YouTube is a big place, full of interesting, educational, and entertaining creators who want to regale their audiences with videos of exceptional quality – and make a little money as well.

As a lawyer, YouTube can be an incredible tool.

It can help you learn about a wide variety of legal topics.

It can help you connect with other lawyers.

And perhaps most importantly, it can be a valuable marketing and advertising channel to add to your arsenal.

In this article, we'll be exploring some of the best lawyer channels on YouTube. This includes channels that are valuable for lawyers, as well as channels that are excellent examples of lawyers making content for laypeople. As you might imagine, there's considerable overlap between these two concepts, though we will be splitting them into separate sections.

After that, we'll dig into the mechanics of using a YouTube channel to promote your own practice.

So without further ado, let's get started.

The Best YouTube Channels for Lawyers to Watch

If you’re looking for channels that can help you learn more about the legal space or improve your own career, these are some of the best examples:

1.   The American Bar Association (ABA). As you might expect, the American Bar Association (ABA) has a substantial YouTube channel, though it only has 218 videos to date (and 1.85k subscribers). Despite being smaller than some of the other channels on this list, it’s a great place to start for new lawyers – and a perfect resource for staying up to date on the latest developments in the legal world.

2.   Bloomberg Law. Bloomberg Law is a channel for lawyers featuring a wide range of different topics and formats, including case coverage, explainer videos, and even panel Q&A sessions. It also features a unique series on the Supreme Court and a host of different playlists for people interested in specific areas.

3.   Wild About Trial. Wild About Trial is mostly focused on criminal law, providing detailed information on trials, plea bargains, sentences, and more. Experienced attorneys host these videos, covering important topics and answering common questions so new and seasoned lawyers alike can walk away with new information.

4.   The Law & Crime Network. The Law & Crime Network, with more than 5 million subscribers, was originally created by attorney and legal commentator Dan Abrams. Filled with videos that delve into high-profile criminal trials, legal analysis of complex and interesting cases, and even live court feeds, it’s the perfect place to sharpen your skills – and maybe walk away with some fun anecdotes to share with your team.

5.   Lawful Masses. Lawful Masses with Leonard J. French is a fun channel focused on legal education. Carefully balancing information and entertainment, Lawful Masses can help you keep up with major cases, learn more about unique court dynamics, and enjoy yourself while doing it.

6.   Angela Vorpahl. Angela Vorpahl’s channel is primarily targeted for law school students and young lawyers entering the field, but it’s also valuable for anyone switching to a different style of practice or a different type of law firm. It’s ideal for anyone hoping to build their legal career.

The Best YouTube Channels by Lawyers and Law Firms

These channels are, for the most part, made for a lay audience. However, they still offer useful information that you may find educational or enlightening – and even if they don’t, they stand as excellent examples of how lawyers and law firms can make video channels successful.

7.   AA Legal Focus. AA Legal Focus uses a blend of educational videos, interviews, and more to keep people up to date on the most interesting and strangest lawsuits in the industry. It covers a broad spectrum of fascinating topics.

8.   Shouse Law. Shouse Law is a channel managed by a law firm that specializes in representing underdogs, in practice areas like workers’ comp, immigration, criminal defense, and personal injury. It’s more informative than entertaining, but it’s full of fantastic information.

9.   Legal Eagle. If you like learning about the law through the lens of pop culture or if you like a friendly, casual approach to case analysis, you’ll love Legal Eagle. With more than 2.72 million subscribers, it’s one of the biggest law channels on YouTube – and for good reason.

10.   Lawyer You Know. Lawyer You Know is a channel covering the most popular and biggest court cases, primarily for a lay audience. There are oodles of reaction videos to enjoy, as well as periodic, short videos with genuine advice for practicing lawyers.

11.   Morgan & Morgan. Morgan & Morgan posts a range of different videos related to victims’ rights, and despite the serious nature of the subject matter, is quite funny. This channel also excels at creating and promoting Shorts.

12.   Consumer Warrior. Consumer Warrior, as the name suggests, is a channel dedicated to fighting for consumers and educating lay viewers on the topics of debt, bankruptcy, and more. It’s as engaging as it is informative.

13.   The Real Estate Lawyer. For lawyers in the real estate space, The Real Estate Lawyer is a must-add subscription. Based in North Carolina, this channel is exceptionally well-produced and addresses common questions from real estate buyers, sellers, investors, and tenants.  

14.   CLR Bruce Rivers. CLR Bruce Rivers is a channel mostly focused on education in the criminal law space. Meant for laypeople, this channel covers big criminal cases, dumb criminal cases, and individual legal elements like judge’s statements and evidence.

15.   Maneesha Mukhi. Maneesha Mukhi specializes in immigration law and he channel attempts to make this complex area much more accessible to the average person. Anyone with questions on topics like citizenship, immigration, or naturalization can learn something here.

16.   Illinois Divorce TV. At Illinois Divorce TV, you can find abundant information on a relatively niche topic in the legal world – divorces in Illinois. It may not be of use to you in your profession, but it’s a great example of how quickly your channel can grow if you focus on an underserved niche.

Why Start a YouTube Channel as a Lawyer?

Why should you start a YouTube channel as a lawyer?

First of all, this isn't the right strategy for everyone. Depending on your niche, your audience, and how you plan to use YouTube, this may or may not be a viable channel in your suite of marketing strategies.

However, there are many good reasons to start a YouTube channel.

·       Visibility. Visibility is arguably the greatest benefit of having a YouTube channel for your law firm or individual practice, and the bigger your channel gets, the more visibility it will receive. Posting new videos and engaging with followers is a great way to make your brand more recognizable, improve your rankings in search engines, and cultivate a better reputation.

·       Traffic generation. This is also a great way to generate traffic, and surprisingly, it can help you generate traffic across multiple channels. Higher search engine rankings mean greater organic traffic. More views means you'll generate more referral traffic. And if you syndicate your videos across social media, you can increase social media traffic as well. In other words, you'll multiply the number of visitors to your site and eventually the number of clients you attract.

·       Thought leadership. Your YouTube channel is a unique opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership in your field. If you want to distinguish yourself and prove your mettle, there are few better mediums to tap into.

·       Inexpensiveness. Many lawyers appreciate YouTube as a marketing channel because of its inexpensiveness. Yes, you'll have to pay some money for professional production equipment or to get help from professional video producers, but creating a YouTube channel and posting videos is still free. Even taking all costs into account, this is a relatively inexpensive marketing strategy compared to the benefits you get from it.

·       Altruism. Some lawyers are motivated to make YouTube channels not to make money or promote their practice, but to genuinely help other people. If you're feeling altruistic, this could be a great platform to give good advice to people who need it.

·       Fun. People who use YouTube as a marketing channel primarily sometimes take it too seriously. If you have the right mindset, making and posting videos can be a lot of fun. The truth is, you don't need a practical reason to start a YouTube channel for your law firm; there's nothing wrong with starting one for your own entertainment.

Tips for Lawyers Starting a YouTube Channel

If you plan on starting a YouTube channel for yourself or for your law firm, use these tips to maximize your chances of success.

·       Find a unique niche or angle. You likely already know how important it is to choose a niche for your law firm if you want to attract more clients; it's a way of limiting your competition and increasing your relevance and authority to the people looking for you. If you want your YouTube channel to be successful, try to find a unique niche or angle that hasn't yet been covered. Distinguish yourself by choosing a different area of practice, location of practice, video format, or brand personality. There is practically endless room for innovation.

·       Invest in professional equipment. You can technically start a YouTube channel with little more than a smartphone and a plucky attitude, but if you want your channel to have the greatest chance of accelerated growth, you should invest in professional equipment. Better lighting, video, audio, and overall production value is going to help your videos stand out in an incredibly crowded space.

·       Choose target keywords for your target audience. Make sure you optimize all your videos to make them easier for your target audience to find. First, that means better understanding your target audience. Second, that means choosing better target keywords that your target audience is likely to use.

·       Flesh out your tags, descriptions, and thumbnails. In addition to titling your videos with your strategically valuable keywords, you should include those keywords in your tags, descriptions, and even your thumbnails. Fill out as many details as possible for each video you upload, and choose a visually striking, eye-catching visual to capitalize on more clicks.

·       Scrutinize the details. When writing a script or conveying information in your video, always scrutinize and double check the details. Prospective clients aren't going to hire you if you make rudimentary, easily catchable mistakes in the meat of your presentation. There's no excuse for sloppy work here.

·       Cross-post and promote. It's possible to build a following exclusively on YouTube, but your chances of success will be much higher if you cross-post and promote. In other words, support your videos by posting them on other social media channels, showcasing them to your existing audience, and potentially even advertising them.

·       Create a mix of different types of content (at the start). In the early days of your channel development, create a mix of different types of content. Include short form and long form content. Cover cases and do interviews. Do reaction videos and original presentations. This mix will help you establish a baseline for your audience’s preferences, so you can gradually optimize your channel to serve those viewers better.

·       Pay close attention to competitors. You should also pay close attention to your competitors in this space. Which of their videos perform best? Which topics have they neglected? What mistakes have you noticed them make? This is an opportunity to learn and improve based on what you see others do, but it's also an opportunity to strategically differentiate your own brand.

·       Measure and analyze your results. Be ready to measure and analyze your results. Only objective data can help you optimize your approach!

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