LONDON — Strategic communications agency Portland has hired Adrian Lifely, a former partner at prominent law firm Osborne Clarke, as a senior advisor.

Lifely will work with the OPRG agency’s specialist litigation communications and disputes practice, which provides counsel to clients involved in a range of critical legal matters and dispute resolution processes, including high-stakes litigation and arbitration cases, class actions, regulatory investigations, judicial reviews and other multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes.

A partner at Osborne Clarke LLP for 25 years, Lifely headed the firm’s commercial disputes practice in London and was chair of its International Arbitration Group. Over his career, he worked on disputes valued in the billions of pounds, many involving the risk of reputational damage. He is currently an arbitrator and mediator at Arbitra International, based in London, Abu Dhabi and Washington DC.

Portland partner and head of the litigation communications and disputes practice, Simon Pugh, said “litigation does not exist in a vacuum” and working with Lifely had “cemented in my mind the value of having a wide range of legal and communications perspectives at the table.”

He told PRovoke Media that while the agency had had a specialist litigation team for many years – now numbering around 10 people – Lifely would strengthen its offer at a time when its own research has showed an increasing reputational risk to companies accused of breaking the law or contracts.

“The vast majority of our clients are litigators, so having someone with more experience on the coal face as a litigator will add an extra dimension to the strategic communications advice we can offer them,” he said. “Adrian will also drive our business development strategy – he’s been a buyer of these services and is still a mediator and arbitrator, so he can help us to identify trends and see where the market going – it’s valuable insight.”

Pugh’s own take on where the market is going, at the intersection of communications and law, is that there are two clear trends driving his team’s work: class action or group litigation, and ESG.

“A lot of our work is big ticket, high-stakes litigation where the client is in a position where reputation really matters, whether among shareholders, customers, employees or business partners, and emergent areas of the law are driving client demand, including in the class action or group litigation space. There are big cases coming down the line and a real need to engage with that group of people.

“We are also doing more in the ESG space – this area of law is evolving and clients are still generally trying to figure out how to navigate it, plus there are developments overseas that may change current directions.”

Pugh said he expects to see demand for litigation communications continue to grow: “We’re providing strategic communications advice that requires a degree of expertise in navigating the legal process. All our clients are lawyers, not comms folk, so we are helping them navigate a world that is different to their day job and gives their clients an extra edge in managing litigation that doesn’t lead to unwanted press attention or give the CEO a headache.

“You can win in the courtroom, but if your reputation is so damaged that no-one wants to buy your products or work with you or for you, the long-term business impact can be greater than if you’d lost and had to pay out.”

Lifely added: “Over my career, I have seen the world of dispute resolution change significantly. Arbitration, mediation and litigation funding have all grown to become important and shape the current landscape for commercial disputes.

"I regard strategic communications in a similar way. I expect it to become commonplace and standard practice for parties involved in high-stakes legal disputes to take advice about strategic communications to safeguard their reputations.”

Lifely joins a senior advisory bench at Portland who offer specialist counsel across a range of different practice areas, clients and geographies, including Alastair Campbell, former director of communications for prime minister Tony Blair.

Portland recently announced that Simon Whitehead, former UK chief executive at Burson, was taking up the role of CEO in March; he has been succeeded at Burson by Simon Redfern.