Grading the Statement is a periodic feature on our Blog in which we judge the effectiveness of news releases and other public statements.
Russells Solicitors had a plum assignment. As legal counsel to J.K. Rowling, the British firm was party to the publishing secret of the millennium: the author of the beloved Harry Potter series had written a new mystery novel under the pen name Robert Galbraith.
For Rowling, the exercise allowed her to “take my writing persona as far away as possible from me,” as she told The Guardian in an interview. It was a liberating experience, until the secret leaked. The source: a partner at Russells.
The firm’s apology appears sincere, however, by immediately identifying the culpable partner and his wife’s friend by name, the firm is making an obvious effort to distance itself from the leak.
The firm released a statement accepting full responsibility for the incident…and simultaneously throwing the partner and his friend under the bus.
Below is Russells Solicitors’ statement, with our commentary in bold:
We, Russells Solicitors, apologise unreservedly for the disclosure caused by one of our partners, Chris Gossage, in revealing to his wife’s best friend, Judith Callegari, during a private conversation that the true identity of Robert Galbraith was in fact J.K. Rowling.
The firm’s apology appears sincere; however, by immediately identifying the culpable partner and his wife’s friend by name, the firm is making an obvious effort to distance itself from the leak. Unfortunately for Russells Solicitors, the firm can’t have it both ways in this instance. It had a choice between accepting full responsibility and laying the blame on an individual partner and/or an outsider of the firm. By attempting to take both routes, it hasn’t succeeded in either.
Whilst accepting his own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly.
The firm repeats its misstep here. It claims that the attorney accepts responsibility, but then qualifies this acceptance of responsibility so thoroughly—immediately emphasizing that he only told Galbraith’s identity to someone he trusted, and did so in confidence—as to be meaningless.
On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified J.K. Rowling’s agent. We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither J.K. Rowling, her agent, nor publishers were in any way involved.
To close, Russells Solicitors notes the (laudable) proactive steps it took after learning that the leak had originated at the firm. These final lines also go a further step and silence the world’s suspicions regarding any role that Rowling, her publishers, and specifically their marketers, had in the leak. And it does so in brief, plain language that is neither defensive nor self-congratulatory. A positive ending to an otherwise mixed message.
Grade: B