Richard Levick, Esq., who pioneered the fields of disaster and litigation administration, died on Tuesday from problems of most cancers. He was 65.
As chairman and CEO of Levick, he labored with corporations and world governments on a few of the highest-profile crises of the previous couple of many years together with the Gulf oil spill, the Venezuelan monetary disaster, Chinese language commerce wars and extra, based on his biography on the agency’s web site.
Levick additionally represented the Catholic Church throughout clergy abuse scandals, recollections he recounted in a 2018 Forbes op-ed.
“So, I entered our engagement with this order of the Church instinctively conscious of the stakes; instinctively conscious that, when an excellent establishment is mortally wounded, we’re all harmed,” Levick wrote. “All of us lose some very important consolation, some sense of shared mission. The longer any establishment ignores the causes of its crises, the better the peril it should finally face.”
Maybe most famously, Levick represented a gaggle of accused terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay, the Washington Submit reported. Many mentioned they had been wrongfully arrested in Afghanistan.
Levick’s technique concerned humanizing the Kuwaiti males and emphasizing the American values he mentioned had been violated by their detention, looking for widespread floor with conservatives on Constitutional points associated to habeas corpus and due course of.
“With out query, he was the daddy of contemporary fame administration,” mentioned Max Marcucci, senior vp at Levick. “Coming from a authorized background and dealing with regulation corporations to symbolize the regulation corporations themselves and to symbolize their purchasers, that’s actually the story of Richard and his legacy.”
Levick earned his J.D. from American College, the place he would later develop into director of the College of Public Affairs Management Program. He additionally held a grasp’s diploma in environmental advocacy from the College of Michigan. He was a member of the school at Fordham Legislation College and gave lectures at establishments together with West Level, Harvard and Georgetown Legislation.
Levick co-authored 4 books, together with “Cease the Presses: The Disaster and Litigation PR Desk Reference,” was a frequent commentator within the media and hosted the “In Home Warrior” podcast.
Levick’s agency will host a celebration of life, with particulars forthcoming.
Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications, recollects her early profession days within the trade and Levick serving to her to navigate. “I’ve realized a lot from Richard over time, and am saddened by his passing. We’ve misplaced an trade icon who was so sensible, supportive, humorous and sort.”
An e mail despatched from Marcucci remembered Levick as a person with ”seemingly boundless vitality, ardour, thirst for data, and humorousness.”
“We are going to miss Richard deeply, however his legacy will dwell on by the work that we do day by day, the individuals who had been made higher for having recognized him, and the numerous reputations that had been saved due to him.”
Allison Carter is government editor of PR Every day. Observe her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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