Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners

Why Hasn’t Lawyer Video Taken Off -- And What You Can Do About It

Some suggestions to make your legal video pop.

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For the past decade, lawyers have been bombarded by legal marketing companies, assuring them that video is the next big thing. And yet, video hasn’t really yielded results for most lawyers. Even one of the pioneers of the lawyer video, New York medical malpractice attorney Gerry Oginski with his extensive video library typically attracts hundreds, rather than thousands of viewers to his well-produced and informative videos. Meanwhile, Jason Bland, author of a Forbes piece, Is Anyone Watching Those Videos on Your Law Firm Website? discovered that only between two and six percent of law firm website visitors actually watched the videos posted there.

So why haven’t lawyers been more successful in using video as a marketing strategy at a time when one recent report showed that some retailers have used video to increase sales by 70 percent, and people are watching up to 500 million hours of video on YouTube. I think the answer is fairly obvious: most law firm videos are dull as dishwater. For starters, most legal topics such as “How to Prepare a Separation Agreement” or “What I Do Each Day As A Tax Lawyer” just aren’t all that interesting. Combine that with most lawyers’ stiff, rote delivery and you’ve got a video destined for a lifetime of online obscurity.

Bland offers some practical ways that lawyers can maximize viewership of videos, such as preparing explanation videos (more popular than commercials), putting videos on the law firm’s practice page and creating separate versions for Facebook. Trouble is, Bland’s suggestions don’t really solve the boredom factor inherent in lawyer videos — which if corrected, would substantially increase viewership.

Consider, for example, Brian Wilson, Texas Law Hawk whose outlandish, yet surprisingly accurate-on-the-law videos attracted millions of viewers, as well as a spot in a Taco Bell Superbowl ad. Of course, not many lawyers can pull off a Texas Law Hawk video — so here are a couple of other suggestions:

  • Court Arguments: Many courts still do not televise or video record courtroom proceedings. But apparently there’s plenty of interest in oral arguments, as shown by the search results for the term “oral argument” on YouTube, which lists many videos with thousands and hundreds of thousands of viewers. Video of courtroom proceedings would allow clients to see their lawyer in action — which would hopefully, help seal a representation deal.
  • Ted Talks: No doubt, you’ve been captivated or inspired by Ted Talks which explore big questions or share advice by authors and influencers. As shown here, TED Talks — even by lawyers and law professors are also fairly popular. Most lawyers would be unlikely to qualify for a TED Talk — but perhaps instead of producing yet another “talking head” video, lawyers could have themselves filmed giving a TED-like Talk.
  • Evergreen Content: I’ve noticed that some of my videos, merely by dint of being around for a long time have built up hits over the years. For example, my video What You Don’t Know About Solo Practice Can Hurt You has racked up 8300 views in the seven years it’s been online. The trick, however, is to produce evergreen content that will remain relevant over a long lifespan.
  • Explainer Videos: I’ve written about Explainer Videos. They’re short videos with musical background that explain a legal concept or case with graphics and drawings. Explainer videos are easy to make and have a little more energy than an ordinary lawyer video.

Video may never gain traction within the legal profession. And perhaps that may be one reason to try it — because if nothing else, you’ll to stand out from the crowd.

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Carolyn ElefantCarolyn Elefant has been blogging about solo and small firm practice at MyShingle.comsince 2002 and operated her firm, the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. She’s also authored a bunch of books on topics like starting a law practice, social media, and 21st century lawyer representation agreements (affiliate links). If you’re really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email at elefant@myshingle.comor follow her on Twitter at @carolynelefant.

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