Glad to see you again for this month’s journey into the sometimes foggy, sometimes
stormy water-world of streaming video in the legal community —
“webcasting” over the World Wide Web.
I’m convinced that streaming video can effectively communicate the character of a firm by
presenting the voices and faces of its people. Introducing a firm and emphasizing its strengths
are the goals of many law firm videos on the Internet today. Variously called a vision statement,
a web site ‘Welcome Message,’ or ‘Meet the Firm,’ examples of the
video firm overview can be seen at several law firm web sites, including these mentioned in
previous columns:
This month, we examine an excellent example of the streaming video frontispiece from a firm
with an unusually rich history.
WHAT’S ON TONIGHT?
Coudert Brothers LLP — with 650 lawyers in 18 countries — celebrates its 150th
anniversary with new streaming video on its web site. “As an international law firm
focused on the delivery of legal advice in cross-border matters to clients across many
jurisdictions,” honoring their historical anniversary over such an open and borderless
system as the Internet seems only fitting.
The firm “pioneered the practice of commercial law for the international
community,” according to their web site. And they’ve been doing it for 150 years!
An anniversary worth celebrating, and so they are, at ...
“Coudert Brothers LLP”
![[play
button]](aw_images/playbttn.gif)
http://www.Coudert.com
“Coudert Brothers at 150" is the title of a pleasant 11-minute documentary, complete with
enough fast cuts, archival footage, and daguerreotype portraits to make Ken Burns proud.
Media player required: RealPlayer. Two speeds are supported for streaming: dial-up (56K) and
broadband. The video may also be downloaded in Windows Media Player or RealPlayer format.
HISTORY
Sparked by David Huebner, Chairman of Coudert Brothers, the firm commissioned a
documentary video to “draw the relevance of the 150-year history to what it means to
clients today.... Coudert believes that the cultural values embodied by the firm throughout its
history ... are important to how Coudert lawyers practice today. These qualities include
resourcefulness, expertise across multiple jurisdictions and a spirit of innovation that always
pushes the envelope to look for the next opportunity.”
GOALS
A spokesman points out that “A key audience was Coudert’s own
employees.” Much business writing is devoted to corporate culture; the anniversary video
was seen as an excellent opportunity to highlight the firm’s “record of landmark
achievements in global affairs.” According to a spokesman, this includes “acting as
mediator between governments in both World Wars, paving the way for the Panama Canal,
ensuring the Statue of Liberty was situated in New York Harbor and serving as advisors and
ambassadors to the highest levels of government, including various U.S. presidents.” Add
to that “Coudert's being the first foreign law firm to open offices in Paris (1879), London
(1960), China (1979) and Russia (1988),” and one realizes this firm does indeed have a lot
of history to talk about.
In my opinion, emphasis of the historical role the firm has played worldwide is likely to payoff
significantly in the long-term through improvement in loyalty to the firm, average length of
employment, and the ability and motivation of everyone who’s seen the video to
‘sell’ the firm to prospective clients and new hires. By reinforcing the sense of
unity throughout the firm’s offices (dispersed through 18 countries), the video may
actually help reduce the potential for internal strife and make the firms 29 offices more efficiently
managed.
MARKETING INTEGRATION
The 150th anniversary video is not just a shot in the dark, empty void of cyberspace. Each of the
firm’s 29 offices hosted a 150th anniversary celebration, to which clients and the business
community were invited, including festivities at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the
Courtland Institute Gallery in London, the Shanghai American Club in China, and the
Jacquemart Andre Museum in Paris. The video was shown at the celebrations and also copies
were made available in DVD, CD, and videocassette formats.
CHALLENGES
A technical challenge popped up when they “noticed that the geographical location of
users was playing a role in the usability of the video.” Distance from an Internet hub is a
common cause of degradation of playing speed and visual quality. “To alleviate this
challenge, we decided to host the video on both our website server in Australia and in the
U.S.”
FEEDBACK
“Clients responded very well.... The webcast provides another dimension of the firm and
of Coudert’s culture, which clients have told us they appreciate knowing.”
PROBLEMS
The webcast for 56K dial-up was encoded at 51K, too fast for real life — I don’t
think I’ve ever achieved faster than 50K with a 56K modem. (In fact, FCC regulations
limit maximum telephone modem speed to 53K.) As low as 29 to 35Kbps is recommended as a
real-world compromise.
Unreadable legends and credits make it obvious that this video was not originally intended for
the small screen.
ADVICE TO OTHER LAW FIRMS
This example proves the value of historical documentation. Coudert is “increasingly
focused on the importance of centralizing archival materials.” To exploit your
past, you should also devote appropriate efforts to document important events and archive
visual (and aural) artifacts of your firm’s history.
EMPHASIZE STRENGTHS
Longevity of 150 years is certainly something to brag about. By using a modern lens to focus on
their past, Coudert emphasizes the firm’s history, stirring feelings of stability and
reliability — key marketing attributes that money can’t buy.
Too many webcasts, not enough time.
If you see streaming audio or video you
think would be of interest to our readers, please
URL and description.
Has your firm produced a webcast? We want the details!
If you'd like a clickable list of the web addresses from this and past columns,
![[American Webcast logo]](aw_images/banner.gif)