SDMB Lawyers: Please critique this page.

In My Humble Opinion
1

As you may know, I’m involved in a local video studio. We shoot weddings, and commercial and instruction videos. We’ve also shot some demonstration videos that are used in lawsuits, and we went out live on FOX News when we covered a breaking story last July. We’re shooting a feature film. Since I’m starting to become more involved in the business than just being a shooter, I’m trying to find ways of drumming up more business. Videotaping legal depositions seems like a good opportunity.

So I’ve made this mock-up page. Note that this is not on the business’s website, but on my own personal website. If you would please critique it, I’ll make suitable changes before we ‘go live’ on the company website. (A non-lawyer, non-legal field friend says that it’s ‘too Hollywood, too dramatic’ and that lawyers would prefer something more to-the-point.)

Based on your experience with video depositions and other legal videos, does the page appeal to you?

Would you use our services based on what you see?

What do you think of the pricing?

Are there any services listed that you would not use? If so, which and why?

Are there any services not listed that you would like to see?

Do you like the descriptions? If not, in what manner would you like to see them changed?

Thanks for the help.

2

As a website designer, I like it. Short and to the point, and it doesn’t look cheesy. Could use a “punch the monkey” gif at the top though. :stuck_out_tongue:

NAL, but thought I’d add my 2 cents.

3

I don’t care for the phrase “We can bring our full forces to bear” because it’s cliche.

Looks OK though.

4

IANAL but you misspelled “Documentaries” as “Documantaries” in the last paragraph, first sentence.

Just FYI - no malicious intent intended.

  • Peter Wiggen
5

White text on a black background makes you look extremely amaturish in my humble opinion.

6

Sorry, but I wouldn’t hire you. Videotaped depos (or deps, as they call them on the other coast) are a fair part of what I do. Generally, I like to hire a videographer through my court reporting service. I can get a bit of a break on price that way, because I’m hiring a court reporter and a videographer with bundled services. On the off-chance that I’m simply odd that way, here are a couple of other thoughts:

The 60 minute tapes that provide a convenient break are a terrible idea. Changing a tape is a five minute procedure or so, which means that in a normal day’s deposition, you’re adding several breaks into it that I don’t need. Yes, it’s a minor point, but you’re telling me I’ll have to break about every hour. My breaks usually come about every hour and a half to two hours.

So what, you think. Why does the timing of breaks matter? First of all, if we take a “short” break to change the tape, people scatter. Go for coffee, use the restroom, check voice mail. Next thing you know, it’s been 15 minutes. That really cuts into your day (particularly if I have to pay overtime after 5, or if opposing counsel is being a snot and plans to walk out with his witness at 5 on the dot). More importantly, though, is that if I’m deep into a line of questioning, I don’t want to stop to give the witness a break in the hallway where he can be schooled by his lawyer to change his testimony. So the tapes are a problem.

I also prefer DVDs to tapes. I want them synchronized to the testimony on the transcript. I want a discount if I buy more services.

You also need to note whether your video camera operator will meet your state’s requirements for videotaping a deposition. In California, at a minimum, he needs to be a notary.

You may be best off marketing your services to court reporting services, rather than directly to attorneys. If I can go one place and get all the services I need, I’m likely to do that, rather than shopping around piecemeal for what needs doing.

7

Hey, that’s why it’s not live yet! :wink: Thanks.

I’ll try it reversed later.

Campion: Thank you for your input. I originally wanted to include a DVD, but my partner said that we’d lose money because of the time it takes to upload and copy. I’ll revisit this.

As for the 60-minute tapes. That’s how long the tapes are. There is no ‘extended play’ mode on our cameras, as there is on some consumer cameras. Changing tapes does not take five minutes. It takes less than one minute.

In the past, before I joined the company, the studio was on a list of videographers that was maintained by a company that provides them to lawyers. I think this is a good way to go. But we need to have something out there for ‘drop-ins’ as well.

My partner mentioned the text synchronisation. We will be researching that.

Again, thanks for your input.

8

Would it be possible to run two cameras with staggered start times so that one is operating during the tape change of the other? Perhaps offer that at an additional cost?

9

I’d be very wary of such a procedure. Which one is the right camera? I’d never let a client of mine testify under two cameras.

Johnny, I agree with Campion that the tape duration is a problem. It may be a problem you can’t fix, but it doesn’t matter if you can change a tape in three seconds. When you break the action, everybody gets up to take a leak.

–Cliffy