Social Media and How it Affects Your Personal Injury Case

Almost everybody uses some form of socia media. When we refer to social media, we are talking about
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Blogs
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Snapchat
  • Vine
  • Tumblr
  • Google+
  • Whisper
Social media is meant for you to keep in contact with your friends and family. It allows you to provide a quick update to everyone at once about what is happening in your life. The problem is that a lot of this information is public.  Imagine this scenario:
An injured party broke his leg due to an accident. He had surgery and the leg has now healed as best as possible. However, the injured party says that he can't ski anymore. But wait! Last week on Facebook, he posted a photo of him skiing in Colorado. The defense attorney working for the at-fault driver's insurance company finds this photo on the internet and uses it to make the injured party look like a big fat liar. The defense attorney then uses it at trial before a jury and the jury thinks "if you lied about skiing, maybe you lied about other things and you are not really injured."

DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET IN THIS SITUATION!

Here is what you should do while your personal injury lawsuit or case is pending:
  1. Change all of your privacy settings on social media sites so only those connected to you can see anything you post.
  2. DO NOT post any photographs of you doing ANY activity while your case is pending.
  3. DO NOT post any words describing an activity that you just did or are about to do while your personal injury case is pending.
  4. DO NOT delete old posts of you doing something stupid that you think will get you into trouble. If you do, it could be used against you and claimed by the insurance carrier that you did this on purpose because it contained damaging information about you.
  5. Watch your language. The last thing we want to see if you cursing out someone or something on Facebook. It may have nothing to do with your case, but the insurance carrier will find a way to make it relevant and make you look like a jerk.
  6. Watch your selfies. We don't want to see you naked or in your undergarments. You want a jury to like you. You do not want a jury to think you are cheap, easy or any other word that comes to mind.
  7. All posts on any site should be done using words that you would be comfortable with using in front of a Priest, Rabbi, Minister, etc.
  8. NO POSTS ABOUT YOUR CASE.
  9. No posts about vacations you are going on or you just went on.
It is actually best to discontinue using social media until the legal matter is over, but we realize not everyone can do that.

What It Comes Down To:

  • Make your settings as private as possible.
  • DO NOT POST anything that can be used to make you look bad. If you are not sure, do not post it.