What do journalists really want from lawyers?

If you’re part of a law firm’s business development, marketing or PR team, you know the drill all too well. A journalist is on a tight deadline and needs a quick, clear quote from a lawyer. You call around the firm… delays, hesitations, rewrites. When something finally lands, it’s four paragraphs of technical detail and five hours too late.

The challenge isn’t just time pressure — it’s translation. You’re the interface between two worlds: journalists who want sharp, digestible commentary, and lawyers trained to be precise, cautious, and often averse to visibility.

This training webinar is designed to help you bridge that gap and give your fee-earners a rare insight into the reality of the newsroom. It shows them what makes journalists tick, why media opportunities matter, how to seize them without risk, and how to communicate legal expertise in a way that’s actually usable. It also gives you, as the PR and comms lead, a stronger foundation to support, brief and manage your spokespeople — making the whole process smoother, faster, and more impactful. No more endless edits. No more missed deadlines. Just better media engagement from the start.

Topics covered:

• The difference between national, trade, and broadcast needs
• What makes a story newsworthy (and what doesn’t)
• How to shift lawyers’ mindset from ‘what I want to say’ to ‘what they need from me’
• How to speak to the story, not just the law
• The ‘quote test’: how to tell if your comment will get used
• Quashing the common media misconceptions often held by lawyers
• Case study: A good quote vs. a missed opportunity