Settlement video is part of a settlement brochure. It can be a day in the life or a heart-wrenching testimonial to a now-blighted life.
If your video is going to court, it's restricted by the rules of evidence and the wishes of whatever judge you drew to try your case.
Video for settlement has neither of those constraints.
Granted, your audience is going to be flinty defense counsel and gimlet-eyed adjusters who've seen everything. But even professionals, who assure themselves that this inflammatory stuff will never get admitted, are not entirely rational. And that's part of the edge that settlement video can give you.
Maybe my most powerful settlement video was my first one. The plaintiffs had a newborn who should have been healthy but obstetrical mistakes gave her a short, painful life. My clients had video and photographs of the likable parents getting ready for their first child. The nursery was ready, there was a "Welcome Home" sign outside. I had home video of the baby in the NICU, with life support tubes, being rocked by her mom, while mom sang "Jesus Loves You" and "Que Sera, Sera".
The video I made with this made me cry. It made almost the whole small law firm I made it for cry. For all I know, the defense cried too, because they settled right away when they got it with my client's increased demand.
The video would never be admitted in court, but it showed the devastating emotional power of the case in way that was impervious to rational resistance.
Settlement video can lay out the facts and theory of a case, the logos, and/or succeed with pathos.
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