Social media is a major part of our lives, and it’s natural that you would want to continue regularly using social media sites while pursuing a personal injury case. Unfortunately, there are a variety of ways that your social media presence might negatively impact any lawsuit you are involved in.
Learn more about social media and how it can impact your case below, or contact the legal team at Pope & Howard, P.C., a personal injury law firm in Atlanta, GA, if you think you have a case.
When you’re involved in a personal injury case, the defense attorneys or the insurance company will comb through your social media in the hopes they can find something that looks like it contradicts the positions you and your attorneys will take in court. If you discuss the case on social media, you might post something that makes complete sense to your intended audience – your friends and family – but might come across completely differently to a stranger. The defense will try and use these posts to argue that your injury is not as detrimental as you’re making it out to be.
Not only that, but pictures, videos, or stories about your daily activities may be used out of context to argue that your injury is not impacting you. In these situations, the defense may use your online statements against you.
When you start to pursue a personal injury case, you should change your profile settings on any social media sites you use so that your information and posts are private. This may prevent those fighting against you from easily accessing your posts, but it doesn’t hide them forever.
During the discovery phase of the investigation, the defense might be able to request non-public information about you, which may include private social media posts, and if they don’t surface then, the court may still order you to provide private posts as evidence.
If you can’t hide posts, it might be tempting to delete older posts or profiles that contain potentially harmful evidence. Don’t follow that instinct. As soon as a case starts, you have a legal responsibility to preserve evidence, and can lose the case or even be penalized for deleting relevant information.
Even if the posts you delete aren’t relevant in the long run, if the defense can show that you covered something up, it can easily cause enough suspicion for you to lose the case or have your compensation significantly reduced.
A personal injury case is bound to be a major part of your life while it’s happening, and it’s understandable that you would want to talk about it on social media. Unfortunately, the modern reality is that such activity will likely be used against you.
If you are involved in a personal injury case and are interested in further guidance with regard to social media use or any other aspect of your suit, contact Pope & Howard, and let our expert team help you get the compensation you deserve.