Caveat Emptor – Lawyers, Beware of Your Video Production Company

Caveat Emptor – Lawyers, Beware of Your Video Production Company

I recently came across three videos by three different attorneys, all in the same town, produced by the same video company. These three attorneys compete with each other for clients. How do I know? Because like me, they also practice medical malpractice and personal injury law here in New York.

So what’s with the headline in this article?

I had a chance to watch each of their videos. Why did I watch them? Because from the thumbnail image they all looked the same. The background was exactly the same. The pose that each attorney had in the thumbnail was the same, and the lighting looked exactly alike. Incredibly, the headline in each of the videos was exactly the same! By the way, these three attorneys are not in the same law firm. So I pressed ‘play’ and listened.

The first video was fine. (I don’t want to divulge the topic, since you could then Google it and know exactly which video production company I’m referring to here.) I then went to the second attorney’s video and pressed ‘play’. I couldn’t believe it. He was saying virtually the exact same thing as attorney #1. Same headline, same topic, same background, same interview pose and the same lighting. The only thing different was that it was a different attorney.

Next video to play was attorney #3.

OMG! That’s not a phrase I ever say, nor would I ever repeat, but when I heard attorney #3 I simply could not believe my eyes and ears. The same content as attorneys #1 & #2 with some minor alteration; the same background; same lighting and the same interview position. This was stunning.

How could a video company produce a video for three different lawyers, all asking the exact same question, and each giving virtually the exact same answer? Could it be a hassle-free template that every attorney gets, regardless of what they’ve paid? Like a cookie-cutter style way of creating video?

The quality of the video was excellent- no complaint there. But the same question and the same answers for each of these competing lawyers? Give me a break. I’ll bet you anything that this video company didn’t tell these lawyers that they’d be creating the exact same videos for their competitors. That’s why it’s so important that when you hire a video production company to create your attorney videos you must ask whether these videos are custom created for you and only you. Even if there are competing attorneys using the same video company, ask your video producer to make sure you’re different.

If your producer instead asks YOU how you’re different from your competitors, I’d suggest it’s time to look for another video producer. Your producer should be able to help you distinguish yourself from everyone else.

The next time you’re fascinated with a particular web video company, my advice to you is Caveat Emptor.