Editorial review: Lana Oliver Productions reviewed and replaced the inherited article on July 26, 2026.
Quick answer: A Louisiana law firm usually needs three video formats: a firm or attorney introduction, educational answers to common client questions, and carefully reviewed client stories or case examples. Every script should be accurate, understandable, accessible, and reviewed under the current Louisiana lawyer-advertising rules before publication.
Which law firm videos should you produce first?
| Format | Question it answers | Best next action | Main review risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm or attorney introduction | Who would I be working with? | Review the relevant practice area or request a consultation | Unsupported expertise, comparison, or result language |
| Educational FAQ or process video | What should I understand before I call? | Read the approved resource or contact the firm | Outdated law, overbroad advice, or missing jurisdictional limits |
| Client story or case example | What was one client’s experience? | Explore the relevant service | Confidentiality, authorization, past-result implications, and dramatization |
Start with the question prospective clients repeatedly ask at intake. One clear answer is more useful than a general brand film that tries to cover every practice area, attorney, office, award, and outcome.
1. Introduce the people and the client experience
A useful introduction video explains who the firm serves, what the first conversation is like, which office or service area is relevant, and what a prospective client should prepare. It should sound like the attorneys, not a collection of superlatives.
Build the interview around facts the firm can verify:
- the attorney’s role, admissions, background, and practice focus;
- how intake, communication, and case review actually work;
- the communities and jurisdictions the firm is authorized to serve;
- language access, disability accommodations, office access, or remote options that are genuinely available; and
- a next step that does not promise acceptance, timing, or results.
Avoid unsupported “best,” “leading,” “specialist,” “expert,” or comparative language. Awards, ratings, credentials, and experience claims should be current, material, and capable of documentation.
2. Answer a real legal-process question
Educational video can reduce confusion without turning a general marketing page into individual legal advice. Choose a narrow topic, name the jurisdiction and review date, distinguish common process from case-specific decisions, and have the responsible attorney approve the final script.
A dependable outline is:
- Question: Use the phrase a prospective client would actually ask.
- General context: Explain the issue in plain language.
- What varies: Identify facts, deadlines, courts, agencies, or jurisdictions that can change the answer.
- Practical preparation: Describe documents or information a person may need for a consultation.
- Limit: State that the video is general information and is not legal advice for a specific matter.
- Action: Link to an attorney-reviewed page or the firm’s contact process.
Put the review date on the page. Legal information can become inaccurate after a statute, rule, deadline, agency process, or court interpretation changes.
3. Use client stories only with documented approval
A client story can explain the experience of working with a firm, but it creates more than a production-release question. The firm should address confidentiality, privilege, informed authorization, advertising review, any payment or benefit, the accuracy of the story, and whether a result could imply what another client should expect.
Do not manufacture a composite client and present that person as real. If an actor, recreation, stock scene, or dramatization is used, the firm should determine the disclosure required by the applicable rules. Past results need context and cannot become a promise.
Louisiana lawyer-advertising review belongs in pre-production
The Louisiana State Bar Association’s current advertising materials point lawyers to Rules 7.1 through 7.10. The rules address misleading communications, permissible content, testimonials and portrayals, required information, and filing or evaluation requirements for certain advertisements. The LSBA also warns that an advertisement can be exempt from filing and still remain subject to the substantive rules.
Treat compliance as a firm-controlled approval gate. Before a paid, public, or targeted video is distributed, the lawyer responsible for the advertisement should determine which current rules and filing requirements apply. A production company can maintain the review trail, but it cannot make the firm’s legal or ethics decision.
Pre-publication checklist
- Identify the lawyer responsible for final advertising approval.
- Verify every name, title, admission, credential, award, office, service area, and factual statement.
- Remove promises, guarantees, unsubstantiated comparisons, and implications of improper influence.
- Document permission and the underlying evidence for testimonials, endorsements, and past results.
- Label actors, dramatizations, stock scenes, or non-client portrayals when required.
- Confirm the firm name, office location, disclaimers, and other required information.
- Determine whether the advertisement must be filed or evaluated before use.
- Approve the exact final cut, captions, thumbnail, headline, description, landing page, and paid-ad copy.
- Archive the approval, release, evidence, publication date, placements, and final media.
Make the video accessible and useful without sound
Plan edited captions, readable on-screen text, adequate contrast, and enough display time for names and disclaimers. The W3C explains that captions represent speech and meaningful audio for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and also help viewers in quiet, noisy, mobile, or multilingual situations. Review automated captions carefully for attorney names, legal terms, dates, and jurisdictions.
Measure the intended action without promising leads
Video does not guarantee consultations, signed matters, rankings, or revenue. Match measurement to the video’s purpose: qualified contact requests for a practice-area explainer, completed attorney-profile visits for an introduction, or use in intake and referral follow-up. Record the baseline, distribution, review window, and other campaigns that may affect the outcome.
Views and watch time describe attention. They do not prove that the video caused a person to hire the firm or establish that the content complies with professional rules.
Law firm video questions
Does every Louisiana law firm video need to be filed?
No single answer applies to every communication. The LSBA identifies exemptions, but exempt does not automatically mean compliant. The responsible lawyer should review the exact content, placement, audience, and current Rules 7.1–7.10.
Can we say an attorney is an expert?
Do not use the term casually. Verify whether the statement is permitted, what certification or factual basis supports it, and what disclosure is required under the current rules.
Can a client testimonial discuss a settlement or verdict?
Only after the firm addresses confidentiality, authorization, accuracy, context, past-result implications, and applicable disclosures. A specific outcome must not be framed as a guarantee of future results.
Plan a Louisiana law firm video series
Lana Oliver Productions can help organize interviews, locations, filming, editing, captions, versions, and the approval trail around a firm-controlled content plan. The law firm remains responsible for legal advice, professional-conduct compliance, filing decisions, and final publication approval.
Explore law firm video production, review testimonial and educational video services, or schedule a planning conversation.
Primary sources
- Louisiana State Bar Association: Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyer advertising
- Louisiana State Bar Association: lawyer advertising resources
- Federal Trade Commission: Advertising FAQs for small businesses
- W3C WAI: making audio and video media accessible
Reviewed July 26, 2026. This production guide is general information, not legal or ethics advice. The responsible lawyer should review current rules and the final advertisement.
