Today, more and more people are using social media to find people from their past and to stay connected to friends and family. If you are a person who has a pending personal injury lawsuit, your social media activities could negatively impact your personal injury case. This does not mean that you need to close all of your social media accounts. You do need to be mindful of a few things about your social media accounts though.
Followers and Friends
Beware of people who are currently in your friend list as well as followers, especially if you do not have strict privacy settings. Perhaps you have thousands of friends on social media, and you may not even know most of the people on your list.
A simple tactic to use for deleting people you do not know is checking your social media account daily or monthly. Note the birthdays or upcoming birthdays. If you do not know the people listed delete them.
You should also be cautious of new friend requests even if it appears they come from someone who is a mutual friend of someone on your list. This is because those unfamiliar requests could be from someone who has an interest in your case. Bogus accounts can be created by someone intending to get a glimpse into your life.
Social Media Posts
Sometimes personal injury claims involve injuries that result in pain or even depression. A person may not feel constant pain or have ill feelings, but if they post to social media about their good days or feeling happy, those posts could be misconstrued, and create reasonable doubt about whether reported physical or psychological injuries exist.
Personal injury cases may go on for years before a judgment or settlement is reached. During this time, you may get frustrated and want to vent. Social media should not be the chosen outlet. Call your attorney if you feel it is imperative to get things out about your case.
One wrong post could prove to be problematic for your case. The rule of thumb is do not post anything about your case on social media. Do not even express joy when and if a settlement is reached.
Photos
Beware of any and all cameras including your own. Your close friends may mean well if they take photos of you while you are out for a leisure activity or vacation. Your body language and facial expressions could affect your case though.
For example, if you list depression as part of your claim for damages and your demeanor in photos looks otherwise, the opposing party in your case could challenge whether you are truly depressed. As far as physical pain goes, photos showing you out at nightclubs, vacationing or even at your job could also be challenged. They may not take into account that some days are better than others, or that you took medication before the photos were taken to manage your injuries.
Privacy Settings
One of the best ways to protect your case is by changing your privacy settings. The goal is to keep your posts, tweets and photos accessible to friends only. Keep in mind that some social media sites have protocol in place that automatically make profile and cover photos public images. Also, keep in mind that changing your privacy settings will do little good if you already have someone in your friends' list who stealthily watching your every move on social media.
Final Thoughts
If it comes down to taking these precautions or not taking them, you need to consider what is at stake. Is it worth it to you to lose your case or receive a lesser amount in punitive damages due to your social media activities? Talk to an attorney from a firm like Horlick Levitt Di Lella Personal Injury Lawyers for more information on things that can negatively affect your case.
Share15 May 2015
The laws governing child custody and guardianship can be confusing. As a family attorney, I have helped many clients gain legal guardianship over a foster child or a relative's child. Getting legal guardianship of a child you are caring for is important because you need to be able to make decisions about that child's education, health care and other matters. This blog will help you navigate the world of legal guardianship and show you how to take steps to get guardianship over a child whether the child's parents are cooperative or not. Legal guardianship does matter even if a child is not going to be adopted. I hope to help people find the way to get this done.
