ACTIVE CRISIS RESPONSE
Immediate PR support for active security incidents, data breaches, and reputation threats.
Crisis Communications FAQ
What constitutes a crisis that requires immediate response?
A crisis requiring immediate communications response includes data breaches affecting customer information, vulnerability disclosures that could impact customers, product failures causing business disruption, executive misconduct allegations, regulatory enforcement actions, or any security incident that could generate negative media coverage. If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies as a crisis, call immediately - we would rather assess and advise than have you delay response during a genuine emergency.
What happens when I call the crisis line?
When you call the crisis line, you reach Alan Wallace directly or receive immediate callback within 15 minutes. The initial call focuses on rapid assessment - what happened, when, who is affected, what regulatory requirements apply, and what immediate actions are needed. Within the first hour, we activate a crisis communications team, establish secure communication channels, gather initial facts, and draft holding statements for immediate inquiries. We work alongside your legal counsel, technical team, and executive leadership to coordinate response across all stakeholders.
Do you work with our existing legal counsel during a crisis?
Yes, we work closely with your legal counsel throughout crisis response. Effective crisis communications requires balancing legal protection with transparent stakeholder communication. We coordinate all external statements with legal review, ensure regulatory notification requirements are met, and maintain privilege where appropriate. Our experience includes working with Am Law 100 firms, in-house counsel teams, and specialized cybersecurity law firms. We understand the tension between legal caution and communications urgency, and we navigate that balance to protect both your legal position and your reputation.
What if the crisis happens outside normal business hours?
The crisis line operates 24/7/365. Security incidents do not respect business hours - breaches are often discovered at night or on weekends. Call anytime, day or night. We maintain on-call availability specifically for after-hours emergencies. Weekend and holiday response follows the same protocol as weekday incidents - immediate assessment, team activation, and coordinated response. The first 24 hours of a crisis are critical regardless of when it starts.
How much does crisis communications support cost?
Crisis response is typically billed on a project basis starting at $15,000 for initial incident response (first 72 hours including holding statements, media response, and stakeholder communications). Extended crisis management (ongoing media relations, reputation repair, post-incident reporting) is quoted based on scope and duration. For companies with ongoing retainers, crisis response is included as part of the monthly fee with no additional charges. We discuss pricing during the initial assessment call, but immediate response is never delayed due to contracting - we begin work immediately and formalize agreements within 24 hours.
Can you help if we have already made public statements about the incident?
Yes, we frequently engage after initial statements have been made. We assess what has been communicated, identify gaps or messaging problems, and develop a corrective communications strategy. Sometimes initial statements are incomplete, inconsistent, or create more questions than they answer. We can course-correct, provide follow-up statements with additional detail, conduct media briefings to clarify confusion, and manage ongoing stakeholder communications. It is never too late to improve crisis response, though earlier engagement always produces better outcomes.
This line is reserved for urgent crisis communications. Available 24/7 for active incidents.