Crisis Planning

The PBN Company has prepared detailed crisis response plans for a wide range of public- and private-sector clients. Immediately after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, we prepared the oil spill crisis response plan for the State of California, which was codified into law. We also prepared the crisis response plan for the U.S. oil industry prior to the first Gulf War in anticipation of potential disruption of the worldwide oil supply. We have prepared crisis response plans for oil & gas companies, transportation companies, luxury cruise lines, hotels, financial institutions and international retail and restaurant companies. We have organized, managed and participated in dozens of real-time crisis scenario planning exercises on behalf of our clients.

Litigation Support

The PBN Company also specializes in working with our clients and their legal counsel to properly and aggressively position high-profile litigation and other legal disputes. Just a few examples of our litigation support experience include: supporting the family and legal counsel of Paul Klebnikov, the Fortune magazine editor murdered in Moscow in 2004; providing communications assistance to Vanco in its litigation to overturn the Government of Ukraine’s termination of a $1 billion contract for oil and gas exploration in the Black Sea; assisting United Airlines and the American Transportation Association in their lawsuits against the City of San Francisco over a domestic partners law; supporting Sibir Energy in their attempt to recover its ownership of a Russian joint venture company from Sibneft; and supporting PriceWaterhouseCoopers in litigation involving its role as auditors for failed banks in Latvia.

Shareholder and Financial Disputes

The firm has helped a number of clients resolve shareholder and other financial disputes.  Perhaps one of the firm’s highest profile shareholder disputes involved BP’s investment in the Russian oil company Sidanco and its ownership of the Chernogorneft oil field. The dispute with Russian shareholders, Alfa Group and Access Renova, was resolved and eventually lead to the merger of all assets under TNK-BP. The firm was part of the consulting team that helped Baltika Beverage Holdings to resolve a shareholder dispute and merge all its beer brands under Baltika. We are also assisted Norwegian telecom company, Telenor, in a shareholder dispute involving its investments in VimpelCom and Kyivstar.  And we helped a Dubai shipping company resolve a shareholder dispute that was impacting its business in Ukraine.  And there have been many more such disputes, where we have contributed substantially to their successful resolution.

Environmental Accidents

The PBN Company has helped our clients respond to a wide variety of environmental accidents, including oil spills, refinery fires, chemical releases and other accidents impacting the environment and surrounding communities. The PBN Company managed the successful communications response to the 1990 Huntington Beach oil spill in Southern California on behalf of BP, the first major oil spill after the Exxon Valdez. In 1994, The PBN Company served as the communications manager for the Komi Oil Spill, Russia’s largest reported oil spill. We also managed all communications following a large-scale chemical release from a Unocal refinery. This program, which lasted in excess of two years and received widespread media attention, involved extensive outreach to and negotiations with the neighboring community; labor unions; local environmental and health organizations; and, federal, state and local government officials.

Product Health and Safety Issues

The PBN Company has been involved in a number of product health and safety issues, including product recalls. In 2008, we provided communications support to a manufacturer of children’s furniture conducting a nation-wide recall, including acting as media contact and liaison with regulatory agencies.  We also assisted a national beverage company with the recall of its products because the beverage’s glass containers failed to meet the company’s standards.  We helped a high tech company plan and execute a recall of a product used in industrial lightening throughout the United States and Eastern Europe. We also helped a national retail chain voluntarily recall two products, one from its catalog and one from its retail outlets, due to health and safety concerns. In 2004, we provided government relations and news media services to Gerber in Russia, when the health department erroneously claimed that some of the company’s baby food products were contaminated.

Business Disruptions

The PBN Company has helped clients manage communications and restore their operations following major disruptions of their businesses. This has included instances where business operations have been interrupted due to workplace violence, terrorist threats and actions, workplace accidents and other such situation. We work with clients to manage the immediate onslaught of attention from concerned family members and employees as well as the government, media and other interested parties. After the immediate crisis, we help our clients restore business operations, including ongoing communications with customers, suppliers, media and analysts, government officials, employees, shareholders and other audiences. In 2001, for example, we were active in assisting the Russia offices of Arthur Andersen transition to Ernst & Young.

Government Actions and Regulatory Investigations

The PBN Company has also helped our clients manage threats of high-profile government investigations and regulatory actions.  For example, we assisted one U.S.-based blood bank overcome threats of closure by the federal government over claims of violations of Good Manufacturing Practices. We represented KPMG before U.S. Congressional hearings investigating overly aggressive tax planning. In Russia, we successfully assisted Visa International manage investigations of charges of monopolistic business practices by the government’s Anti-Monopoly Committee. In Ukraine, we assisted a London-based global real estate development company stop efforts by a local government to cease title to a $500 million multi-purpose shopping and hotel development near the Borispil Airport and Knauf Insulation achieve community support for a $300 million Greenfield construction site, despite opposition from the local city council and political leadership.  Other corporate clients have come under government and regulatory investigations for issues relating to insurance fraud, health care coverage, health and safety violations, breaches of trade and other international agreements and other such issues. The PBN Company prepares testimony, manages media coverage and conducts proactive outreach to government officials for these clients.

Media Investigative Reports

The PBN Company is extremely experienced in helping our clients manage and avert investigative reporting by national and international media. In such cases, our first priority is to convince the reporters and editors why the issue is not a “news story.” If they proceed with the report, we then work to ensure that there is balanced coverage. One such example is our work for American Protective Services (APS). A national television news program hired a convicted felon to apply for employment at many of the nation’s private protective services firms, including APS. Even though APS did interview the felon, The PBN Company worked with the television reporter and producer to remove any mention of APS in the story that aired.