Spring 1999

Vol. 1 Issue 1 Published by Professional Profiles, hereafter referenced as PPI. Spring 1999

South Florida Focus

Recent highlights from our three clients in Miami include:

With PPI’s help, Rossman, Baumberger & Reboso revived and published a revamped newsletter on the law firm's 25th anniversary. The firm plans a bi-annual issue for a target audience of clients and other members of The Florida Bar.

In January, name partner Ira Leesfield, of Leesfield, Leighton, Rubio and Mahfood, was featured in The Miami Herald. His appointment in late 1998 to the President's Commission on Holocaust Assets was the spring board for PPI's booking him on local TV, and radio as well as pitching features in the Jewish Journal of Dade County and the Miami Herald.

Louis Robles, well-known for his long-time handling of plaintiffs in class action lawsuits, announced the settlement of 5,000 asbestos claims with Owens Corning. The Robles & Gonzalez quarterly newsletter was about to go to press when PPI changed the lead story to reports this outstanding settlement for the firm.

On The Move

After 12 years, Professional Profiles. relocated its main office from down town Orlando to nearby Winter Park. Marti Mackenzie, founder and President explained: "With half of our clients based in New York and New Jersey, the Florida office's ties to Orlando became less important. Now, working closer to home makes office time more efficient."

Our New Address is:

507 N New York Avenue, RR # 3, Winter Park, FL 32789 (407) 644-9800

News from the Northeast

Professional Profiles is pleased to mark our five years of newsletter production, advertising and media relations for Blume Goldfaden Berkowitz Donnelly Fried & Forte PC, New Jersey's finest personal injury law firm.

In the last four months, we have arranged media coverage for attorneys with significant verdicts and settlements, including a $12.7 million verdict by Carol Forte, several multimillion dollar settlements by John Blume, Dennis Donnelly and Kenneth Berkowitz.

Marti was in New Jersey in early March with our excellent Florida-based photographer Earl Kogler to do a photo shoot for the upcoming six-page newsletter, written and produced by PPI.

Their bi-annual newsletter will be mailed on schedule in April.Thanks to Blume Goldfaden's firm administrator John Finnegan for keeping us informed and facilitating communication with Blume’s busy lawyers.

During the last two years New York City has become an increasingly frightening place to be an African-American. In addition to its precedent-setting representation of seriously injured clients, PPI client Schneider Kleinick Weitz Damashek & Shoot is also representing two victims of New York City’s police. At a widely covered press conference in May 1998, Partner Harvey Weitz introduced the Brown family, two nurturing parents, the father a retired baker, with two daughters living at home in Brooklyn.

Early in the morning a drug squad broke down their door, pulled their retarded teenager from the shower, and, when they before the police took the time to realize they had the wrong apartment, terrorized the family for over an hour.

At a press conference attended by every NYC television station, radio news and the four major dailies, PPI also arranged for several reporters to visit the Browns at home and see the damage done tot heir apartment by police.

High Profile Developments: Clients in the News

Outstanding representation by lawyer Mark O'Mara resulted in the commuting of a 15- year-sentence of Michele Rogers was commuted. Mr. O’Mara’s appeal for clemency to Florida's late governor and his cabinet members was granted in late 1998. Rogers was incarcerated in 1995. Her high-profile trial concluded with a hard-won conviction by prosecutors of the former topless dancer, who stabbed her violent boyfriend in late 1992. Her father and brother dismembered and burned his body, and dumped the ashes in the Atlantic Ocean. PPI worked directly for the Roger's family and assisted Mr. O'Mara in handling the national and local media coverage of the unusual case. One week prior to the trial, the family publically apologized for the disposal of the body and made a plea that their daughter not be blamed for their actions.

Tobacco Litigators

PPI will begin production of a quarterly newsletter for long-time client Michael Maher, one of Florida's lawyers who sued the tobacco industry in 1996 and won a record settlement for the State. A national arbitration panel awarded the 11 lawyers a record $ 11 billion in fees in the precedent setting case.

In recent years PPI, representing two of the other prominent firms, has also produced TV and radio PSA's for Montgomery & Larmoyeux in Palm Beach and developed a marketing image and newsletter for Nance Cacciatore Sisserson Dureyea & Hamilton in Melbourne.

In New York, Phil Damashek, managing partner of PPI's prominent client in downtown Manhattan, Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot, His firm was one of three in New York State to take on the tobacco industry for the State.

The Media’s Deadlines: Daily Newspapers

When a law firm has a case that is considered newsworthy, the individual responsible for contacting the media must be aware of deadlines. If a client has retained PPI to handle media relations for the firm, then the deadlines for informing Marti Mackenzie are even earlier than the media’s deadlines.

The first step is making sure the print media has the lead-time to consider a firm’s news and determine where the story has the best chance of making the cut.

If the law firm has just agreed to represent a new client and the basis of the client’s case is fodder for the media, the lawsuit or any legal action is best timed with the press release. In other words, it is counter-productive to file a lawsuit and then decide to inform the media a week later.

Although many cases that qualify for the newspaper pitch are also coverage-worthy for television and radio, there are specific issues that are best to release to the print media alone. First, if the newspaper knows it will not be scooped by the previous night’s news, they will pay more attention to the case. Second, the print media has the advantage of reporting a story in column inches, not sound bites. Finally, some cases have limited visual possibilities.

Deciding when and how to inform a daily newspaper reporter or editor about an upcoming case is a judgement call best made by a media relations expert. There may be off-the-record concerns and a need to pitch the story with a news-hook.

In any case, keep in mind that yesterday’s news is not what the daily newspaper wants. Time the filing of a lawsuit with a judicious heads up to the media and early enough in the day for the reporter to research both sides of the

ONE CLIENT’S YEAR OF PROMINENCE

One of PPI’s most high-profile clients during the last twelve months was Dr. James S. Pendergraft IV, owner of four abortion clinics in Florida. Marti Mackenzie calls Dr. Pendergraft, “One of the most courageous and foresighted people I’ve ever known.”

A PPI client since late 1995 when Dr. P hired Marti to handle the media attention surrounding his application to open his first Orlando clinic, he has become a veteran of media appearances.

In May of 1998, he was the target of the anti-abortion action of operation rescue. The week of the demonstrations, he appeared on the cover of the Orlando Weekly, Central Florida’s alternative newspaper. A in-depth cover-story gave readers insight to his commitment to provide women with the best abortion services available and his outstanding qualifications. For safety reason, he followed law enforcement requests to not appear during the four days of demonstrations, but his voice was still heard as Marti acted as his spokesperson for stories in Florida’s major newspapers as well as the New York Times and all local radio and television stations.

In July and October, Dr. P was on the covers of newspapers in Ocala and Tampa where he opened his third and fourth clinics. Instead of hiding from the media, Marti produced press kits and organized media interviews for Dr. P, which he handled with great sophistication.

The Ocala clinic, located in the highly conservative Marion County, attracts protestors on a daily basis, who regularly attempted to interfere with patients and staff. After repeated and unreasonable refusals from the Ocala police department to allow Dr. P to hire off-duty uniformed officers, on December 11 a Federal lawsuit against the County and City was filed and announced at a press conference in the office of PPI Dr. P was soon-after featured on the Sunday front-page of the Orlando Sentinel, and Marti recently finalized an interview by Florida Trend magazine for a June feature.

As a result of his courage and strategic media cooperation, Dr. P’s excellent reputation and his clinics are widely known in Florida, where his business and medical achievements are flourishing.