Richard Levick, Esq., who pioneered the fields of disaster and litigation administration, died on Tuesday from issues of most cancers. He was 65.
As chairman and CEO of Levick, he labored with firms and international governments on among the highest-profile crises of the previous few a long time together with the Gulf oil spill, the Venezuelan monetary disaster, Chinese language commerce wars and extra, in response to his biography on the agency’s web site.
Levick additionally represented the Catholic Church throughout clergy abuse scandals, reminiscences 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 important establishment is mortally wounded, we’re all harmed,” Levick wrote. “All of us lose some important consolation, some sense of shared mission. The longer any establishment ignores the causes of its crises, the higher the peril it should in the end face.”
Maybe most famously, Levick represented a gaggle of accused terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay, the Washington Publish 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 frequent floor with conservatives on Constitutional points associated to habeas corpus and due course of.
“With out query, he was the daddy of recent status administration,” mentioned Max Marcucci, senior vice chairman at Levick. “Coming from a authorized background and dealing with legislation corporations to signify the legislation corporations themselves and to signify 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 grow to be 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 college at Fordham Regulation College and gave lectures at establishments together with West Level, Harvard and Georgetown Regulation.
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 business and Levick serving to her to navigate. “I’ve discovered a lot from Richard through the years, and am saddened by his passing. We’ve misplaced an business icon who was so clever, supportive, humorous and type.”
An e mail despatched from Marcucci remembered Levick as a person with ”seemingly boundless power, ardour, thirst for information, and humorousness.”
“We’ll miss Richard deeply, however his legacy will reside on by way of the work that we do each day, the individuals who had been made higher for having identified him, and the numerous reputations that had been saved due to him.”
Allison Carter is government editor of PR Each day. Comply with her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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