Public Relations Vet Rich Klein Joins Furia Rubel Communications as Senior VP and Head of New York /

Veteran law firm and professional service public relations professional Rich Klein has joined Furia Rubel Communications as senior vice president and head of the New York / New Jersey region.

Klein has more than 25 years of experience in journalism and public relations. Since 1988, he has been advising law firms and other organizations on media relations, crisis communications, litigation public relations, website development and social media strategy. His longtime client, intellectual property law firm Kenyon & Kenyon, will be added to Furia Rubel’s extensive roster of law firms, legal service providers, accounting firms, pharmaceutical companies, retail malls and non-profits organizations.

"Our combined law firm public relations experience puts us at the forefront of the industry" said company president Gina Rubel, an attorney who is a regular blogger for The Legal Intelligencer and founder of The PR Lawyer blog. "By bringing Rich on board, we can expand our presence in New York and New Jersey, while continuing to deliver senior-level service to all of our clients nationwide."

Rubel and Klein have worked together on various projects in the past five years, including a webcast in 2008 promoting Rubel’s book, "Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers" when Klein headed Riverside Public Relations. "Gina and I met at a conference for law firm chief marketing officers where Gina was a speaker on legal marketing ethics," said Klein. "I knew then that we shared the same strategic approach to public relations and a commitment to the highest ethical standards for our clients." He said, "And because we’ve often exchanged ideas and collaborated on projects, it will be a seamless transition working as part of the Furia Rubel team."

Klein, who most recently headed the law firm group at Beckerman Public Relations, has also worked in the law firm groups at Rubenstein Associates and Magnet Communications. Earlier, he held the top media relations positions at the Anti-Defamation League, New York County Lawyers’ Association and Proskauer Rose.

A frequent writer and lecturer, Klein’s articles have been published in The National Law Journal, Strategies (magazine of LMA), and PRWeek. His article on Crisis Communications for Law Firms is scheduled to appear in the New Jersey Law Journal during September 2009.

He is also a regular columnist for The Mann Report, a commercial real estate publication.

Klein’s blog, Views on Reputation, was launched in 2005 and has served as a respected source of information on law firm marketing, crisis communications and online reputation. He is also the founder of the Crisis Communications Network on Ning.com.

Both Rubel and Klein are members of The Legal Marketing Association.

Furia Rubel Communications, Inc. is an award-winning, women-owned certified public relations and marketing agency with locations in Pennsylvania and New York. The agency provides strategic planning, public relations, interactive communications, marketing, media relations, crisis communications and merger and acquisition communications to a wide array of clients including law firms, educational institutions, non-profit groups, retail property management companies, pharmaceutical companies and professional service firms.