Just because you can file a lawsuit...

...doesn't mean you should. This is something I've been advising for years (see my 2003 Oped in USA Today, for example, here, along with a 2008 blog post along the same lines, here).

I am reminded of this by today's very insightful column by Therese Poletti of MarketWatch on the recent lawsuit by AT&T against Verizon over Verizon's advertisements comparing coverage areas. The following passages give you a sense of her take on what is shaping up to be a PR debacle:

Did AT&T's top public-relations people have any input before the go-ahead was given to a highly-paid law firm to file this muddled request for a temporary restraining order?

****

According to Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Judge Timothy Batten said that while the ads, which use maps to compare the companies' third-generation networks, might be "sneaky" or "clever," they are "literally true."

AT&T's lawsuit so far is a clear admission of one thing -- Verizon's clever ads are hitting AT&T where it hurts.

* * *

Thanks to AT&T's suit, Verizon is now getting more attention for its snarky TV ads and its plain-speaking legal response to AT&T's lawsuit, with sentences like "AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger," another turn AT&T was probably not counting on.

Read the whole column, though, since those excerpts don't do justice to Poletti's brilliant analysis (again, the column is here).

Now I have no first-hand information on whether AT&T's PR folks had any substantive input on potential negative impacts of filing the lawsuit, but I can tell you that advice relating to the broader "court of public opinion" is often just plain ignored. A great quote on the subject comes from the Presiding Partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York, Evan R. Chesler, interviewed for the new edition of my book In The Court Of Public Opinion: Winning Strategies for Litigation Communications (American Bar Association, 2009):

"As trial lawyers, we are often unaware of the fact that we're not the only brain or mouth in the room," Chesler warned, "and what we think about the problem is not necessarily the best way for the client to view or solve the problem.

"I know that's hard for lawyers to accept. It has taken me decades and I'm not cured yet. But it is nevertheless true."

There's much more great stuff like that, by the way, in the new edition of my book, from Chesler and other top litigators -- including Ted Wells and Mark Lanier, among others. If you have an interest in the topic, you should get a copy (click here to order)... even if you don't work for AT&T.