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Richard Roberts, the son of the Oral Roberts University founder, was sued along with the university alleging a number of improprieties.

This looks like it'll be a dirty, vicious battle, as some of the attacks and allegations target Roberts' wife Lindsay and his family.

You can see more of the details of the lawsuit in these places.

Last post we talked about how long-term effects of most public relations problems aren't remembered by people or consumers because of the continuous barrage of news and new stories being fed to us at a maddening pace.

As we talked about, it's amazing to see how those in the public eye seem to be forgiven easily or forgotten about in a relatively short time. Many times it has little if any long-term impact.

In the case of Richard Roberts, and many other people as well, they are the brand, so personal attacks are essentially attacks on their brand. That's definitely the case in this instance.

So how do you protect your brand in these types of events? The best protection to me is in being who you say you are. Are we true to what we portray? Do we live what we assert?

This is the underlying value people look for in a brand. They want truth and honesty in who you are as an individual or a company. What you say you are they want you to be. That's vital to brand protection.

So in the case of this particular attack on the Oral Roberts University and Richard Roberts brand, it'll come down to if what is put forth in the lawsuit counteracts what Roberts really is, or if it reveals something completely different.

One thing to rememeber about lawsuits: just because you lose one doesn't mean your brand is injured. Much of what can damage the brand will be done in the details of the case, not the verdict in the case.

Look at O.J. Simpson for instance. When he does dumb stuff, it doesn't hurt his brand, it's expected of him. Or the dumb Hollywood socialites and starlets who do the endless stream of stupid stuff. People don't expect anything else, so in general, they're not harmed, even when legal proceedings go against them.

On the other hand, those that participate in this type of behavior have no credibility when they attempt to do good things or serious stuff; they're just not believable.

In the end that's the way you protect your brand: people must think you're believable. The way you do that is by living and breathing everything you say you are. If we do that, we may lose a lawsuit and have to pay money out, but it won't affect the long-term success of what it is we're attempting to accomplish.

The bottom line is we must be true to who and what we are. If we do that we'll have a long, successful run. Turn away from that and it can destroy you and your brand.