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84 WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

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Working with Lawyers

You now have an overview of how various laws and governmental regulations affect your work as a publiuc relations writer and specialist. A basic knowledge of the law should help you do your work in a responsible and appropriate manner, but you also should realize that a smattering of knowledge can be dangerous.

Laws and regulations can be complex. You are not a trained attorney, so it should be obvious that you should consult lawyers who are qualified to answer specialized questions regarding libel, copyright, trademarks, government regulation, and invasion of privacy.

Your organization's own staff attorneys or outside legal counselors are your first source of information.

At the same time, remember that lawyers can tell you what to do or not to do; they should not tell you what to say or how to say it. They are experts on the law but not on effective communication. They don't understand that the media want information now or that "no comment" is perceived as a guilty plea in the court of public opinion.

Indeed, a major area of fiction in any organization is the clash between the legal and public relations departments. Lawyers generally prefer to say little or nothing in most situations, whereas the public relations staff perceives its role as providing a steady flow of information and news about the organization to multiple publics. It is a never-ending tug-of-war. At the same time, it is essential that the legal and public relations staffs cooperate in the best interests of the organization.

Great care must be taken in releasing information about litigation, labour negoti­ations, complex financial transactions, product recalls, and plant accidents. Numerous laws and regulations, to say nothing of liability considerations, affect what should or should not be said.

□ Words and word-combinations

1. attorney — юрист

2. to consult lawyers — советоваться с юристами

3. staff attorney — юрист, находящийся в штате фирмы

4. legal counselor — юрисконсульт

5. a guilty plea — признание виновности

6. never-ending tug-of-war — бесконечное «перетягивание каната»

7. product recall — рекламация на продукцию

8. litigation — тяжба, спор