Last updated on 9th January 2024
For law firms looking to stand out in an increasingly competitive world, the secret may lie in two simple words: video marketing.
Incorporating video content into your marketing strategy is a proven way to engage prospective clients, explain your products and services, answer questions and – ultimately – make your firm stand out from the rest.
Why law firms NEED video!
From being considered an expensive luxury even as recently as a decade ago, video has quickly established itself as a marketing tool of choice. Brand video has become a ‘must-have’ rather than a ‘nice-to-have.’
The legal industry is no exception. It’s seen an explosion in the use of marketing videos, with law firm after law firm adding swathes of video content to their website, social media channels, email marketing and beyond, to reach a wider audience, get more leads and wow potential clients.
This includes everything from client testimonial videos , through how to videos, through to video showcasing products and services.
And there’s a reason: not only is video cheaper (and better looking!) nowadays – the evidence has racked up over the years that it really works!
Did you know, for example, that 88% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video?
In other words, law firms have quickly realised that if they create videos, they get results.
15 examples of law firm videos
But what does video marketing actually LOOK LIKE for a typical law firm?
To help illustrate, we’ve picked out 15 examples of legal videos which we believe encapsulate law firm video at its best. See whether you agree…
1. Legal Aide
As a personal injury firm, this video does a beautiful job of depicting the problem. There’s nothing fun about personal injuries. It’s a dark, frightening and lonely time. This is perfectly illustrated by the dark and gloomy beginning, punctuated by police sirens, glass shattering and other attention-grabbing sound effects. We see a character falling into the ‘void’ of personal injury.
Midway through the video, the tone changes completely – we’re introduced to a character scene showing our ‘injured’ character being helped and rehabilitated. A happy ending that speaks to the overall value proposition of the video.
The story and purpose of the video come across without a massive amount of voiceover. This is a far cry from the traditional callout of ‘Had an injury that wasn’t your fault?’
The use of colour helps portray the change of tone in the story, with the parts with the problem being dark and the solution sections being light.
2. Lipco
This example from the South African company Lipco follows a pretty tried-and-tested explainer video formula. We start with a character, reflective of our target audience – designed to build empathy. Just like the ideal target viewer, Patrick is a South African who doesn’t have legal insurance.
We’re then shown a series of various problems that might pop up for Patrick (and us, the viewer) if he needs a lawyer and doesn’t have legal cover. Finally, we’re introduced to the ‘solution’ – Lipco! Simple legal cover that makes law simple, fast and affordable – and keeps Patrick out of jail! We sometimes call this approach ‘Problem – Solution – Benefits.’ It’s a real winner.
And what really sets this video apart is its beautiful, eye-catching design. Patrick is a cute, relatable, contemporary character. The video uses a striking, eye-catching colour palette – with a split screen device maximising every second of screen time. And this all underpins a simple, powerful story to deliver a beautiful animated video that really makes law seem accessible, simple and easy to understand.
3. Think Legal
This legal video is a great meeting point between animation and live action footage. It’s been created using a little puppet to represent our main character, a business owner who’s struggling to make sense of complex, ever-changing legislation and worrying about the ability of his business to comply with them.
The narrative is another example of the problem-solution-benefits framework we called out above. The character at the beginning of the video is struggling to understand his legal obligations – supported by the metaphor of being stuck inside an actual maze, with plenty of dangerous-looking holes he risks falling into.
Mid-video, there’s another change of mood (and music!) as we introduce our solution, Think Legal. By the end of the video – after rattling through some benefits – we see our character puffing his cheeks out in relief, freed from the nightmare of the first part of the video. Great, simple storytelling – underpinned by a visual style that’s something quite different.
4. BBC
A slight change in direction to our list so far – this video is all about education rather than marketing. It communicates the rules of a media law around contempt, and has to be very clear as a result.
The uncomplicated style is simple but effective at its finest. The video is tied together by typography, icon-based, illustrations and some limited use of characters. The voiceover is simple, professional and pretty formal, supported by relevant visuals to help drill home the key messages and enhance knowledge transfer. Legal issues can be complex so this simplicity can be a really effective style.
The result is impactful and effective, with a huge amount of information squeezed into 1 minute 23 seconds.
5. Australian Consumer Law
How better to package information about law affecting holiday bookings, than packing it all in a suitcase? This quirky ‘stitched’ effect video for Australian consumer law does just that.
Along with their matching catchphrase ‘Pack some peace of mind’ and a really catchy jingle, the whole concept is simple but intriguing.
Giving the audience the points clearly and one by one works well here, when it comes to explaining a law, it’s important the message is clear. The script certainly ensures that the message is simple, clear and easily comprehensible.
6. Legal Zoom
How do you get loads of legal information across in 30 seconds flat (including a title animation at the beginning, and a call-to-action at the end?!)
Legal Zoom have managed it – and created a fast, powerful video as a result.
What’s notable about this one is how quick it moves.
It’s targeted at budding entrepreneurs with a business idea. When you have that initial business idea, you’re excited, you’re enthused – you’re going to change the world!
With the best will in the world – the idea of getting legal help with that business is a bit of a turn-off to the excitement. At best it’s a necessary evil.
LegalZoom have stayed away from a stuffy, B2B presentation for this message, instead having a little fun with the messaging. Bottom line – LegalZoom are on-hand to help create and run your new business idea, as well as trademarking the brand name. The message seems to be: Let them deal with the legal stuff, and you continue to get excited about your idea!
This video is funny, punchy, and it’s left just open-ended enough to persuade you to want more information. A great effort!
7. ACMA
The internet is great, and has created unbelievable opportunities. But it’s not all good news. This video from ACMA discusses cyberbullying and its legal implications.
This video is on the longer side, running over 3 minutes. But it manages to hold viewer attention well, with dynamic transitions and the use of 3D elements. The video merges the offline and digital worlds in a really clever way, making it clear that there’s a clear link between the two, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
A strong point of the video is how clearly the information is portrayed. Important information is clearly reinforced by supporting visuals, and the voiceover is clear and well-paced.
8. Rethink Law
Another video that’s on the long side (around 3 minutes) this one shuns the use of a voiceover, instead telling the story with a range of kinetic typography.
We also see a range of simplistic ‘stickman’ style character animations.
The video is good at building drama, from the opening seconds. It makes for a message that is eye-catching and thought-provoking in equal measure.
The use of typography can sometimes be off-putting, but not here. The transitions create a rhythmic flow allowing us to follow the message easily.
The video is left open-ended, keeping you curious, calling on you to act on the information you have received.
9. Birketts
Everyone loves a good metaphor right? And when talking about growth, it’s got to be something about trees.
This video does a great job of appealing to both businesses and individuals, allowing maximum reach for the video.
You feel confident in Birketts after watching this video, the authoritative, friendly voiceover reassures you. Their tagline is ‘Clear legal advice’ and that’s exactly what we get!
10. 80/20 Legal
This legal video goes straight down the fun route, making the heavy subject of health insurance that little bit lighter.
The graphics are fun, and the characters are cute and relatable.
You see the story from the character’s perspective, going from the hospital bed all the way to being completely rehabilitated.
The personal touch at the end of the video, when they include names, leading on to ‘More for…you’ is a great way to tie it all back to the customer. Overall what this video does fantastically well is to humanise the process; it’s great at engendering emotion and empathy to get us invested in the company and its message.
You can check out our insurance explainer video page for more insurance-related examples.
11. Legal Self Help Forms Explained
This informational video presented by the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma does exactly what it says on the tin: Explains Self Help Forms.
But by using animation, it appeals to the masses. The main character starts the video confused and overwhelmed, but by the end of the video, all of her problems are solved!
Showing the problems that the audience will be encountering and then the solutions clearly, proves to the audience that the information they’re providing is correct.
12. Magnus Legal
A big strength of this explainer from Magnus Legal is its down to earth tone.
The transitions in this video are clever, using items that are already on the screen to start the movement onto the next scene. For example, people transform into the logo and doors open onto the next screen.
Finally the text on-screen and accompanying icons ensure all the information is portrayed clearly.
13. Solvere
One of the best things you can do to get your message across is to add humour. It’s a universal language!
That’s exactly what Solvere achieves in this legal video. We see our character take a fall down a manhole – classic slapstick stuff! We also see an angry old man scolding his rockstar neighbour for being too noisy. This is all portrayed with a simplistic but professional style of animation and accompanied by a catchy backing track.
Solvere are showing us something new and exciting in the legal industry and the tone of the video matches this.
14. LawRato
This legal video from LawRato, is a little different to your average app demo. All the screens have been recreated and stylised by an illustrator, which is a great way to go. Why? Two reasons. Firstly, it looks great – it matches the animated, highly-designed style of the rest of the video. Secondly, if the app interface is updated in the future – the video isn’t out-of-date like it would be if it used actual screenshots or screen capture footage.
The video itself looks beautiful, with a nice isometric illustration style. And the video gives us the essence of how the app works without using the actual screens.
The individual elements of the app ‘pop’ out and animate independently on screen, providing a closer look at the features. This is essentially an animated app demo video – and we really like it.
15. My Legal Adviser
In harking back to the ‘old days’ of finding a lawyer, this video starts in black and white with title slides – much like an old-fashioned, silent movie. We talk about how, in the present day, it’s easier to find solicitors than it used to be. But, because there’s so much choice – it’s hard to find a lawyer you know you can trust, at a reasonable price.
Next, we introduce My Legal Adviser as the solution here. We show the character using an illustrated version of the My Legal Adviser platform – in a ‘first person’ view. And, ultimately, we get the end result – the character succeeds in his quest of finding a lawyer. Mission accomplished!
Take your video marketing to the next level!
A great video can do amazing things for your legal business – as it certainly has for the 15 amazing examples we’ve showcased above.
If you practice law, demonstrating your services through a story, or adding a bit of humour can resonate really well with your audience.
For more great videos from other industries to inspire you, check out these 60+ awesome explainer video examples, updated for 2024.
Or to find out more about how we can craft the perfect video for you, head over to our legal video production page.
