Is legal victory the panacea for reputation harm

Has your reputation crisis resulted in you choosing legal remedy and having your attorneys be your aggressive, muscular, emotional reaction or response, whether that is through legal documents sent or taking it a step further and fighting in court? 

Did you emerge victorious out of court or in court? That must feel like a relief or vindication. It’s entirely understandable of course if those are the emotions you feel in your stress or after it. We are emotionally driven and reactive as humans.

There is something to realize and remember. Winning with legal aggression, with force, either outside of court or in it does not necessarily, or often, restore reputation, to either its original condition or the quality level we believe it to still be and insist it is and want it to be.

There are numerous examples where victory in a legal realm did not result in victory in the court of public opinion or more specifically with those with who you wish to have a sterling reputation and all the advantages you have possessed, want to retain or need.

The reality is how you “fight” in court may actually amplify the negativity about you as an individual or organization and spread that negativity in places and to depths and width that makes you anxious, fearful or angry. This is a dangerous approach.

Consider this when flexing your strength of legal muscle with attorneys out of court or in court. This goes for legal documents you create that are one sided and don’t protect all parties involved. Tipping points can bring retaliatory pain your way.

The documents may present no initial problem yet once they might need to be enforced for something you disagree with, yet with reasonable nuances, your reputation will suffer and maybe not just in the micro, but the macro, especially if in this connected world, grievances end up being reported in the media or social media.

Recommendation - reputation risk management is not often conducted, and definitely not wisely and successfully, especially when conflict or duress emerge or escalate for us as individuals or organizations. 

That’s a big, often costly oversight or act of gross negligence to our reputation. Yet we can learn to not victimize ourselves and be plagued by the outcomes and consequences.

Too regularly we resort to force instead of more sophisticated, poised, humble, high-character, wise and skilled problem solving, either conducted on our own or with the assistance of a professional.

Aggression does not build reputation capital (should this not always be at the forefront of our consciousness?) and only occasionally protects it. Aggression creates heightened negativity and increases damages, usually long term, with associated costs, tangible and intangible.