Partner Camille Vasquez stopped by Byfield's "Counsel Culture: The Business of Law Podcast" ahead of delivering her keynote address at Brown Rudnick's Litigation Funding Conference in London to discuss her high-profile cases, including her successful representation of actor Johnny Depp.
During the March 14 episode, Vasquez also talked about her representation of Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi, "Yellowstone" actress Q'orianka Kilcher, music industry veteran Dorothy Carvello and NBA player Richaun Holmes.
"I believe trial lawyers are storytellers at their core and it's an important skill you must possess, not just with the jury or the judge, but also with the court of public opinion," she said.
Vasquez explained that clients come to reputational media lawyers with the understanding that there is more at stake than just the legal challenges – it's also about their reputation.
"To tell a story that's persuasive and accurate is as important as scoring legal wins in the court of law," she said.
Vasquez, who often represents people who are facing serious allegations, said she considers every angle when crafting the narrative around those people. It can be challenging because even if the case wins in court, sometimes the clients can't win in the court of public opinion.
"Once your reputation has been harmed, it's almost impossible to get it back," Vasquez said. "[I]n most countries now, you're guilty upon allegation, there is no presumption of innocence anymore. And that's really disappointing to litigants."
She said because of the way information is disseminated in today's world, the media needs to do a better job in both the U.S. and the U.K. of fact checking and ensuring information that damages a person's reputation is not put out in public without regard for that person's future. Vasquez said a lot of lawyers are turning to social media influencers who focus on a specific topic for their news, rather than traditional news outlets for their information.
Counsel Culture is a weekly digest of the biggest news stories in the U.K. legal market, hosted by Byfield, which provides reputation counsel to the legal sector. The podcast is hosted by Méganne Tillay and the episode also featured Gus Sellitto and Dina Hudson from Byfield.
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