Hennes Communications

Hennes Communications is one of the few firms in N. America focused exclusively on crisis communications and crisis management. They have built their consultancy by helping clients manage their communications response to crisis events, reputational challenges and other issues that threaten their ability to carry out their mission and serve their stakeholders.Unlike most public relations firms, their highly trained and focused staff includes only senior-level consultants with many years of experience in crisis communications.

For more than 30 years, the firm has worked with government agencies, public and private companies, educational institutions, healthcare providers and non-profit organisations that find themselves “on trial in the Court of Public Opinion.” They help clients regionally, nationally and internationally by:

• Developing and executing strategic communications responses to crises, emerging issues and other game-changing internal and external events
• Developing engagement strategies for social media platforms to integrate these critical communication channels into a comprehensive crisis response
• Conducting bespoke media training and crisis drills
• Providing litigation communications support
• Preparing and coaching executives for their role as organisational spokespersons

Although headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, their clients are located from coast to coast. They have also have worked on numerous client assignments in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Japan and South America.

Hennes Communications serves an average of 200 clients annually in the following sectors:

• Law firms
• Public and private corporations
• Other professional service firms, trade and professional associations
• Government agencies
• Educational institutions (public, private, parochial and independent schools pre-K through grade 12)
• Higher education (public and private colleges and universities)
• Non-profits
• Arts organizations
• Nursing homes, senior living communities and hospice providers
• Hospitals, dental groups and physician practices

A list of representative clients can be found at https://tinyurl.com/HennesClients

NOTE: This list does not include clients that have requested anonymity. Since they are often retained by law firms in order to protect privilege, the clients of those law firms do not appear on their posted client list.

About 60 percent of their work comes as referrals from longstanding relationships with members of the legal profession, the attorneys they meet during the 40-80 Continuing Legal Education seminars they do every year and the work they do to help attorneys appreciate the positive impact strategic communications can play in supporting a sound legal strategy for their clients. Their litigation support experience includes:

• Class action lawsuits
• White-collar crime
• Sexual abuse, harassment and/or misconduct
• Patient abuse and neglect
• Claims of medical malpractice
• Personal injury lawsuits
• Product liability
• Ownership disputes
• Patent infringement
• Fraud, deceptive trade practices
• Workplace discrimination

The firm acknowledges that not everything constitutes a crisis. They advise clients that if you can see it coming (e.g. a labour strike or budget cuts), it is probably best described as an issue - and by managing that issue using crisis management techniques, the odds favour preventing that issue from escalating into a full-blown crisis and potentially evolving into a catastrophe. Typical issues managed by the firm include:

• Mergers
• Acquisitions
• Management changes
• Retirements and succession plans
• Terminations
• Introduction of new strategic plans
• Reorganizations

The firm is ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of only sixteen ranked Crisis PR and Risk Management firms in the United States.

Bruce Hennes is the firm’s CEO. He currently serves on the executive committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, as an assistant professor at the Scripps School of Communications at Ohio University and on the faculties of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Leadership Academy and the Managing Partner Bootcamp. Hennes has done numerous keynotes for the American Bar Association’s Bar Leadership Institute and he’s frequently been a featured speaker for the National School Boards Association, the Council of School Attorneys, the American Health Care Association and at state bar conferences across the country.Recently, he was named a “Go-To Thought Leader” by the National Law Review for columns he contributed to one of the most widely read business law websites in the U.S. and he was recently inducted into the Lawdragon Hall of Fame as one of “the most trusted advisorsto the legal profession."

Managing Partner Thom Fladung has more than 33 years of daily newspaper and digital media experience under his belt, having served as a top editor at some of the nation’s largest newspapers, including The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Detroit Free Press and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.His experience includes having played lead roles in helping newsrooms enter the digital age.

The firm can be reached 24 hours a day at [email protected] or +1-216-321-7774.