Monica Smith authored a contributed article for Today’s General Counsel examining how in-house legal departments can modernize their crisis management strategies in 2026 and protect organizational credibility in high-stakes moments.
In “New Year, Higher Stakes for In-House Legal Teams,” Monica explains how crisis response now unfolds in minutes – not business days – and that when legal and communications teams operate in parallel rather than in partnership, organizations lose time, trust, and control.
The article outlines six practical resolutions for legal departments, including turning crisis plans into operational tools, aligning privilege strategy with real-world communications needs, building a spokesperson bench before it’s needed, and debriefing incidents to strengthen long-term readiness.
The piece is part of a companion series on crisis preparedness, paired with a second article published in Today’s Managing Partner for law firm leaders, highlighting how crisis readiness differs across roles, but carries equally high stakes.
