By Jessica Petro
IMG recently convened some of the top names from the healthcare industry for a panel discussion at Mass Lawyers Weekly’s 2025 Crisis Management conference. The conversation, moderated by IMG CEO and Managing Partner Dan Cence, outlined how healthcare organizations can integrate both communications and legal strategies to protect their reputation and support their operations – an objective that becomes more important every day.
For those who missed it, here are four top learnings for lawyers and communicators alike to consider when faced with a crisis:
1. Lean into the healthy tension
The goals of legal and communications teams can seem at odds during a crisis. Lawyers often aim to share as little as possible to protect against legal ramifications, while communications professionals want to shape a cohesive narrative. It may seem impossible to merge these competing interests, but Doug Brown, Partner at Manatt, says that teams should lean into the “healthy tension” to find a middle ground that satisfies both perspectives.
Brown warns that communicating too little allows your audiences to fill the silence, legitimizing speculation and false information. Instead, legal teams should lean on their communications colleagues to craft informational, truthful messaging that can be shared with internal and external audiences. The level of detail shared may differ in the end, but it’s important for leaders to step out of their comfort zone to ensure the right information can be shared.
2. Learn to move quickly
According to Liz Goodman, Senior Managing Director at FTI, legal teams can learn from the nimble nature of their communications counterparts.
Lawyers are known for being incredibly thorough and detailed, but there isn’t always the luxury of time during a crisis. Communications leaders can help keep the pace moving to ensure that accurate, appropriate information is quickly available to key audiences.
To do this, legal teams should bring communications leaders into the fold as soon as possible. This allows for an integrated, streamlined approach to message creation and review that can address the needs of both teams in real time. In her career, Goodman has had the opportunity to oversee both legal and communications strategies in tandem, which she says improves efficiency.
Goodman also recognizes that this dynamic might not always be realistic, especially during particularly sensitive crises. However, when it becomes time to involve your communications teams, the rapport you’ve built by working closely together on other crises will help the process run smoothly.
3. Whatever is said internally will eventually be shared externally
Despite an organization’s desire to maintain transparency with staff, keeping information internal has become virtually impossible in the age of social media. Once something is shared with employees, you can assume that it will make its way to the public. However, this doesn’t mean organizations should keep employees in the dark.
Instead, legal and communications teams should focus on getting accurate information to employees and learn to be comfortable with it reaching external audiences, says Marcia Neiberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Planning Officer at Brown University Health. Neiberg says the best way to do this is to consider your external audiences from the start, which can lead to more thoughtful, strategic, and cohesive communications. It can also foster trust and goodwill, demonstrating that the organization isn’t hiding information from its employees or the public.
4. Contingency plans are helpful, but no one can predict the future
No one likes to be caught off guard. In fact, organizations spend significant amounts of time, money, and energy developing strategies to navigate the worst-case scenarios.
While contingency planning has its value and can provide a sense of control, leaders need to acknowledge that crises won’t always follow a playbook, says Smith, Costello & Crawford Senior Policy Advisor Marylou Sudders.
Sudders argues that in a crisis, organizations should be prepared to go off script and be flexible during the decision-making process. There will always be exceptions to the rules – and as communications and legal professionals, it’s important to be comfortable operating in the unknown.
That’s why she recommends taking a dynamic approach to crisis response that applies learnings from a variety of scenarios, from ideal to worst-case. In particular, leaders should be willing to change direction when presented with new information, even if it means departing from a carefully crafted plan. This keeps expectations clear, while leaving room for real-time response.
As all the esteemed panelists emphasized, crises are inherently unpredictable, stressful, and challenging to navigate. For lawyers and communicators, working together during a crisis requires trust and a willingness to close the gap between differing goals. Learning how to collaborate effectively can create a more resilient, thoughtful, and cohesive response.
Thank you to panelists, Doug Brown of Manatt, Liz Goodman of FTI Consulting, Marcia Neiberg of Brown Health, and Marylou Sudders of Smith, Costello & Crawford, for such a compelling conversation and taking the time to share their insights.