Financial Services Company Faces SEC Legal Action

This financial services company – with a notable brand among institutions and retail investors – was facing legal actions from individuals and government regulators, including the SEC. Silence in the media wasn’t working; critics were gaining the upper hand. News coverage was hurting morale at the firm, and clients were beginning to withdraw their money because of this lawsuit.

This organization’s reputation, and that of its charismatic CEO, were taking a brutal beating in the news media. If senior leaders didn’t act soon, key executives would depart, along with additional clients, and the damage to the core business was likely to be permanent.

Montieth & Company took action – both internally with staff and externally with key journalists – to make it clear what the company’s position was on the issues and to clarify the facts of the various cases – all within the boundaries of the legal strategy.

• First, we determined how best to discuss the cases in public to advance prevailing in the litigation.
• Second, we engaged with reporters to make sure they understood the client’s position, to be certain that in every story on the subject the client’s voice would be heard.
• Third, we worked actively inside the company to help executives with the messaging they needed to discuss the issues with their clients and assure them that the problems were being resolved.

This helped the client to show stakeholders, legal claimants and regulators that it was taking all necessary steps to resolve the matters and also to vigorously defend itself against meritless claims.

Find out more about our litigation communications practice.