For those who want to take a deep dive into the field of communications, I highly recommend The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Marketing Communications.

Edited by Clarke Caywood of Northwestern University, the second edition of this tome just hit the bookstores. The blurb on the inside flap calls this “the most authoritative, comprehensive resource of its kind” – and based on length alone (900+ pages), I don’t doubt that.

Clarke is a good friend and astute observer of the communications field. He’s also persuasive. He managed to convince dozens of top professionals and academics to contribute chapters on topics for which they are recognized experts and thought leaders. It’s an amazing collection of talent.

It was my honor to contribute a chapter on internal and external communications in a law firm. I won’t lie; my chapter is pretty dry (I mean “academic”). But for those with an interest in the legal business, there a fun case study at the end providing a flavor of the complex dynamics now at play in the legal business.