Video is one of the Smart Chimp services for law firms. In a consultation, a client finally grasps why probate runs as long as it does because you sketched it on a legal pad and walked through an example. Most firm websites never capture that moment. A short video puts it on the page where the same client is reading.
What we make for firms
- Attorney introductionsWho the lawyer is, the matters the firm takes, and what happens in the first meeting, for a homepage, bio, or landing page.
- Practice-area explainersOne process per video, such as what follows a DWI arrest, told the way you explain it across a conference table.
- FAQ answersBrief clips on one question intake hears constantly, set next to the written answer.
- Client stories, where permittedDocumentary-style interviews with former clients who choose to take part, describing what happened in their own words. We never hand anyone lines that make claims for the firm.
- Motion graphicsAnimation, diagrams, titles, and reusable templates for ideas a camera has no way to film, like a case moving from first call to resolution.
- Edits of footage you already ownCLE talks, webinars, interviews, and presentations cut shorter, with cleaned-up sound, corrected color, captions, subtitles, and formatting for each channel.
The script starts with how you talk
Before anyone writes a line, we read your Voice DNA profile, the record of 21 dimensions of how you write and explain. A client who watches the video and then meets you should recognize the same person.
Plenty of good trial lawyers dislike the camera. A conversation with someone asking questions off camera, or remote direction, tends to sound more like you than a prompter. Some topics work better with no lawyer on screen: an animated diagram, or a cut built from footage the firm already has.
From first call to final file
- Decide what the video is for. Who watches, what they take away, and where it sits. A homepage introduction and a paid ad need different things.
- Build the story. Concept, script, interview questions, or storyboard. Your attorney checks the substance against the real practice and the firm's approved claims.
- Shoot, animate, and edit. Agreed recordings, footage you send, animation, and graphics become cuts you review and mark up.
- Deliver for every place it will run. Final files in the formats named in the scope, with captions, subtitles, shorter versions, and alternate layouts planned for your site, ads, social channels, and referral talks.
What the bar rules say about firm video
A video about your services is covered by the advertising rules just as a website or billboard is. Under ABA Model Rule 7.1, nothing in it can be false or misleading. Rule 7.2(a) lets lawyers advertise in any medium, video included. When the video runs as an ad, Rule 7.2(d) requires it to identify a lawyer or law firm accountable for what it says, along with contact details.
- Results and client storiesComment [3] to Rule 7.1 warns that an accurate account of a past win can still mislead viewers if it suggests they will get the same outcome regardless of the facts of their own case. Qualifying language or a fitting disclaimer can cure that, the comment adds.
- Consent and confidentialityRule 1.6(a) bars a lawyer from disclosing information tied to a client's matter unless the client gives informed consent or another exception applies. Rule 1.0(e) defines informed consent as agreement given after the lawyer explains the material risks and the reasonable alternatives. We film no client until your firm confirms that conversation happened.
- Paying for praiseRule 7.2(b) generally prohibits giving anything of value in exchange for a recommendation, with narrow exceptions, and Comment [2] treats a statement vouching for a lawyer's skill as a recommendation. That bears on any deal with a client who appears.
Your state's adopted version of the rules controls, and we read it before scripting. For written reviews, see whether lawyers can use client testimonials. Smart Chimp does not give legal advice; your firm decides on every script and edit.
Getting more from each shoot
An interview can be scheduled with a written article on the same subject, an animated probate timeline can serve an estate planning page for years, and strong moments can become social posts or creative for paid campaigns.
The written answer stays beside the video, so the page still serves answer engine optimization; more in whether law firms should use video for AI search. Video can follow your content calendar or run as a one-off project.
Pricing a video project
Video has no set package price. The quote follows how it is produced, what footage exists, how much editing and animation it needs, and how many versions you want. We agree on deliverables on a call, then price them. Book a 30-minute call and bring the question your intake team hears most.
To judge our writing first, send one page for a free page rewrite; we email it back rewritten, and a call is optional.
Common questions
Can one long recording become several short videos?
Yes, that is part of the editing work. We find passages that stand alone, such as one answer from a webinar's question period, and shape each for its platform. How many clips work depends on the source and the scope.
Can a client appear in a video?
Yes, if the client wants to and your firm confirms informed consent under Rule 1.6. Your attorney checks the final cut against your state's advertising rules before it is posted.
Keep reading
Sources
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 7.1, Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 7.2, Advertising, paragraphs (a), (b) and (d)
- ABA Standing Committee report on amendments to Model Rules 7.1 to 7.5 (August 2018), clean text of Rule 7.1 Comment [3] and Rule 7.2 Comment [2]
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 1.6, Confidentiality of Information, paragraph (a)
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 1.0, Terminology, paragraph (e)