Media relations when the worst has happened
Media handling, crisis management and training for law firms and the families they represent, after deaths, disasters and inquests. Thirty years of it, from the Nimrod inquest to Natasha's Law.
Why it matters
The race for the narrative starts on day one
When disaster strikes, the people responsible think about their reputation from the first moment. The victims don't. They are at a hospital bedside, or burying someone, and most of them want nothing to do with the spotlight.
So for a while, those responsible are the only ones in the race. Their first statements, on and off the record, harden into public opinion and find their way into the history of the disaster. Four days after Hillsborough, the Sun's front page sold more than four million copies of a story the families spent decades fighting.
By the time lawyers are instructed, they don't inherit a clean slate. They inherit a story written while their clients were grieving. My work is making sure the people harmed have a voice, and protection, from the start.
In the days after
What families need
A voice
An accurate account of what happened to them, heard early, in their own words, before someone else's version sets.
Someone between them and the door
A buffer against intrusion at the worst time of their lives: fielding the calls, managing the requests, keeping the doorstep clear.
Someone who knows the rules
The press play by rules the families don't know. Exclusives, embargoes, pooled pictures, what "off the record" really means.
A record
Who came, what was said and what was promised. Those responsible keep theirs from the first hour. The families should too.
Experience
Beside families through the hardest cases
At Irwin Mitchell and Leigh Day, and for firms including Thompsons Solicitors and Watson Woodhouse, my job has been to stand between people harmed by tragedy and the press: giving them a voice when they want one, and protecting them from intrusion when they don't.
2005
A bereaved family after the 7/7 London bombings
Stood between a widowed mother, her children and the press in the run-up to the national memorial service, when a reporter pushed a pen and paper through the letterbox to her eleven-year-old son.
2007
Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson MBE
A media campaign alongside Ben and his mother that helped force changes to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
2008
The Nimrod inquest, 14 families
Alongside the families through a week-long inquest that found the fleet unsafe and led the Ministry of Defence to accept responsibility.
2018–21
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and Natasha's Law
Media strategy with Natasha's parents through her inquest and the campaign that followed, ending in new food labelling law.
2022
Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore
Independent reports into three young women's deaths taken to a Daily Mail front page and an urgent question in the Commons.
2023
John Coles, Heathrow Terminal 5
National coverage of an inquest that ended in a Prevention of Future Deaths report to Heathrow Airport Ltd.
2024
David Carpenter, Coventry
BBC coverage of an inquest into a death the jury found foreseeable, and a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the lorry maker.
Media relations
Before, during and after
Before
Preparing for the inquest or the report
- Media strategy agreed with the family and the legal team, weeks ahead
- Family statements, background briefings and pictures ready before the day
- Relationships with the journalists who will cover it
- Timing that serves the legal strategy and never prejudices proceedings
During
When the story is live
- One point of contact for the press, so the family doesn't have to be
- Rapid correction of false or damaging claims
- Support at court, at the verdict and at the door
- Interview preparation for anyone who chooses to speak
After
Turning a verdict into change
- Campaigns built around the family's objectives: reports, Parliament, the law
- Meetings with ministers and policymakers where they help
- Care for the long tail: anniversaries, search results, follow-up coverage
- Knowing when to stop
Crisis management
When the story turns on the firm
Firms that act against powerful institutions attract powerful critics. I write crisis processes for law firms and run them when it matters, built on four principles.
Transparency and honesty
Every statement must be backed by facts. Lawyers are bound by the SRA Principles, and a crisis is no exception. Getting bad news out on your own terms beats having it splashed on someone else's.
Rapid response
The first 24 hours decide how a story runs. Silence doesn't stop a story; it lets someone else write it.
Consistent messaging
One agreed line, one set of spokespeople, and every channel saying the same thing.
Cautious clarity
Clear, honest answers, worded with care, because some people will try to twist what a firm says against the clients it acts for.
What a crisis process covers
- Crisis identification criteria and graded levels of severity
- Escalation triggers, thresholds and decision-making protocols
- Roles and responsibilities, from partners to reception
- Stakeholder mapping: clients, families, staff, regulators, referrers
- Holding statements drafted before they're needed
- Media monitoring, analysis and contact lists kept current
Training
Media handling for lawyers and their clients
Practical, in-house training built around your cases and the stories you are likely to face. Crisis management runs through all of it.
For lawyers
Media handling for lawyers
For fee earners and partners running inquests, group actions and high-profile claims, who will face journalists on behalf of clients.
- Crisis management: the process, the triggers and the first 24 hours
- How newsrooms work, and what journalists need from you
- Statements, interviews and speaking on the court steps
- When publicity helps a case, and when it risks prejudice or contempt
- Ongoing consent, and keeping the client's voice first
- Your professional duties when the story turns on the firm
For clients
Media handling for clients and families
For the people at the centre of a case: bereaved families, injured clients and campaigners who choose to speak, or who want to be left alone.
- Knowing your rights when the press call or knock
- Deciding whether, when and how to speak publicly
- Preparing for an interview, a statement or a verdict day
- Handling social media and comment sections
- Exclusives, payments and contracts: what to watch for
- Protecting children and other family members
“His experience, judgement and ability in Media Relations put us at ease as he navigated the tumultuous media attention we received during and after the inquest.”
Case studies
Where this has delivered
April 2024 · Thompsons Solicitors
Death of David Carpenter
Prevention of Future Deaths report issued to Dennis Eagle Ltd. National BBC coverage secured. Campaign for mandatory safety upgrades amplified.
Read case studyJuly 2023 · Thompsons Solicitors
John Coles Inquest — Heathrow Airport
Prevention of Future Deaths report issued to Heathrow Airport Ltd. National media coverage secured highlighting systemic safety failures at Heathrow.
Read case studyNovember 2022 · Watson Woodhouse
NHS England Mental Health Deaths
Daily Mail front page. Two-page Times feature. Guardian, Metro, i coverage. BBC, ITV, Sky News segments. Urgent question raised in the House of Commons.
Read case study2019 · Leigh Day
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse — Natasha’s Law
Natasha’s Law enacted (October 2021). New food packaging and labelling standards across the UK. Legislative change achieved through sustained media advocacy.
Read case study2008 · Irwin Mitchell
The Nimrod Inquest — 14 Families
MOD accepted responsibility. Coroner recommended grounding of entire Nimrod fleet. Landmark verdict on military safety accountability.
Read case study2007 · Irwin Mitchell
Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson MBE
Government changed the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Policy shift ensuring all injuries counted for compensation. National campaign achieved systemic reform.
Read case studySpeaking · CORLA, 16 September 2026
The Race for the Narrative
A talk to claimant group-litigation lawyers at CORLA's Litigation at Sunset, alongside a keynote from Michael Mansfield KC. It traces how those responsible for Hillsborough, Aberfan, the Post Office scandal, infected blood and Grenfell won the first telling of the story, and what could give victims a voice in the first three days.
Read the full talkCommon questions
Frequently asked
When should a firm involve you after a disaster?
As early as possible. Those responsible start shaping the story within hours, and the first account tends to stick. For an inquest or a report, weeks before it starts is ideal. Coming in after the verdict means working with whatever coverage already exists.
Do you work directly with bereaved families?
Yes. Much of this work is with people going through profound loss. The media plan always follows the family's wishes and the legal strategy, and consent is revisited throughout, never taken once and assumed.
What if the family doesn't want any publicity?
Then the job is protection, not promotion. Keeping journalists informed through one channel, asking for privacy, and making sure no one speaks for the family without their agreement.
Is the training delivered in-house?
Yes. Sessions are built around your firm, your cases and the kinds of stories you're likely to face, for lawyers, for the clients they represent, or both.
Facing a tragedy, an inquest or a crisis?
The earlier we talk, the more can be done. A direct, confidential conversation, with no obligation.
Get in touch