Technola : Public Interest Law & Technology Updates & Commentary : Matthew Burnett & Kate Bladow : Tech Advice for the Non-Profit Legal Sector

Last week, LSNTAP's Brian Rowe posted an article about videos that use visuals. In it, he pointed to Ignite as an example and encouraged everyone to attend a local Ignite event.

I wholeheartedly second his suggestion and want to encourage you to take it a step further. If your city doesn't have it's own Ignite event, be the one in your community to start it. With the help of O'Reilly's guide and some planning, it's not difficult and is an excellent way to bring your community together to discuss interesting ideas and, possibly, raise a little money for a good cause. 

For example, Ignite for a Better Baltimore was recently held to bring together Baltimore's social enterprise community and featured 16 speakers who are working to change the community for the better. Money received from ticket sales will fund an Ignition Grant. Videos from this event are available online.

(I'll admit I'm horribly biased about the Ignite for a Better Baltimore event. Together with Alex Rinsler and the support of Mike Subelsky and Heather Sarkissian, the people behind Ignite Baltimore, I helped coordinate this event.)

Skeptical about starting up an Ignite event or need a few ideas? What about having an Ignite event at a bar association conference and invite people to speak about their pro bono practice? Or have a training event that has family law experts talk about the law or share moments from their practice? - K 

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Nonprofit techies will be gathering in D.C. this week for the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC). If you’re planning to attend, be sure to check out “Transforming Advocacy for the 21st Century,” a panel that includes Tony Lu (Pro Bono Net), Adam Stofsky (New Media Advocacy Project), Jane Ribadeneyra (LSC), and Glenn Rawdon (LSC) on March 19 from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Kate will also be leading a session with Dawn Crawford called “Beginner Social Media - Where Do I Start?” on March 18th from 7:00am to 8:00am. More information about the NTC, including details about the online conference for those that can’t make it to D.C., is available here. - M

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Two last resources to wrap up my online video series:

• Using Video as a Marketing Strategy: Dos and Don't for DIY Lawyers The ABA Law Practice Magazine put together a great article that covers what you should and should not do when creating a video.
• Free Toolkit: The 17 Essential Tools You Need To Produce Your Own Videos Reel Social Media created a toolkit for people who want to put together videos but don't have much of a budget.

That's all I have to say about online videos, at least for now. If you have anything you'd like to say, you can say it in the comments below.

And if you haven't read the other posts in this series, check them out: Creating Videos for Your Nonprofit Website, Are Legal Aid Programs Posting Videos Online?, and The 8 Types of Videos Programs Post Online. - K

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In mid-August, I published tips for creating videos for your nonprofit website and looked at which legal aid programs are posting videos online. After watching many of the posted videos, I've found that they can be classified into 8 types.

1. Organization Introductions

Most organizations have created videos that describe their work and why it's important. For example:

• Legal Aid 2.0: Legal Help is Just a Click Away (Illinois Legal Aid Online)
• Legal Services of Northern California
• Bet Tzedek Is . . .

This is a challenging type of video to create. They need to be short, relevant, and visually interesting. Tell specific stories about your achievements. If you are looking for ideas, check out these award-winning videos: EcoViva, Darius Goes West, I Am the Wooden Floor, Join the Fight, and What Kind of Planet Are We On?

2. Client Stories

These videos focus on one client's story and discuss how his or her problem was resolved. For example:

• Leah (Montana Legal Services Association)
• TRLA TV - Texas Foster Youth Justice Project
• Brenden's Story (Arkansas Access to Justice Commission)

Typically, these videos feature the client and his or her attorney. Again, they need to be short, relevant, and visually interesting.

3. Volunteer Recruitment and Recognition

Especially around the National Pro Bono Celebration, organizations post videos to recognize their volunteers' efforts and recruit more volunteers. But, as Illinois Legal Aid Online demonstrates, these videos can also be used through out the year to encourage participation. For example:

• Volunteer of the Month (Illinois Legal Aid Online)
• One Promise (Florida Legal Services, Inc.)
• Arthur Miller/Pro bono (Thomson Reuters)


4. Law Student Recruitment

These videos focus on what law students and recent graduates can expect if they work for an organization. For example:

• TRLA TV's Law Clerk Chronicles: Meet Eric
• Class Reps 2010 Mt Rushmore (Equal Justice Works)

Not many programs create this type of video. Equal Justice Works is the leader in this area and has a library of videos that they use for recruitment. (It's also a terrific place to find ideas for innovative projects.)

5. Legal Information

Organizations have started using online videos to provide legal information. For example: 

• Downtown Community Court Videos (Justice Education Society)
• Debt Collection -- Part 1: What Debt Collectors Cannot Do (Arkansas Legal Services Partnership)
• Pro Se Court at the Daley Center: Filing a Complaint (Illinois Legal Aid Online)

In the near future, I expect to see organizations post many more videos that walk people through how to resolve all or part of a legal problem.

6. Issue Education and Advocacy
   

This type of video helps people understand how an issue affects a community. For example:

• Conviction, Deportation, and Family Separation (The Society Pages)
• Mississippi Center for Justice - Payday Lending

Programs that are not funded by the Legal Services Corporation are more likely to create this type of video.

7. Tributes

These videos honor one person or a group of people. For example:

• A Tribute to Shelley Davis, farmworker lawyer (1952-2008) (FarmworkerJustice)


8. News and Events

Quite a few programs are posting videos of conferences sessions, award ceremonies, and other events, so that people who couldn't attend can see them later. For example:

• Alter Rules of Professional Conduct to Permit Non-Lawyers to Help Meet Unmet Legal Needs, Says Laurence Tribe (American Bar Association)
• Illinois Legal Aid Online's Jill Becker receives CBF 2009 Chicago Sun-Times Fellowship
• Sam Donaldson for Legal Aid Bureau in MD (Maryland Legal Aid Bureau)

Those are the 8 types of videos that programs are posting online. But there are a few types of videos that I didn't see and would like to.

• Remixes and Mash Ups
  NTEN community members help fund scholarships for the Nonprofit Technology Conference. To motivate them, NTEN staff promise a reward if the community donates a certain amount. For the past two years, the reward has been video remixes of memes featuring NTEN staff and community members. For example: NTEN Community Rhapsody and Put a Ring On It - NTC Scholarship. The key is picking the right meme and the right situation. (Perhaps it's autotuning the NLADA Annual Training keynote? Then again, maybe not.)
• Interviews
  Mark Horvath is using video to make people aware of homelessness. He's posting unscripted interviews with people who are homeless at InvisiblePeople.tv. Unlike client stories, these stories may or may not have happy endings. Two great examples from Mark's many videos: Darryl and Jean and her children. Could the community use this technique to remind the public, funders, law makers, and others that their neighbors, friends, families, and supporters need legal help, too?
• Responses to Current Events
  Robert Egger, founder and president DC Central Kitchen, was very upset by Rush Limbaugh's characterization of nonprofits and their employees, so he used video to respond promptly and with a very strong message. (Please note that this video contains potentially offensive material.) While I'm not suggesting organizations should word their message as strongly as Robert Egger, perhaps your organization could respond creatively to currents with video.

So are organizations creating other videos? Are there other types that organizations should consider creating? Speak up using the comments below. - K

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Yes. Legal aid programs are posting a lot of video online. In fact, after scouring YouTube and Vimeo, I found that 65 legal aid programs had posted almost 600 videos. The table below shows a break down by funding source.

If you'd like to see the videos that programs have posted, a list should be available shortly on LSNTAP as an update to Eva's previous post about legal aid programs on YouTube.

Did I find and count all of the access-to-justice videos on YouTube and Vimeo? No. I saw several videos about pro bono legal services posted by bar associations and law firms that I didn't count. (For an unfiltered list of these videos, search "pro bono" on YouTube or "pro bono" legal on Vimeo.)

Are these even all of the videos posted by legal aid programs? Probably not. YouTube and Vimeo are easy to search and look through, but not all legal aid programs have made their videos easy to find and identify as videos from a legal aid program. For example:

• I searched for all of the LSC-funded programs using their names. If the organization didn't include its name in its profile, their videos wouldn't appear in these search results.
• I searched the terms "legal aid," "pro bono," "legal services," "access to justice," and a few other variations. If these terms weren't in an organization's profile, their videos wouldn't be in these search results.
• I looked at who organizations were connected to. For example, Atlanta Legal Aid Society has "friended," or connected to, five other legal aid organizations, which makes them easier to find. If you haven't friended or been friended by any other legal aid programs, I wouldn't have found your videos this way.

So what can you do to make your videos easier to find?

• Create an account for your organization. Don't have a staff member post your videos under his or her account.
• Fill out your profile. Include your organization's name, logo, a brief description, your website's address, and your city and state.
• Name and describe your videos clearly so that people know what they are about.

When writing video names and descriptions, think carefully about what words people will use to search for your videos and include those words. For example, if you are posting a video about filing an answer pro se, you would probably want to include the words "court" and "without a lawyer" in the description for the video.

If you want to replicate a profile that is easy to find and nicely set up, I recommend checking out one of these examples:

• Equal Justice Works (YouTube)
• Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (YouTube)
• Legal Aid Association of California(Vimeo)
• Legal Aid Society of Louisville (Vimeo)

I also suggest looking at two additional resources:  DIOSA Communication's YouTube Best Practices and See3 Communication's "YouTube for Nonprofits" webinar. You'll find additional tips, including information about the YouTube Nonprofit Partner program, which provides free benefits for nonprofits.

Now it's your turn. Are you one of the programs posting video online? What tips and tricks do you have for setting up your profile? Tell us in the comments. - K

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On Tuesday, Illinois Legal Aid Online's Multimedia Content Coordinator, Susan Muirhead, talked about how ILAO uses video on its websites in the "Showcase of Statewide Website Innovations" webinar hosted by LSNTAP and Pro Bono Net. A talented videographer, she has created several videos for ILAO, including "LiveHelp Expands Access to Justice" and "Legal Aid 2.0: Legal Help Is Just a Click Away."

As Susan described the videos and her process, she shared several tips. Four that stuck with me:

• Create a script first.
• Don't cram too much in. (ILAO's videos are usually 2 to 4 minutes in length.)
• Vary your clips. People don't like to watch talking heads for long.
• Use your videos to support other website content instead of using them as standalone resources.

The webinar was recorded, so you can go back and listen to Susan's entire presentation when it's posted. But if you can't wait until then to hear all of her tips or you need more background information to put your video together, I found a few other resources.

• The Bay Area Video Coalition has a YouthLink Curriculum that outlines basic filmmaking concepts, pre-production, production, post-production, and advanced production skills.
• Nancy Schwartz reflects on creating her first video and, based on her experience, gives nine suggestions for others who are new to creating videos.
• See3, an "interactive media and marketing firm for nonprofits," has created a Guide to Online Video, an introductory series. You should also check out their Frequently Asked Questions About Video page, their blog post on 5 Questions to Evaluate Your Nonprofit Video ROI, and their session hosted by the Case Foundation, Case Soup Video Recap: How to make award worthy nonprofit videos.

If you've already created a video or two, what resources have helped you and have made the process easier? Are there any tips that you'd like to share? - K

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Sonia Nazario, who's spent 20 years examining and reporting on social issues like hunger, drug addiction, and immigration, opened the 2010 Equal Justice Conference. In an emotional speech, she explained the difficulties faced by children immigrating to the United States to join their parents and her experiences on El Tren de la Muerta (the train of death) as she traced their journey. For those who couldn't attend in person, the ABA streamed this session live and have posted a recording online. Also available is a short interview with Ms. Narazio about Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that represents immigrant children, who otherwise would have to negotiate the US immigration system alone.

A side note: As you listen to the beginning of Ms. Nazario's session, several people will refer to protesters. While it's likely not a surprise that the ABA's decision to continue holding the Equal Justice Conference in Arizona was controversial, you may be surprised to hear that on Thursday local advocates protested the ABA's decision. azfamily.com has a short segment on the protesters as well as a quick shot of their song and dance. Was anyone at the conference able to capture the whole song? I couldn't find a recording on either Vimeo or YouTube. - K

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Yesterday, April 18, marked the start of National Volunteer Week, a national celebration of people who are volunteering and improving their communities. Thousands of projects and special events have been scheduled to recognize existing volunteers and encourage others to become involved. This year marks the thirty-sixth National Volunteer Week, an event that was established by former President Richard Nixon in 1974 and is sponsored by Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network.

As this week progresses, I suspect that you'll see communities leveraging technology to promote volunteerism and events for volunteers. Already few examples exist:

• Blogging: The Case Foundation summarized the history of service in the US on its blog. And in our own community, Pro Bono Net has invited guests to blog about pro bono legal services on their Martindale-Hubbell Connected group. The first post "An Opportunity to Serve Those Who Serve Us" from Jason Vail of the ABA Military Pro Bono Project is also posted on Pro Bono Net's website. 
• Videos: Chapters of the HandsOn Network, the American Cancer Society, and the American Red Cross created videos to thank their volunteers. HandsOn Network also put together a video to promote National Volunteer Week.

If this celebration makes you want to get involved, check out the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide for local legal aid organizations and pro bono programs that need help. Other non-legal opportunities are listed on the HandsOn Network website.

Are you doing anything to celebrate your volunteers this week? If so, what? Let us know below. - K

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For over 10 years, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have partnered to teach community education classes covering several areas of law for the public. In order to extend their reach, the law school and legal aid program collaborated with their local PBS affiliate Vegas PBS to record one of their bankruptcy classes. Now this class is available to everyone on YouTube in seven short segments. - K

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You've heard the term "cloud computing," but do you know what that means? Wikipedia tells us that

Cloud computing is Internet- ("cloud-") based development and use of computer technology ("computing").[1] In concept, it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.[2] It typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet.

All clear now? No? Then check out Common Craft's Cloud Computing in Plain English video. Like their other work, they break the idea down and make it much easier to understand.

If, once you're done watching the video, you want to learn more, here are a few additional resources:

• Cloud Computing for Mobile Lawyers - Law.com
• My Hub is The Cloud - Gin & Tech Tonics
• Cloud computing and taming the desktop - Idealware
• A Map To Better Understand The Cloud Ecosystem...And The Hype - ReadWrite Enterprise
• The Cloud Isn't Safe?! (Or Did Black Hat Just Scare Us?) - ReadWriteWeb

And for those of you who want to read more about the legal issues involved, a set of posts from the Information Law Group:

• Legal Implications of Cloud Computing — Part One (the Basics and Framing the Issues)
• Legal Implications of Cloud Computing -- Part Two (Privacy and the Cloud)
• Legal Implications of Cloud Computing -- Part Three (Relationships in the Cloud)

Hope these resources help clear things up. - K

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Students in Penn Law School’s Program on Documentaries and the Law have created a series of videos on legal issues impacting immigrants, including notario fraud and the process of hiring and working with a lawyer. The videos are presented in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Fuzhou. –M [Thanks, Will!]

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Yesterday in my post "Thanking the Lawyers Who Go Above and Beyond: National Pro Bono Celebration 2009," I mentioned the message of National Pro Bono Celebration--recognizing volunteers who help increase access to justice and encouraging more legal professionals to participate. (Or in the words of the Montana Justice Foundation: "Recognize, Recruit, Mobilize!")

What I didn't know was that the medium that organizations would be using to deliver this message would be video. (Okay, so I had a hint when I highlighted Maryland's video, but I didn't know how popular video would be.) At least six states have posted videos praising lawyers who provide free legal services and encouraging others to get involved:

• Alabama: Alabama State Bar Pro Bono Week Message
• Arkansas: Perspectives on Pro Bono
• Florida: One Promise Florida
• Illinois: CBA/CBF Pro Bono Week 2009 Kick Off Video with Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke
• Maryland: National Pro Bono Week 2009
• Ohio: Pro Bono Celebration

All are nice examples of how video can be used to promote an event and a cause.

So, am I missing any? Let me know in the comments. - K

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Even the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court Appeals is involved in the National Pro Bono Celebration. He's part of a short video that talks about how providing pro bono legal services is important to ensuring justice. My favorite part, hearing from a lawyer about how he started providing pro bono legal services, starts about 4 minutes in.

For those who don't recognize the city landscapes, they are from around the University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore. - K

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Common Craft, a company that creates short videos to explain technical and non-technical topics, has released SharePoint in Plain English. Since I've never heard SharePoint mentioned in a presentation without someone in the audience getting a quizzical look on his or her face, I'm excited to see Common Craft cover this software. (For those that currently have that quizzical look, SharePoint is Microsoft's enterprise collaboration tool.)

If you enjoy this video, you should check out the others that I've mentioned before on Technola: What's Under the Hood?; How Not to End Up on a Phisher's Hook; Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards; and Advocacy, Technology and Elections. - K

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Recognizing that nonprofits have integrated teleconferences, videoconferences, and webinars into their daily routine,  The Goodman Center, which helps nonprofit organizations improve their communications with funders, stakeholders, and the public, surveyed the community to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about these events. The result: Dialing In, Logging On, Nodding Off: The True Costs of Teleconferences, Videoconferences and Webinars, a report that suggests the nonprofit community has a lot of not-so-good meetings, trainings, and conferences.

The Goodman Center is sponsoring a webinar on July 17, 2009 to review the results of their report. Registration information is available on The Goodman Center's website. - K

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This video, which features a client of Montana Legal Services Association telling the story of how a MLSA attorney, Amy Hall, helped keep her and her children safe from abuse is a great example of the effective use of video by a legal services organization. It's simple, straightforward and powerful.  To learn more about how your organization can use video to support your work, see Sharing Your Story Social Media Style, part of the We Are Media Project by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). -M

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Equal Justice Works, an organization mobilizing the next generation of public interest lawyers, just launched a YouTube Channel. This channel features several videos, including short spots where Equal Justice Works Fellows describe their projects. Take a few minutes to watch. The variety of programs and areas that they represent is amazing. - K

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Internet for Everyone has just released a new report, Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America, which uses multimedia and storytelling to highlight the urban digital divide. -M

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YouTube now lets nonprofit organizations that are part of its Nonprofit Program include a call-to-action on their videos, like the one seen in the image from the charity: water video below. (Full video available on YouTube.)

Example of YouTube Call To Action

This tool lets nonprofits ask people to act on what they are seeing, such as asking them to make a donation. Both idealist.org's post "YouTube's New 'Call to Action'" and Frogloop's post "YouTube Adds Call To Action Tool For Nonprofit Videos" discuss using this tool for fundraising.

However, this tool may have other interesting applications for legal aid and pro bono programs. For instance, in the video "Filing a Pro Se Answer to a Lawsuit," Arkansas Legal Services Partnership could point people to additional legal information, send them to an online application for legal aid, or direct them to online automated documents that help them fill out the answer. Alternatively, a pro bono program might use the tool to recruit new volunteer attorneys. For example, videos, like this video from Weil Gotshal Pro Bono Program, could include a link to the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide.

Is your program one of the many legal aid programs on YouTube? Are you using a call to action yet? If so, how are you using it and what do you think of it so far?  - K

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Just a quick post to point out that Common Craft has posted another technology-related video. This time they cover Computer Software in Plain English. More information about Common Craft is available in these previous posts: What's Under the Hood? and Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards. - K

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M & R Strategic Services published a case study of Oxfam International's end-of-the-year online fundraising campaign: Weak Economy, Strong Campaign. While Oxfam's resources, even in lean years, are more than the typical legal aid organization, this case study outlines some best practices that organizations of any size can use in their fundraising campaigns.

• Focus on one major problem to let people know why they need to give to your organization now. This is different than reminding the community that your organization is a worthy cause. Your potential donors need to know why to support your organization instead of the many other worthy organizations that are also asking for money.
• Let people know what will happen if they don't give. Oxfam included language in their appeal that said, "If we don’t hit our goal, programs may be scaled back." Legal aid organizations are already scaling back. When you ask people for money, tell them that if they don't give, more programs may be scaled back, and how many more low-income individuals may not have access to lawyers.
• Test various messages to see which works best. Instead of just guessing what language will convince people to donate, test it and see what language actually works. (This is often called "split testing" or "A/B testing." ) You may be surprised.
• Start planning your campaign now. Don't wait until just before it needs to be implemented.
• Use a short video to appeal to emotion. According to M & R, "Make me laugh, make me cry, or go home."

For me, the most important point that this case study makes is "ask." Your donors are out there. You need to remind them why your organization is important and then ask for their help. - K

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Webcasts from the 2009 LSC Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) Program Conference are now available on IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org. -M

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TechSoup's Kami Griffiths will interview Colin Carpenter and Lori Pottinger from International Rivers about their flash video, "We All Live Downstream", which was chosen as runner up in the Adobe-TechSoup 2008 Show Your Impact contest. Learn about the process  for developing a flash video and how to produce a similar video for your organization. Register online here. -M

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If you weren't able to attend the Legal Services Corporation Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) conference that's taking place through Friday in Austin, TX, you can watch sessions live online thanks to Illinois Legal Aid Online (see the full schedule below).  You can also follow the conference on Twitter here. -M

Wednesday, Jan. 21:

8:30 am-9:00 am: Opening Remarks

10:45 am-12:15 pm: Project Management for Legal Services

2:00 pm-3:30 pm: Network Securities and Computer Use Policies

3:45 pm-4:45 pm: Meeting the Technology Need

Thursday, Jan. 22:

9:00 am-10:30 am: 2009 Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live

10:45 am-12:15 pm: PowerPersuasion

2:30 pm-3:45 pm: You Never Get the Disaster You Want

4:00 pm-5:00 pm: Trying to Raise Money in this Economic Environment

Friday, Jan. 23:

9:00 am-10:00 am: Tools to Engage Court Leadership

10:15 am-11:00 am: NTAP'S Interactive Support Services

11:15 am-12:00 pm: The Essentials of TIG Project Evaluations and Reports

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Earlier, I pointed out how to link to a specific page in a PDF document. Recently, Chris Brogan pointed out a similar trick for linking to a specific point in a YouTube video. You just add #t=xmys to the URL, where x is the minute and y is the second that you want to link to. For example, if you wanted to link directly to where Jennifer Baum, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, is talking about her client's case in 2008 Legal Aid Clients, the URL would be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbjG6wPmT8#t=3m9s. - K

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Yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court held a hearing on the state of legal services. In addition to a great opportunity to learn more about Texas' legal services community, this hearing was also an amazing example of how to include people who can't attend in person: Cynthia Martinez, the TRLA Communications Director, live-blogged the entire session, and the hearing was webcast live and recorded.  - K

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Illinois Legal Aid Online has just launched a wonderful new online video called Doing Justice: Stories from the Front Line of Legal Aid, which features candid interviews with front line legal aid lawyers in Illinois. More background on the project is available here. -M

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I love my right to vote! If you haven't voted yet or aren't planning on voting, stop what you are doing, go, and make me happy. (Come on, so far I've used two exclamation points in this post. That should tell you how happy it would make me.)

If you paid attention to this year's campaigns, you saw the important role that technology played, but if not, pay attention today. Technology is being used in new and exciting ways to make certain that people get to vote and help them to document their voting stories. A few examples:

• TwitterVoteReport.com: This site tracks voting experiences, including wait times. And you can even report your own experience.
• Voter Interview: Jill Foster used Utterli to interview a first-time voter about his experience, and YouTube has set up a site where you can post a video of your voting experience. (Two sites to help you create this content: NetSquared, which tells you how to use Utterli, and a link from blogdiva, which has some great tips about guerilla broadcasting with your cell phone.)
• VoterStory.org: This group is collecting voter complaints. They've created a widget that you can put on your website to help readers submit their complaints.

And I am certain that there are plenty more. Keep your eyes and ears open today, and you'll hear about them. If you do, please take a minute to highlight them in the comments below. - K

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The Center of Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University College of Law has developed a free online advocacy resource center for nonprofit and government lawyers, which provides excellent online trainings (video and slides) on pretrial, trial and appellate advocacy, as well as guest lectures and materials from conferences on topics related to trial advocacy. -M [Thanks, Mike!]

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The last time that I wrote about Common Craft I suggested that they start creating materials on "evictions, name changes, and orders of protection." Perhaps they saw that post and took my advice, because their most recent video is about phishing, a topic that states are beginning to cover on their public legal information websites. For example, check out the LawHelp/NY site, which has an entire section on Internet Fraud and includes a feed from Internet Crime Complaint Center that lists the latest Internet scams. - K

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Many of the 51 million people who have a disability don't vote. In fact, only 21 percent do. Some don't vote because they are busy, they forget, or they think that it doesn't matter - reasons why anyone might not vote. But people with disabilities can also be deterred by the fact that many polling places are inaccessible. Advocacy organizations have stepped up to ensure that this population has the right to vote, both in theory and in practice. Check out voting resources available from the National Disability Rights Network, the United Cerebral Palsy's Don't Block My Vote campaign, and the Center for an Accessible Society. Also, the Minnesota Disability Law Center put together a great video that explains why it is especially important for people who have a disability to vote. If you or someone you know has a problem voting, you can contact Election Protection ... and you can even use Twitter to report your problem! - K

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Recently, the LSTech e-mail list participants were asked whether or not they had posted material on YouTube. Many had, and Eva was nice enough to document that conversation on her blog, so that you can quickly go look at the videos of those who responded.

For those of you who haven't posted material on YouTube but are thinking about it, I want to highlight a few resources from see3 communications, a group that works with nonprofits to "create compelling visual media and Internet marketing initiatives." A few articles for you to start with include:

• Join the Video Bandwagon
• The Age of YouTube: Using Online Video to Reach the Masses
• The Challenge of Viral Video
• 11 Tips for Using Online Video to Raise Money
• Good Contracts for Video

But what I've listed here is only the beginning of what you can find on see3 communications' blog. If you've got the time, I'd recommend paging through all of the posts that they've tagged with "video." (Thanks to Jon Stahl for pointing this group out.) - K

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I've been collecting lots of little bits and pieces of information with the hope of turning them into full blog posts, but I haven't. So today, instead of depriving you of these valuable tidbits any longer, I'm throwing open the doors and inviting you to enjoy the smorgasbord.

• 100 Unbelievably Useful Reference Sites You've Never Heard Of. This site links to a long list of reference sites. You'll find the typical links to dictionaries and quotation references, but you'll also find resources that cover prescriptions and illnesses, technology concepts, and pop culture. (Thanks to Kevin Wenzel for passing this along.)
• Texans on Justice. Check out the submissions in the State Bar of Texas's YouTube video contest. Participants were asked to create videos on the theme "Texans capturing the promise of justice for all."
• Recent Studies on Pro Bono Practice in the US. The Legal Ethics Forum summarizes a Law & Society conference panel on pro bono.
• Sources for Congressional Voting Records. Idealware has posted links to sources for congressional voting records to make your research a bit easier.
• Public Interest Legal Technology Resources. The ABA Site-tation posted descriptions of the major legal aid technology resources and players.  - K

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Technology has a lot in common with law. Both are complex fields that use a lot of jargon. Fortunately, CommonCraft, a husband and wife business in Seattle, is working to make technology more accessible to the masses. They create Paperworks videos -- think whiteboard crossed with paper dolls -- to explain current popular technologies in plain English. Their videos cover a range of topics, including social media, podcasting, blogs, wikis, zombies, and RSS. Now if we could just get them to start creating segments on evictions, name changes, and orders of protection. - K

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High on my list of helpful software to have on hand is a screencasting program, which allows me to easily capture or record anything that's happening on my computer and save it or send it to others. Screencasting is particularly useful for creating trainings, ad hoc tutorials and how-tos, but it's also great for reporting bugs and capturing usability issues if you work on development projects. Here are a few free screencasting software options to consider:

• Jing Project: Jing allows you to capture images or record video of your screen and then upload it (for free) and share it with others online. It's a project of TechSmith, makers of Camtasia Studio and SnagIt, and the folks behind screencast.com. I use all of these products and am a big fan of TechSmith's clean, user-friendly approach to software design. (Windows, Mac)
• Wink: Wink is another great free (but not open source) screencasting program. While it doesn't include free online storage or sharing functionality, Wink is more full-featured than Jing and supports exports to PDF, HTML, and SWF (Flash) formats. (Windows, Linux)
• CamStudio: A final contender in the free and open source category is CamStudio, which outputs AVI files and allows you to convert them to SWFs. The only limitation to CamStudio is that the current version doesn't play well with Firefox when you try to view the converted SWF files. (Windows only) -M

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A post today by Carolyn Elefant on Legal Blog Watch highlights an interesting study by FindLaw, which indicates that putting an online video on a law firm website can help attract clients:

"FindLaw's studies show that when choosing a lawyer online, consumers visit an average of 4.8 sites before making a decision, as compared to just 1.8 sites when a Web page contains a video. Moreover, an increasing number of Internet users -- 74 percent -- watch videos online every day, proof of this visual medium's online appeal."

View the full post here.

Although a number of legal aid and pro bono websites use videos to deliver substantive content to users, few use online videos to message to clients and volunteers about their services or introduce them to the outstanding advocates in their organizations. While FindLaw's research is clearly geared towards the business of lawyer marketing, its findings are compelling. They speak to the power of online video to improve a client's confidence in, and increased familiarity with, a firm's services ... something that legal aid programs should be very interested in.

Two excellent examples of using online video to highlight the work of advocates can be found at IllinoisProBono.org and IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org, which feature monthly videos on volunteers and legal aid attorneys who are making a difference in their communities. We know that these folks exist all around us, but do our clients and volunteers? -M

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The Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas have a history of using technology to deliver legal services. They have implemented a statewide legal information Web site that uses LiveHelp to help visitors find online legal information and resources; I-CAN E-File; online document assembly; and resources to support legal aid staff and pro bono volunteers, including a poverty law wiki.

And, on top of all that, they have a new innovative project -- posting instructional and access-to-justice videos on YouTube. Below is "Filing a Pro Se Answer to a Lawsuit." It's a great, short introduction to the process.

I also highly recommend checking out the music from the "Domestic Violence: You Are Not Alone" video, which is from Stumbling Home. You might recognize Vince Morris, the Associate Director of the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership, as the lead singer and guitarist. - K

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