Kimball Communications recently announced the signing of four new clients, including a Chicago-based professional trade association, plus legal and financial service providers.

Those new clients include:

• American Association of Law Libraries: Based in Chicago, the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) advances the profession of law librarianship and supports the professional growth of its members through leadership and advocacy in the field of legal information and information policy. Kimball Communications will provide AALL with public relations services, including media relations, thought leadership development and social media consulting.
• Michaelson Capital Partners LLC: Michaelson Capital Partners, a venture capital firm based in Manhattan, provides customized growth financing to entrepreneur-led technology companies in sectors where the firm has domain expertise, relationships and experience to add value. Michaelson Capital Partners has hired Kimball Communications to provide on-demand public relations support and media outreach.
• Amanda DiChello, Saul Ewing LLP, partner and co-chair of the Private Client Services Group: Amanda DiChello is a partner at Saul Ewing LLP in Philadelphia and New Jersey, and the co-chair of the firm’s Private Client Services Group, where she serves as general counsel and trusted advisor to high-net-worth families and individuals, closely held business owners, family offices, and charitable foundations. Kimball Communications has been hired to develop and implement a public relations strategy to increase Amanda’s profile as an expert in her field.
• Themis Advocates Group: As a national network of law firms based in King of Prussia, Pa, the mission of Themis Advocates Group is to provide the most skilled, aggressive and cost-efficient legal services to clients by sharing information, procedures, trends and client feedback. Themis Advocates Group engaged Kimball Communications to provide public relations consulting, and to create and enact a social media strategy highlighting its events and members’ expertise, as well as sharing resources and information pertinent to insurance litigation and policy.

“Our 22-year reputation for outstanding public relations services spans several industries. However, we’re particularly pleased to continue to expand our working partnerships with those in the professional association, legal and financial service sectors. We look forward to working with these and other great clients in the year ahead,” said agency President Gary Kimball

When dealing with a crisis, “no comment” is always the wrong response. The right response must provide clarity and accuracy. There are several recent examples, however, where spokespersons have either issued statements without taking the time to check all the facts or they purposely provided false information.

One recent example was a physical assault by a congressional candidate on a member of the press. To initially defend the candidate from assault allegations, his spokesperson provided an account that was contrary what the reporter said happened. The campaign provided inaccurate information to support their defense.

You might ask, ‘how do we know the story was inaccurate?’ Well, there were witnesses and an audio recording of the incident. These where even referenced in the campaign’s statement, although they ultimately provided details that supported the reporters account rather than the campaign’s. Moreover, the candidate, now a U.S. congressman, recently plead guilty to the assault charges.

Here is the problem — prior to issuing the statement, the communication professionals involved clearly didn’t have or somehow ignored key facts. They did not speak to the witnesses. They did not talk to the reporter in question. They also doubled-down by referencing an audio recording of the incident in their statement, it seems, to which they hadn’t actually listened. Worse still, there is the possibility the campaign issued a statement that was a deliberate untruth.

The lesson here is simple: stick to the truth. If you don’t have all the facts, there’s nothing wrong with saying so, and qualify it by noting you are looking into the matter. If you or your client have done something wrong, admit it and apologize sincerely. However, before you issue a definitive statement, check your facts, explain the ramifications of false statements to the parties involved and use sound judgement. If there are witnesses, talk to them if possible. But don’t lie, ignore facts or act with only a partial idea of what happened.

In any matter, when dealing with the media take your time and check your facts. When your image or that of your client is on the line, you want your communications strategy done right. Never put yourself in a position where you’re providing false information or don’t know the full picture. Tell the truth – always. Doing otherwise can damage your reputation and follow you for years.