TechnoLawyer: Videos

In our first installment of this series, Levin Papantonio crushed Schlender Law Firm.

Today, Houston law firm Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels & Friend (Abraham) faces off against New York malpractice lawyer Gerald Oginski (Oginski).

In this corner ...

In Abraham's video, Commercial Litigation Lawyer/Attorney in Texas — Overview, partner Randall Owen Sorrels discusses his firm's experience helping the little guy take on large corporations. The video alternates between takes of Sorrels looking like he's being interviewed and some Ken Burns-style photos.

I admire any law firm that uses YouTube as a marketing channel because so few law firms do. That said, this video has several flaws.

The director should have used more than one camera angle when filming Sorrels. Since we don't sense the presence of an interviewer, perhaps Sorrels should have faced the camera like a news anchor. Also, I find the photos used for the B-roll segments lackluster. Perhaps the director should have used video footage of Houston and the law firm.

Sorrels makes some important points, but his script sounds like an ad (it shouldn't), including platitudes that we have all heard a zillion times. Instead, why not take advantage of YouTube's longer format to discuss a recent case with a successful outcome?

The video's best segment occurs when Sorrels describes litigation as being bad for business and his firm's attempt to minimize such disruption by resolving disputes as efficiently as possible. Also, he provides a link back to the firm's Web site in the About This Video section.

Finally, I understand the importance of search engine optimization, but videos should have real titles since they presumably tell stories. Besides, you can kill two birds with one stone. For example, Abraham's could have used something like: How to Find a Lawyer to Handle Your Commercial Litigation in Texas.

And in this corner ...

Oginski wins points before you even press play by using a clever red herring as the title for his video, Questions Never to Ask at a Deposition.

In the video, Oginski discusses why there is no such thing as a question to never ask. He explains why you need to learn about all the facts before trial, including those damaging to your case. Oginski provides real information here! He also scores points by facing the camera and addressing the audience.

On the downside, the video features some cheesy music at the beginning and the end. I wouldn't have a problem with it except it drowns him out at the end. His editor should have used a more gradual fade-in. Also, inexplicably for such a savvy online lawyer, Oginski fails to link to his site in the About This Video section.

The winner? Oginski by director's verdict. Case closed.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

One of our favorite contributors, trial consultant Lynn Packer, posted a YouTube video two days ago that showcases his DepoDisplay paperless deposition system.

Lynn has written several TechnoFeature articles for us in which he recounted his struggle to modernize courtrooms in Utah. Therefore, it's encouraging to see his vision up and running, albeit not in a courtroom, but in a forward-thinking Utah law firm.

More impressive than the courtroom gear is the DepoDisplay deposition system, which features a large screen at the foot of the deposition table for displaying exhibits and two operator-controlled cameras for capturing all the action. Watching this video is like traveling forward in time to a deposition in 2015 (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Nearly two years ago I lamented the dearth of "young guns" in legal technology. Dennis Kennedy emailed me to say that Tom Mighell of Inter Alia was such a person.

Apparently, Dennis and I have different notions of a young gun. Tom is my age. I define a young gun as someone under the age of 30.

Legends like Ross Kodner and Dennis Kennedy were in their twenties when they started writing about legal technology. Why isn't there a Ross 2.0 or Dennis 2.0 on the scene?

Well, maybe there is.

Meet Robin Hood (his real name), a third year law student at Mississippi College of Law. Concerned about the error-prone nature of using previous documents to create new documents at the law firm where he clerks, he created a set of Microsoft Word macros for drafting routine documents such as letters and pleadings. He also bought a copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking so that he could verbally produce these documents.

Robin demoed his work on YouTube as you would expect a young gun to do. Watch his instructive video, Speech Recognition for Lawyers (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Los Angeles family lawyer Kelly Chang has taken law firm marketing via YouTube to a new level with her latest video. The video itself shows her out and about in Los Angeles talking about her family law practice, including her refusal to take on clients unsure if they really want a divorce.

Another quality video from Kelly, but the real story here is that Kelly emailed the video link to her friends and clients and invited them to comment on the video. And comment they did. The comments add even more marketing oomph to the video. In fact, the comments might very well do more for Kelly than the video itself.

As I've stated in the past, you cannot just upload a video to YouTube and expect it to generate business. You must also promote the video. Otherwise, it will languish unwatched — like most law firm videos on YouTube.

Kelly went a step further. Not only has she promoted her video, but she is also trying to create a community around the video with user-generated content.

There is a right way and a wrong way to use user-generated content for marketing purposes. Creating fake user accounts and posting comments from those accounts is wrong, very wrong. Paying people to post comments on your behalf or telling them what to write is not much better. Plus you can easily spot such user-generated spam because it comes across as too good to be true.

To do it right, invite people to comment in their own words and hope for the best. If you deliver a quality service and showcase it in a quality video, you should have nothing to worry about. If you don't then don't use this form of marketing. If someone posts a negative comment, respond to it. Chances are they're mistaken about something or not disclosing all the facts.

In other words, the less control you have, the more user-generated content helps you. You need to light the spark, but you also need to get out of the way. Watch Kelly's video and read the comments below (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

It can be soooo difficult deciding which four star restaurant to dine at every day when you're a summer associate. Decisions, decisions.

Of course, I wouldn't know as I was a summer associate during the lean years so I typically received only one lunch offer per day ("Spago at 1:00? Never heard of it, but I'm game.") We had it so tough back then.

Today's summers don't know how good they've got it, but David Lat of Above the Law does. Recently, ABC News interviewed David about today's summer associate programs. Watch the video.

Above the Law is one of 77 influential legal blogs (blawgs) featured BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide, a popular PDF eBook. Download your free copy.

Given my recent appearance on Lawyer2Lawyer to discuss the use of online videos by law firms for client development, I thought I'd share with you the five tips I discussed on the show (actually, I forgot to mention tips #3 and #5 so this post is worth reading even if you listened to the show):

1. Hire a Professional: While you'll probably write the script, hire a professional filmmaker for the other aspects of production. Any film school graduate should have the ability to create a storyboard, direct, and edit.

2. Optimize for Search Engines: When you upload your video to YouTube, carefully write your description with Google searches in mind and link back to your site.

3. Promote Your Video: Apart from making amateur-looking videos, the biggest mistake law firms make is assuming that the project ends when they upload their video to YouTube. Actually, that's the hard work really begins. You must then execute a promotional plan to drive traffic to your video. At the very least, let your clients know about the video and encourage them to send the link to others. Use a publicity tool such as Collactive.

4. Go Local: Consider placing the video on your site as well. While you can use YouTube's embedding code for free, you may not want your site to become a billboard for YouTube. Instead, you can use open source software such as vPIP, which is free. If you want to customize the software as we did, you'll have to spend some money, but not much.

5. Make Sequels Simultaneously: Just as Peter Jackson shot all three Lord of the Rings films simultaneously, you can leverage your investment by producing several videos at the same time for release at different times.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

YouTube enables you to upload videos and reach millions of consumers free of charge. It goes without saying that lawyers are uploading videos by the truckload, right?

Wrong. Most law firms don't currently take advantage of YouTube. But some do — like Kelly Chang, a Los Angeles lawyer who specializes in separation and divorce law.

Her professionally-produced two minute educational video on YouTube about custody has attracted industry-wide attention and, more importantly, new clients. (So has her search engine optimized Web site, but that's a different story for another day). (Click here if you can't see the video above).

I recently had the pleasure of "meeting" Kelly on the Lawyer2Lawyer podcast where she and I were guests along with LexBlog founder Kevin O'Keefe. Hosted by J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, we discussed YouTube as a marketing platform for law firms.

Kelly, of course, provided a first-hand account while Kevin and I served as the experts. While I'm not a filmmaker, I have written extensively about online legal videos over the past year, and at TechnoLawyer we periodically produce online videos using our own YouTube-like software (PeerViews vPIP).

I encourage you to listen to the podcast, YouTube and the Law, which runs for 37 minutes. You can play it in your browser, register to download the MP3 version, or just search iTunes for Lawyer2Lawyer and download the MP3 file there.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Welcome to our press kit for BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide. We've designed this press kit for two audiences — bar associations, bloggers, publishers, and others who would like to distribute a copy of this eBook via their blog, listserver, newsletter, Web site, etc., and lawyers, law librarians, paralegals, and other law firm personnel who would like to place a copy of the eBook on their law firm's intranet.

How to Distribute the eBook
1. Online Publishing: Feel free to copy either of the download links below (depending on which cover you prefer), and make it available anywhere online. You can also email these links to friends. Even better, contact us so that we can give you your own unique trackable download link. This way, you can track the number of downloads. Everyone loves statistics after all. Also, feel free to use any of the graphics available below in conjunction with your distribution of the eBook. There is no charge for this service.

2. Law Firm Intranets: If your intranet consists of private Web pages, please contact us for a trackable download link so that you can evaluate its popularity. If you would prefer not to use a trackable link or if your "intranet" consists of a file server, that's fine. In that case, please send us the name of your firm and the number of lawyers and staff so that we have an idea of how many people might access the eBook. Either way, there is no charge.

Though free and freely distributed, the eBook does not reside in the public domain. Therefore, you may only distribute the eBook as outlined above. The download links we provide directly download the eBook. No registration hassles. Plus we take care of all the bandwidth.

Please contact Sara Skiff at or at (646) 530-8500 x102. When you contact Sara, please tell her which cover you prefer—Grid or Overlap (see below).

Watch Our Press Conference Video
As you've probably noticed, at the top of the press kit you'll find a video of our July 25, 2007 press conference, which runs for 17 minutes. It consists of three parts: (1) a behind the scenes look at what makes this eBook noteworthy, (2) a guided tour of the eBook and its features, and (3) a Q&A session with those who attended the press conference.

Download The eBook
Below you'll find two download links for the eBook — one for the version with the Grid cover, and one for the version with the Overlap cover. Other than the different covers, they are identical. Click a cover to download that version. If you would like to distribute the eBook, we've also provided the corresponding URLs below in a format easy to copy and paste.

The Grid cover displays screenshots of many of the blawgs featured in BlawgWorld 2007 in an orderly grid.
Grid URL: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L11594&M1

The Overlap cover displays screenshots of many of the blawgs featured in BlawgWorld 2007 in an overlapping manner.
Overlap URL: http://www.toplaw.news/r.asp?L11595&M1

TechnoLawyer eBook Press Release
July 30, 2007: TechnoLawyer eBook Makes Legal Publishing History with Smart Navigation System and Online Distribution Via Seventy-Eight Legal Blogs

August 1, 2007: TechnoLawyer eBook Downloaded 5,000 Times in First 36 Hours of Release

TechnoLawyer eBook Logo
Please click the logo to download it in EPS, PSD, and TIF formats.

TechnoLawyer eBook Photos
Below you'll find three photos from the TechnoLawyer eBook Pre/Launch Party at PS 450 in New York City. Click a photo to download a high resolution copy.

Editor Sara Skiff and Publisher Neil J. Squillante pose with the cover of the eBook.

Fourteen of the 77 bloggers featured in BlawgWorld 2007 pose for a group photo.

Bloggers Adriana Linares and Allison C. Shields debate which eBook cover they prefer while publisher Neil J. Squillante listens to their feedback.

Graphics For Distributors: Grid Cover
Below you'll find thumbnails of three graphics for the Grid cover — Tilt, Flat, and Book — each of which comes in two versions. Tilt and Flat are designed to sit above a blog post like the video at the top of this press kit. Book is designed for inline use in a blog post or newsletter, and also for use along the side of any Web site. For your convenience, we've provided each graphic at several sizes ready to go. We've also included the original Photoshop files if you need a different size. Click any thumbnail to download the entire set.

Graphics For Distributors: Overlap Cover
Below you'll find thumbnails of three graphics for the Overlap cover — Tilt, Flat, and Book — each of which comes in two versions. Tilt and Flat are designed to sit above a blog post like the video at the top of this press kit. Book is designed for inline use in a blog post or newsletter, and also for use along the side of any Web site. For your convenience, we've provided each graphic at several sizes ready to go. We've also included the original Photoshop files if you need a different size. Click any thumbnail to download the entire set

Inevitably, every pop culture phenomenon gets a rap parody. The latest such parody skewer's Apple's "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC." ads.

Of course, leave it to David Pogue to go retro and use the standard pop tune "My Way" to cover the iPhone frenzy.

Finally, I presume you're aware of the film Michael Clayton starring George Clooney as a corporate lawyer. Like most large firm lawyers, he ends up in the inevitable car chase with bullets whizzing past him. Why do they never tell you about that aspect of the job in law school? 

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

As you know, we applaud law firms and vendors that incorporate video into their marketing plans. While online video doesn't make sense for everyone, you would think that every vendor specializing in demonstrative evidence would use video to showcase their services. But a YouTube search pulls up just one company — Truly Media.

Now, perhaps other vendors have videos on their sites and rely on Google to drive traffic there. But increasingly, when people search for videos, they turn to YouTube, which is owned by Google. In fact, Google now lists YouTube videos on its own site. Plus YouTube is free so why not take advantage? More than 3,600 people have viewed Truly Media's video. Not a huge number of people, but the company has paid nothing. Watch the video (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.