Isn't the reason you might want a lawyer in this case that you might not have to turn over the footage, and doing so when you don't have to could be used against you?
So wouldn't the alternative where they get the footage from someone else be just as bad as you turning it over without checking, and therefore something you should prevent if consulting a lawyer first is to your advantage?
>Isn't the reason you might want a lawyer in this case that you might not have to turn over the footage, and doing so when you don't have to could be used against you?
You're still not getting yourself out of the thing where turning over the footage to the government could be bad for you, so having it happen unconditionally without your consent could be bad for you.
Whether it's bad for you is irrelevant, if you're responding to a court order you absolutely want someone who has a thorough understanding of the law to guide you through it (unless you're thoroughly familiar yourself, but most people are not).
Even if we aren't talking about court orders, any interactions with the police beyond small talk should be guided by a lawyer for the same reason. Arrogance has no place when interacting with the law, the complexity of which is far beyond the understanding of common men.
You keep talking about the side of it where you have the opportunity to contest a court order.
The problem is the side of it where you abandon in advance your ability do to that by giving a third party custody of your data and then suffer whatever consequences a lawyer might have advised you to avoid when the third party hands your data over to the government.
So wouldn't the alternative where they get the footage from someone else be just as bad as you turning it over without checking, and therefore something you should prevent if consulting a lawyer first is to your advantage?