In-House Counsel Guidebook: How to Handle Internet Defamation and Online Reputation Attacks August 2014 | Page 6

4

It Takes a Team
We have found that when each of the different experts analyzes
a client’s dilemma, far better solutions can be developed and
implemented than if just one of the experts has individually addressed
the particular problem.
By way of example, we were involved with a case in which we
consulted with a PR firm and learned the cost of “burying” the
harmful material down search engine results was outside the client’s
budget. However, after analyzing the legal issues involved and
given the nature of the offending content, we believed we could
ask the court to order the defendant to pay our client for the cost
of a corrective online PR campaign. We then conferred with a
cyber investigator to determine the identity of the defendant, and it
became apparent that the defendant had deep pockets. Based on the
collaboration with each of these professionals, we filed a lawsuit on
our client’s behalf, and our client successfully obtained funds from
the defendant for corrective advertising. The client was able to use
this money to compensate the PR firm for the corrective advertising
necessary to repair the damage from the attack and recover monetary
damages from the defendant (more on this technique at the end of
the Guidebook).
Moreover, we have seen many businesses make the wrong decisions
by relying on a single expert to handle their problems, rather than
considering other, more practical options. This reminds us of the
“law of the instrument” principle associated with psychologist
Abraham Maslow, which involves overreliance on a single tool: “I
suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat

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