Over the years, a substantial portion of my practice has centered on crisis management—situations that unfold under intense public scrutiny and escalate quickly. There are no routine crises, as these are not routine legal matters. Crisis management involves high-profile clients and real-time decision-making, with potential consequences that can permanently alter careers and lives. What makes effective crisis management possible is not any single skill, but a  cumulation of experiences, each one building on the next.

Of the many crises that I have handled, some were less imminently catastrophic, while others were much more serious. I have stopped the release of four separate clients’ sex tapes, defended paternity cases (including defending one that was actually brought by a man against a well-known actress client), and handled claims for concert injuries, stunt injuries, fist fights, and outright attacks. I also handled a crushing death at a concert festival in Australia, and the aftermath of another client’s suicide, including attempts to stop the public release of the 911 tape. I represented the band that was involved in the Rhode Island nightclub fire—the deadliest in U.S. history—with 100 people dead and 200 horribly injured. More recently, I represented Travis Scott in the Astroworld disaster, another large-scale event involving significant loss of life and maximum exposure.

No matter the scale, when a crisis arises, the first step for the artist’s team must be immediate and decisive: bring in a qualified crisis manager. Ideally, this is a litigator with broad experience across many diverse disciplines, including significant experience with the media, law enforcement, publicists, prosecutors, criminal lawyers, personal injury law, and—very importantly—insurance law. Even if the client already has a team of trusted advisors, as they typically do, crisis situations require centralized leadership and coordination. If you are the crisis manager, your first priority is to identify the most influential representative in the artist’s life, and to have that person provide you with immediate, direct access to the artist. Although there will almost always be pushback, access to the artist is essential, especially if the artist is the one that has the facts. You cannot rely on second-hand information from the artist’s representatives, especially if you are the one that has to give interviews. Of course, if there is even a hint of possible criminal charges, a criminal lawyer must be retained immediately. Although you may have significant expertise in maintaining or even saving the artist’s career, the artist will almost certainly have no career to save if they go to jail.

Although a publicist—particularly a crisis publicist—can be an indispensable member of the team, legal strategy must remain the guiding force, and the crisis manager needs to stay in charge. Most importantly, communication with publicists could waive the attorney/client privilege. One way that a publicist can add value is by gathering all of the press coverage available and helping to determine an appropriate response, including whether interviews should be held or if no response is better. If there is no press on the matter, you have to determine how to either keep the story out of the press or selectively share information with established, trusted press contacts. Typically, you don’t want the client doing any interviews. If it is a criminal matter, the artist absolutely cannot speak to anyone that is not their lawyer. Once you get the team in line, and perform as much reputational damage control as possible, you actually have to handle the litigation and resolve the matter. The range of time and complexity varies from case to case. Stalker cases typically take a couple months. The Rhode Island Fire case took eight years. Most are in-between.

Ultimately, crisis management is about discipline under pressure. To be an effective crisis manager requires the ability to take control quickly and make decisions that address both immediate risks and longer-term legal and reputational consequences. There are no perfect solutions—only better and worse choices, made in real time. The role of the crisis manager is to ensure that those choices are coordinated and strategically sound. Handled properly, serious situations can be contained and resolved in a way that allows the client to move forward.  Handled poorly, they escalate and cause lasting damage to all parties involved. The difference is not luck—it is preparation, experience, and the ability to take control early, and maintain it when it matters the most.

About The Author: Ed McPherson is a partner at McPherson LLP, an entertainment litigation boutique in Century City.