“In the Court of Public Opinion: Ethics, Privilege and Strategy in Litigation Communication”

James Haggerty, president and CEO of The PR Consulting Group, is an attorney with more than 20 years’ experience in marketing, public relations and public affairs. Among the nation’s best-known experts in litigation communications, he has also earned a national reputation in environmental issues, professional services marketing, public affairs and crisis management. In addition to advising legal, corporate and nonprofit clients on marketing and communications matters, Haggerty has been involved in numerous high-profile legal disputes in recent years. He has also led the communications effort in the Jonathan Pollard spy case and the historic Screen Actors Guild labor dispute against the commercial advertising industry. Haggerty is the author of “In the Court of Public Opinion: Winning Strategies for Litigation Communications, Second Edition” (ABA Books, 2009), a groundbreaking look at the use of communications and public opinion strategies during lawsuits. He holds a B.A. in political science and English literature and rhetoric from Binghamton University and studied law at Fordham and Stetson universities. He is admitted to practice in New York and Florida, and is a member of the New York City and New York State Bar Associations and the Counselors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). A frequent writer and lecturer on communications issues, Haggerty’s articles have appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, The National Law Journal, The New York Law Journal, Law Practice Management and PRWeek.The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media (IJPM) at Syracuse University has announced its Spring 2010 lecture series on “Law, Politics and the Media.”Today’s American judicial system operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure and media coverage. The series provides an introduction to the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study and features speakers from a variety of legal, political and media backgrounds, including practicing lawyers, published authors, leading scholars and court researchers. “Law, Politics and the Media” lectures are free and open to the public. They take place from 3:50–5:10 p.m. in Room 204 of the Syracuse University College of Law. Paid parking is available in SU pay lots.The lecture series is part of an interdisciplinary course on law, politics and the media cross-listed between the College of Law, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The course is taught by SU professors Keith Bybee (IJPM director) and Roy Gutterman (IJPM associate director), and funded through support from the John Ben Snow Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York.