Settlement Video series: When to start planning for it

Simple, just before the initial interview with a potential client.
I missed a chance to save my client thousands and get some irresistible footage because they let family members go back to Asia without getting them on tape.
Several months earlier, another client had me shoot a second look at their plaintiff in rehab and I caught some crucial evidence of progress. It changed her advocacy theory.
Still another client used video, that he'd ordered prospectively, in a discovery dep where photos just wouldn't have made his point.
Make your media case plan a natural part of your intake interview. Maybe the busy litigator doesn't have to ask about family photos and home video. Your assistant or your summer intern could go over that. But someone needs to tell the plaintiff to hang on to photos, don't erase those memory cards, don't let the basement flood the boxes of wedding photos where the plaintiff looks winsome and healthy, don't let the local network affiliate lose the footage of the wreck.
It's going to be a while before discovery deps; maybe you want to get fresh recollections, with fresh emotions, on tape.

On my other website, Modern-Media.com, look at the outline for a media case plan. (Yes, I have another website. I hope you don't feel that somehow cheapens what we're sharing here.)
Modern Media: Media Case Plan

The media case plan covers the gamut of litigation media, but is perfectly on point for settlement video.
It's never too early to plan, though I would swear on a more-likely-than-not basis, that it can sometimes be too late.

Settlement Video series: When to use it

My clients have used my work in several ways during pre-trial, most often profitably. (I've been lucky to work with bright, skilled attorneys.)
You have a good case but you're not getting any movement out of the defense. Several times client attorneys have said they're not even getting responses to plaintiff offers. A perfect time to send them a scary video. See how lovable the plaintiff is on video, how credible, how deserving they seem? Perhaps you didn't consider this factor, Mr. Defense, Esq.

Or, you have some kind of settlement event coming up -- a deadline, a settlement conference, mediation, or something to hang a press release on. Might be just the moment to unsettle the defense and make them consider the strength of your case.

Or, something new has come to light. It doesn't warrant re-opening discovery but you want the defense to consider it. If you send them video, I promise they'll watch it.

Next: When to start planning for settlement video.