Abtech Industries, the publicly traded environmental engineering firm, brought in crisis PR support after it was drawn in to a corruption scandal that toppled New York's Senate leader.
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Abtech has engaged LAK PR, the New York firm of former state senate press secretary and Rubenstein Associates alum Lisa Linden.
The New York Times reported May 19 that the company's stock has fallen more than 70%, a large contract has been suspended, and the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company.
Abtech's $12M contract with Long Island's Nassau County is a focus of US Attorney Preet Bharara's corruption charges against Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who has been ousted from senate leadership since his May 4 arrest.
Bharara alleges the senator and his son, Adam, an employee of Abtech, used the senator's influence to benefit Adam and Abtech. Adam Skelos was also arrested.
Abtech founder and CEO Glenn Rink called the federal probe a "highly atypical and devastating set of events" on the company's quarterly conference call May 18.
LAK's Linden is speaking for Abtech. She was a senior VP at Rubenstein and deputy chief of staff and press secretary to State Sen. Roy Goodman.
Grannus Financial handles IR for the company.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
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How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
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