386. What Every Firm Needs Before Their Reputation is at Stake with Judy Smith [Encore Edition]

The Game Changing Attorney Podcast with Michael Mogill

Michael Mogill

Business, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing

5.0 • 539 Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bad news travels fast, and if you are not prepared, it can ruin your reputation before you have a chance to respond. In this encore episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Michael Mogill sits down with crisis management expert and real-life inspiration for Scandal’s Olivia Pope, Judy Smith. With a career that has taken her from the White House to high-profile crises involving celebrities, CEOs, and global brands, Judy shares how law firm owners can protect their reputation, lead with clarity, and respond strategically when the pressure is on. Here’s what you’ll learn: Why managing your reputation today takes speed, strategy, and the right message, not just a legal defense How to create a crisis playbook so you are ready long before problems arise What law firm leaders need to know about social issues, cancel culture, and public perception You do not get to choose when a crisis shows up, but you can choose whether or not you are prepared for it. ---- Show Notes: 00:00 — Intro & Why old PR tactics no longer work in a world of instant communication 03:34 — The new expectation: Clients want law firms to solve the whole problem 09:10 — How social media transformed crisis response and why speed matters 14:07 — Why every law firm needs a crisis playbook before trouble starts 16:30 — A cautionary tale about failing to plan for preventable risks 18:00 — How to lead with clarity on social issues without defaulting to a Band-Aid response 22:02 — The biggest PR mistake leaders make when under pressure 28:20 — Not everything is fixable: Why some reputations never recover ---- Links & Resources: Judy Smith’s Crisis Management FirmScandal (TV Series)Casey Anthony Trial ---- Do you love this podcast and want to see more game changing content? Subscribe to our YouTube channel. ---- Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O’Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more. ---- If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like: 311. Legal Leaders — The Blueprint for Legal Mastery: Build a Legacy, Dominate Your Niche 118. Litigating Legends: Lessons Learned from the Nation's Leading Trial Attorneys 134. Legal Leaders: Live from The Game Changers Summit

Transcript

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0:00.0	The days when lawyers and communicators get together and say, oh, let's put it out on a Friday at five,
0:09.4	or let's just put this vanilla statement out.
0:11.9	None of that works anymore.
0:14.1	That's Judy Smith, crisis management expert, professional fixer, and the inspiration for the popular TV show scandal.
0:21.2	Bad news travels internationally about 18 or 19 seconds.
0:28.7	It takes you that long to track down the client and call and try to figure out what we can say.
0:41.3	I'm Michael Mogul, founder and CEO of Crisp, the nation's number one law from growth company.
0:46.1	I've built my business through practice, not theory.
0:48.9	Crisp started with just $500 to my name and has grown to over eight figures in revenue over the last few years,
0:54.2	earning a spot on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America.
0:58.6	Our approach has been to take everything we've learned about generating massive growth within
1:02.2	our own organization and help the country's most ambitious and committed law firm owners do the
1:06.5	same for theirs. In each episode of this podcast, I sit down with innovative market leaders from the
1:11.2	legal industry and beyond to learn from those who thrive in the face of adversity, challenge the
1:15.9	status quo, and define what it means to be a true game changer. Today, we're revisiting one of our
1:22.6	most popular episodes from the podcast where I sat down with Judy Smith to discuss the art of crisis
1:27.2	management,
1:28.0	particularly as it pertains to entrepreneurs and law firm owners today.
1:31.6	So I would say to all the legal folks out there, the bar is higher for you guys now.
1:37.6	There's no more as expected of you.
1:41.0	That's coming up on the Game Changing Attorney podcast.
1:51.9	Yeah. That's coming up on the Game Changing Attorney podcast. Before we begin today's episode, I want to remind you that we aren't beholden to any sponsors or run any ads on this podcast.
	...

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