A mistake. A leak. An accusation. Suddenly, you’re the story. 

Somewhere between what happened and what went viral, the truth got lost.

A mistake. A leak. An accusation. Suddenly, you’re the story. 

Somewhere between what happened and what went viral, the truth got lost.

In a crisis, responding with speed and accuracy is important. So is building the right team.

In a crisis, responding with speed and accuracy is important. So is building the right team.

MISSION

THE CRISIS TEAM is a public relations agency specializing in crisis communications. Our mission is to:

  • We help people when they are in trouble. A person under intense scrutiny needs an advocate who really listens. We help clients analyze the facts, weigh their options, and decide what to do. We aggressively challenge false claims while taking legitimate concerns seriously. Certain issues call for a public response. Others are best handled quietly.

  • Better press coverage alone seldom resolves a crisis. We examine what caused the controversy and what can be done about it. That could mean privately settling a dispute, fixing what went wrong, or making amends. Reforming an old policy can make more sense than publicly defending a mistake for years.

  • We help clients explain what happened, why it matters, and what they are doing to address it. We acknowledge unanswered questions and present persuasive evidence clearly. We make complicated events understandable without ignoring inconvenient facts or overlooking the people affected.

METHOD

THE CRISIS METHOD, distilled from practical experience, guides our work:

  • Sound judgment, candor, and a preference for practical action guide our core principles. Click here to learn more.

  • Understand what people actually believe, then make a credible case focused on those whose views can still change. Click here to learn more.

  • Organize the facts into a clear message, support it with evidence, and make the main point easy to grasp. Click here to learn more.

  • Help journalists get the story right. Deliver reliable evidence and prompt answers while respecting the media’s independence. Click here to learn more.

  • Know the facts, actually answer the question, and make sure your words, tone, and manner meet the moment. Click here to learn more.

  • Timing is everything. Speak as soon as the essentials are verified, correct errors promptly, and keep people informed as the facts develop. Click here to learn more.

  • A “stakeholder” is more than just PR jargon. In a crisis, it’s important to reach the people most affected with clear information, practical guidance, and answers they can readily find. Click here to learn more.

  • Clear lines of authority, trained spokespeople, and scrimmaging matter when time is short and facts are incomplete. Click here to learn more.

  • Put a human in charge of a crisis, not a machine. Distinguish online noise from public opinion and verify digital evidence before treating it as fact. Click here to learn more.

  • What does off the record really mean? Agree on any limits to publication or attribution before speaking, and never mistake familiarity for confidentiality. Click here to learn more.

CASE STUDY

Change of Address

A professional sports team sought to move to a neighboring city, first proposing a privately financed waterfront arena, then choosing a site near major medical and university institutions. Elected officials, neighborhood groups, and critics concerned about hospital access, including a former mayor, organized in opposition.

Environmental review, traffic, public access, and neighborhood effects drew scrutiny. Executive preparation, press conferences, interviews, testimony, and outreach to labor and small businesses supported the project through commission hearings, legislative proceedings, and legal challenges.

The project won unanimous commission and board approvals and prevailed in environmental litigation and appeals. It broke ground on schedule. Coverage gradually shifted to design, programming, jobs, and economic benefits.

Residents, patients, and local businesses had questions that enthusiasm for the team could not answer. Addressing traffic, hospital access, and neighborhood concerns gave them a basis to judge the proposal on its merits. Today, the arena welcomes a million visitors a year.

Nobody can spin their way out of an actual disaster. In a serious crisis, relentlessly focus on the remedy and its timeline.

— The Crisis Method

METHOD

Practice Areas

SERVICES

Strategy

Strategic Communications

Establish the facts, assess goals and risks, and recommend decisions to advance the client’s interests.

Turn complex information into clear, credible positions and plan campaigns to inform people, influence decisions, and build support.

Strengthen credibility, address threats to reputation, and measure how communications affect trust, perceptions, and behavior among the people whose views matter.

Media Relations →

Reputation Management →

Executive Communications →

Internal Communications →

Corporate Communications →

Measurement →

Content Creation →

Targeted Persuasion →

A.I. Services →

Crisis

Crisis Communications

Prepare for and manage events that threaten people, operations, or reputation.

Identify emerging risks, assign responsibilities, develop response plans and playbooks, and train speakers in realistic simulations.

Challenge plans and test decisions before events expose weaknesses.

Reconstruct events afterward, assess the response, and recommend improvements.

Services

Litigation

Communications

Work with legal counsel in civil and criminal matters to build and defend the client’s case inside and outside of the courtroom.

Test allegations against evidence, brief reporters, prepare clients and attorneys for interviews, and challenge misleading coverage.

Counter digital misinformation and coordinated attacks, enlist credible supporters, and press for accurate reporting of milestones and outcomes.

Public

Affairs

Public Affairs

Assess how political conditions, policy changes, and leadership decisions may affect goals, status, investments, transactions, or operations.

Integrate policy analysis, public communications, campaigns, and advocacy to advance the client’s interests.

Conduct research, draft testimony, anticipate questions, and prepare witnesses for public appearances in legislative or regulatory proceedings.

Commitment To Clients →

CASE STUDY

A Crisis On Every Front

An energy utility faced successive catastrophes: a pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed a residential neighborhood, followed by wildfire seasons in which investigators linked company equipment to major fires.

Federal felony exposure, involuntary manslaughter charges, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and scrutiny from the National Transportation Safety Board and California Public Utilities Commission compounded the pressure. Communications with victims and support for emergency operations continued amid disputes over safety, liability, rates, and public safety power shutoffs.

Public statements, journalist briefings, technical explanations, and guidance for field staff helped engineers, lawyers, executives, officials, and emergency managers speak from the same facts. Errors needed correction before they hardened into accepted fact. Journalists needed facts and context, even in adversarial exchanges.

Respect for victims and their families demanded frank discussions of what happened, without minimizing their suffering. Customers and affected communities needed plain explanations of technical decisions affecting their safety, their electricity, and their next bill.

Criticism, disagreement, and inconvenient facts are not misinformation. Disliking a claim does not make it false.

— The Crisis Method

METHOD

CASE STUDY

Aftermath of an Inferno

A fire at an unpermitted live-work warehouse killed 36 people during a music event. City leaders faced international media attention, criminal investigation, civil litigation, state and federal scrutiny, and persistent questions about permitting, code enforcement, and public safety.

Grieving families needed answers. Investigators were still establishing the facts. Preparation for public statements, press conferences, and interviews helped officials address difficult questions accurately and humanely. Communications were coordinated among the mayor’s office, fire and police departments, city attorney’s office, and other local, state, and federal agencies.

That coordination continued through community meetings, criminal proceedings, civil litigation, settlement discussions, and policy reforms.

Consistent factual updates and transparency with news outlets helped quell speculation and rumors without treating unresolved questions as settled. Candor about what remained unknown was a measure of respect the families were owed.

Use humor sparingly. Sarcasm is generally more satisfying to the speaker than persuasive to the listener.

— The Crisis Method

METHOD

People →

LINK

CASE STUDY

Higher Purpose, Higher Profile

The founder of an anti-poverty organization was asked to lead a host committee for a major sporting event. He had never held office or served in such a high-profile role.

The scope of work encompassed media relations for a live event that would be seen by over 200 million people around the world, but the region, the host city, and the committee all needed a win. And as the founder’s public profile grew, the credibility of his organization could not afford to be compromised by his new role.

A multiyear communications strategy connected sports, civic leadership, philanthropy, and poverty reduction through opinion pieces, speeches, panels, network interviews, editorial board meetings, and public appearances. Careful preparation, training, and relationship management kept messages consistent across City Hall, the league, corporate sponsors, community partners, and the nonprofit. The game drew more than 5,000 journalists from around the world, with logistical demands to match.

Directing a meaningful share of corporate sponsorship to local nonprofits was a central theme. The founder’s growing recognition was tied to a higher purpose: service to those nonprofits and the people who depended on them. Within a few years, he was elected the city’s mayor.