Have you ever seen the movie Pulp Fiction? After a rather bloody episode, Quentin Tarantino realized he had to call in the "Wolf," played by Harvey Keitel, to clean up the mess. There have been many times in my career when I´ve been called to clean up a mess (whether it´s an employee drug raid, scientists trying to steal secrets, or a top producer leaving to start their own firm). In these "crisis management" situations, I have four basic goals:

• Identify the client. This is critical. If the client is a private company and I´m dealing with the owner, there´s no confusion. However, if I´m working with a large or even public company, and perhaps one or a group of officers who have exposed it to considerable risk, I need to be clear about whether my client is the people sitting in front of me, or the corporation. When an individual contacts me, I have to know whether they´re doing so in an official or personal capacity. At times, I´ve had to tell them that since they´re contacting me in an individual capacity, I can´t continue speaking with them because there´s a good chance that I will be representing the corporation, especially if I´ve done so previously. I have to be careful about a potential bad apple wanting to conflict me out of a representation situation. I can´t proceed until this understanding is put in writing and any potential conflicts have been removed. Even if you´re not a lawyer, be clear about who your client really is.
• Help stop the bleeding. Perhaps it´s time to file an injunction or cooperate with the authorities. Perhaps it´s time to get a grip on the finger pointing that is spilling out into the press. Whatever it might be, I have an obligation to help mitigate the client´s risks and damages ASAP.
• Get hold of the facts. Whether we´ve watched Sherlock Holmes, Dragnet, or CSI, we all know how important it is to preserve the facts. The failure to secure facts has been the undoing of many an investigation. This might require getting eyewitness testimony, taking video footage of a scene, or preventing the destruction of documents.
• Create a plan for moving forward. I need to figure out who´s on the team and what actions we´re going to take, including the "spin" on the situation and who´s going to communicate it. This plan must maintain control over the evidence, including who gets access to what. If you work with your lawyer on the plan, it should be a work product and attorney-privileged communication.

It´s important to understand that under these circumstances, I´m not playing judge or jury. I´m there to be an advocate for my client - within ethical guidelines, of course.

To reiterate: Know who your client is, stop the bleeding, preserve the evidence, and have a plan. These principles play a key role in "Risk Management 101." I encourage anyone reading this to engage in risk management fire drills so that you don´t have to deal with one of these problems for the first time in real time. HR That Works users should explore the Risk Management Models, which will guide you through this process.