LDWW is handling Whitefish Energy, the tiny Montana company that had its $300M contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power lines cancelled Oct. 29 by the island’s governor Ricardo Rossello.
Criticism by Congress and Federal Emergency Management Agency prompted Rossello to ax the contract granted to the two-person firm. Some expressed concern over Whitefish’s ties to Interior Secretary and ex-Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, whose son worked for Whitefish during the summer.
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Ken Luce, former Hill+Knowlton Strategies COO and founder of the Dallas-based integrated communications shop, and Brandon Smulyan, a Weber Shandwick and H+K alum, represent Whitefish.
Luce told MSBNC that Whitefish landed the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority pact because it moved quickly to land the business. “This is really a very simple effort by an entrepreneur to get on the plane, fly to Puerto Rico, talk to PREPA when no one else would,” Luce told MSNBC.
Rossello said New York Governor Andy Cuomo and Florida’s Rick Scott have agreed to send utility crews to restore power to the island of 3.4M. About 30 percent of Puerto Rico’s power has been restored six weeks after Hurricane Maria.
Luce has counseled ExxonMobil, General Motors, American Airlines Sprint, US Airways, while Smulyan handled Carnival Corp., Ford Motor, Verizon and Jose Feliciano Foundation.
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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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