The LexisNexis-owned Martindale-Hubbell law directory announced this week that it is adding law firm videos to its martindale.com online legal directory and its lawyers.com legal-consumer site. One of the first examples is featured on the lawyers.com listing for the Newtown, Penn., firm Kardos, Rickles, Bidlingmaier & Bidlingmaier, and also appears on the firm’s Web site. The video is similar in format to one that might be found on the video-sharing site YouTube, but without the ability to embed the video elsewhere or link to it directly.

It appears from the announcement that law firms opting for videos must use Martindale’s “video solutions” provider, a company by the name of TurnHere Inc. The announcement says that various pricing packages are available, depending on the location and duration of the shoot. Allowing law firms to add videos to their profiles is a good idea, but I do not understand why it would lock law firms into a specific production company.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.