Setting Up a Legal Team for Political Campaigns

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Jim Goettler on behalf of Expert Village. This is a video series about managing a political campaign. And as I've said in a could of the other segments, it's impossible to try to cover everything involved in a political campaign in a short series of videos, but what I'm trying to do is give enough information so you feel confident enough to go forward, ask more questions with respect to the campaign you are thinking about taking on. This segment is going to touch briefly on the need for a legal adviser, a legal team with your campaign. Regardless of whether or not it's an initiative- or candidate-based campaign, there may be a need along the way for legal advice. I can't tell you now why you're going to need it, but I can almost be certain that you will. It may involve wording of the initiative; it may involve how the advertising of your candidate is being presented and how it applies with your state election laws. Because you're going to be having to deal with money every day, I do not advise keeping a legal team per say on staff. I do suggest finding someone in your community among your supporters who understands the law and is willing to be on retainer by the campaign, so that when problem comes up, you can immediately get a hold of that person and say: "How do we resolve this issue?" It's also very good whenever you're dealing with a financial reporting to have the legal opinion, if necessary, available before it goes in, not after the fact. The next section I'm going to touch on is the media team and the importance of it in any kind of campaign. Thanks."