These videos appear based on what the platform thinks you want to see, using algorithms. If you ‘engage’ by watching something for more than a few seconds (typically, videos that engage us are less than 60 seconds long), chances are you’ll see videos by that creator (or on a similar theme) next time you log on.

This social scrolling is how my colleagues and I came across The Legal Queen. She’s an English solicitor providing short video clips on family law issues, and over Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok, she has nearly a million followers.

Many questions she answered were very similar to those we are asked by clients about family law issues.

The Legal Quines answer your family law questions in bitesize chunks

We thought this was an excellent way to engage with potential clients and answer these very familiar questions - so The Legal Quines was born.

For those not from North-east Scotland, ‘quine’ is Doric for girl/woman/female. We hoped it would translate across Scotland and on the whole, people seem to get it.

Through short videos, where someone pops their head in the door and asks a colleague a question, we communicate clear messages about family law matters.

Why? The videos are easily digestible and hopefully can reach new audiences, showing people that Balfour+Manson understands the issues that matter to them at challenging times in their lives.

Kirsten Knight is a Family Law Partner, Balfour+Manson

The videos make us ‘real’ and relatable. We’re human beings as well as lawyers, real-life three-dimensional women who someone with a family law issue could imagine talking to.

The short clips are also easily shareable; one of the most common ways people are engaging with us is to share videos with their friends.

We monitor levels of engagement to ensure we’re not just shouting into the void. Analytics tell us which videos people are engaging with most, so we can tailor future posts. We can get an idea of the geographical location of viewers, whether they are mainly male/female and their age group.

Sometimes the analytics surprise us. I regarded TikTok as a young person’s platform; until I started using it for Legal Quines, I hadn’t a clue what it was or how to work it. However, the stats suggest an older audience is engaging with us on TikTok than Instagram.

It’s not all straightforward. We decided to post four videos a week to have an impact - and creating and editing videos takes time and attention.

And although this is a more personal way of communicating, it has to be accurate. The information is out there for all to see and any errors will, quite rightly, be pounced upon, affecting any credibility The Legal Quines have built up.

We also need to be careful with terminology. Clients might refer to a former partner as their husband, wife, or ‘ex’, yet exactly the same terminology can annoy other people. There are real sensitivities, which we have to respect, so we try to use neutral terms like ‘spouse’ and ‘my child’s other parent’.

We’re learning as we go, but it’s been fun so far and we are definitely engaging with a wider group of people. One of our Quines has been spotted in public, so someone is taking notice!

Kirsten Knight is a Family Law Partner, Balfour+Manson

Legal Quines' online family law videos reaching new audiences - Kirsten Knight