s a fire, so you put out the fire first. Then you deal with the rest later,” she said.

Cho also emphasised that litigation PR is often misunderstood as something that only applies when disputes escalate. In reality, she said, it is part of broader crisis management.

“Not everything ends up in litigation,” she said. “It’s really about crisis communications as an umbrella. The earlier you think about how legal, operational and communications work together, the better your outcomes will be.”

For Cho, the real value of litigation PR lies in alignment, not reaction. When legal, business and communications teams work in parallel, organisations are better positioned to protect both outcomes and reputation before a crisis spirals out of control.


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