Your Legal Public Relations, Legal Media Relations and Crisis Communications
Expert for Small to Mid-Size Law Firm Attorneys and Their Clients
Legal Media Relations from a Uniquely Qualified, Nationally Known
Former Journalist, Federal and State Prosecutors' Spokesman
AMLAW 100 law firms know how to leverage the client advocacy and long-term branding from best-practice legal media relations for their important civil and criminal cases, ensuring that their individual and corporate clients' successes or defenses are presented as fairly and factually as possible in today's 24/7 media. Are you are facing a major legal case milestone? Richard Lavinthal is an expert legal media relations strategist for solo-to-mid-size law firms, crafting short-term, per-case legal media relations without long-term contracts or annual retainers. Today's legal marketplace is wickedly competitive. No law firm, irrespective of size, should squander an often-rare major-case milestone news opportunity to support the client and concurrently market the attorney and his/her practice. Lavinthal knows the media. He has unique, extensive experience on all sides of civil and criminal cases as a daily newspaper and statehouse wire service reporter, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman for three U.S. Attorneys, and Director of Communications for the N.J. (State) Division of Criminal Justice. Now he works per-case with attorneys in private practice and their clients. No matter where your case is to be filed, tried or settled—local state or federal—if you want top-flight legal media relations call PRforLAW, LLC at 202-596-1176 for a free, absolutely confidential, and frank appraisal of the media potential and pitfalls for your upcoming civil or criminal case. With decades of absolute confidentiality, handling the most sensitive of matters, Lavinthal specializes in civil cases not-yet-public and white-collar cases involving closely held corporations and their officers.
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"... according to Richard Lavinthal, owner of PRforLAW, a Morrisville, Pa.-based legal media relations consulting firm." Should a Case Go Webwide
American Bar Association Journal, January 2010
consultancy handling major cases ..." Web Sites on the Case
The Legal Intelligencer, and Law.com's Legal Technology
Lawyers / their clients should contact Lavinthal well before:
- a) an important already public case/issue will have a major new development
- b) a not-yet-public matter will (or should) generate media interest, or
- c) a major-case milestone has potential to become a big local, regional or national story
Richard Lavinthal has the distinction of having been a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman; Communications Director for the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Criminal Justice; and spokesman for a New York City-based national legal news organization. He's covered the governor and New Jersey State Senate as a statehouse-based international wire service legislative correspondent, reported from a summit conference and served as a general assignment reporter for a metropolitan AM daily newspaper in New Jersey's capital city.
At PRforLAW, LLC Lavinthal has crafted case-specific legal media relations for more than $2 billion in jury verdicts, settlements and pleas for law firms and their clients including:
- America's biggest qui tam whistleblower False Claims Act settlement
- Three of the U.S. Department of Justice's Top-Ten FY 2008 civil fraud recoveries
- An Arms Export Control Act case v. corporate and individual defendants
- The biggest pharmaceutical qui tam settlement in U.S. history
- A habeas corpus after 20 years' imprisonment for murder accomplice conviction
- America’s biggest government qui tam Medicaid False Claims Act case
- The water pollution indictment of a closely held corporation near New York City
- Antitrust litigation pitting a medical practice against a national certification entity
- An international mass tort over beach-dumping millions of tons of toxic coal ash
Nationally Known... Uniquely Experienced
- Former U.S. Department of Justice Spokesman
- Former Director of Communications, NJ Division of Criminal Justice
- Created and Managed Four Public- and Private-Sector Press Offices
- Former National News Organization Marketing Director
- Former Statehouse-Based International Wire Service Reporter
- Former AM Daily Newspaper Reporter
- Op Ed Columnist and Blogger
- Media-Quoted on Legal and Law Enforcement Issues
- CLE and Media Relations Trainer
At the U.S. Department of Justice for the District of New Jersey Lavinthal directed thousands of news releases and managed more than 100 news conferences involving national and international civil and criminal matters for federal and state prosecutors. He's been on-camera with breaking news and features, including appearances on the Discovery Channel's "Cold Case" program, Comcast Morning News, and Michael Smerconish's radio show.
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Quoted locally and nationally on law enforcement and legal communications, and cold-case homicides, Lavinthal also spent a pro bono decade as Director of Communications for The Vidocq Society. He's one of just 82 full voting members of the unique international private forensic group based in Philadelphia that investigates and solves cold-case homicides. The Society is showcased in the recently released, "The Murder Room," by best-selling New York Times author Michael Capuzzo. Soon it will be a CBS TV Network series. From CNN to the New York Times and in scores of other publications and broadcast venues Lavinthal helped spread the Vidocq Society's fame, along with writing and editing the monthly "Vidocq Society Journal" and winning the Society's Medal of Honor. The book and the Society were recently featured in a full hour segment of ABC 20/20. "The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes...." as the book's cover states, is available in hard cover.. |
For a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice Lavinthal was spokesman for The Hon. Samuel A. Alito, Jr., The Hon. Michael Chertoff, and the Hon. Faith S. Hochberg when each was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Lavinthal also handled assignments from the Office of Public Affairs in Washington for U.S. Attorneys General Thornburgh, Barr and Reno. After the USDOJ, he became the first Director of Communications for the New Jersey (State) Division of Criminal Justice, the prosecuting arm of the most powerful state attorney general's office in the U.S.
A former metropolitan daily AM newspaper and statehouse-based international wire service reporter, Lavinthal also managed and edited the online news operation of PoliceOne.com, a national law enforcement organization. Earlier, he was Director of Legal Communities for the crime and justice news organization APBnews.com in New York City, where he also handled media relations for famed former FBI "profiler" John Douglas.
Lavinthal also SEO-develops law firm and unique litigation-specific Web sites; presents CLE programs for attorneys, writes Op Ed columns for newspapers, lectures on the press and media relations, and appears on radio and TV, or in print, as an expert on legal communications, law enforcement media and crisis communications issues.
Selected major-case media relations by Richard Lavinthal
can be found at the PRforLAW, LLC, home page.
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Columns, Commentary and Quotes
Philadelphia Bar Association's
Upon Further Review, October 2009
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 2009
Harrisburg Patriot-News July 2008
The Vidocq Society Journal June 2008
Philadelphia Daily News April 2008
WIBC Crime Beat Program,
Indianapolis, IN
April 2008
Philadelphia Inquirer Jan 2008
Philadelphia Inquirer, May 2007
September 2010 Philadelphia Daily News:
A Teachable Moment in Casino Parking
The Legal Intelligencer and Law.com Legal Technology, October 2009
Washington, D.C. Examiner, April 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2007
Washington, D.C. Examiner: March 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer July 2007
National Association
of Criminal
Defense Attorneys (NACDL) September, 2007
Richard Lavinthal's Op Ed suggests a new cyber-partnership between law enforcement and higher education.
Richard Lavinthal documents poor legal media relations by the JonBenet Ramsey / Mark David Karr prosecutor.
Richard Lavinthal, CEO
PRforLAW, LLC Legal Media Relations
Morrisville, Pennsylvania
202-596-1176
© Copyright Richard Lavinthal 2002-2010. All rights reserved.