As Fort Lauderdale accident attorneys, we generally advice against this. The problem is that information on social media accounts – particularly anything that relates to your accident, injury or recovery – could undercut your personal injury claim. Such posts can provide defense lawyers with a valuable source of information that refute the cause of your injury, impeach your credibility or poke holes in the amount of damages you claim to have suffered.

This isn’t to say that people posting about their case are lying about anything. In fact, it’s more likely that they post because they feel they have nothing to hide. The problem is you aren’t looking at the information through the same lens as a lawyer. The intent and implications of certain pictures, posts, videos or comments could be twisted by the defense team. It’s better to limit your social media engagement while your case is pending, if possible. If you have questions about specifics, direct them to your accident attorney.

There are a few general guidelines for social media from which virtually any personal injury client can benefit:

• DON’T post pictures or talk about the accident. The pictures and words you share about the accident, your injuries or how it’s impacted your life could potentially cost you a lot in court. That doesn’t mean you have to take down your social media accounts or forego posting anything altogether, but do be cautious. With every post, ask yourself whether you’d be comfortable with it being shown or read aloud in court.
• DO change your privacy settings. Whether your case is to be settled in negotiations with insurers or settled in court, it’s a good idea to block strangers from having access to your social media pages. Updating your privacy settings to ensure your pages are restricted and not public is one way to help prevent the content therein from becoming fodder in your personal injury case. That said, always presume that everything you post could potentially become subject to scrutiny.
• DON’T post online about your hospital stay. It’s understandable that you want to keep friends and family informed, but it’s best to do so privately so you can sidestep any possible issues with your claim. Your medical bills will be the subject of scrutiny in a personal injury claim, and you want to make sure you are compensated for the full amount. You don’t want to unintentionally say something that could compromise that. Plus, the majority of people on your friend list probably don’t need to know the details of your care.
• DO a quick Google search of yourself. Open a window in Incognito mode to see what information about you is public. If you think anything that pops up could be a potential issue, discuss these with your Fort Lauderdale injury lawyer.
• DO talk to a counselor or therapist. There is a lot at stake in your personal injury lawsuit. You could have thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Using your social media page as a support group isn’t smart when the things you say could come back to haunt you in court. Discuss questions and concerns with your attorney. Work through the emotional trauma with a counselor or therapist who will keep your conversations confidential. (Further, the cost of these sessions could be recoverable in your claim as well if the mental/emotional turmoil your experiencing is directly related to the accident.)

Expect that defense lawyers will be looking for any evidence that could undermine your claim, and proceed with caution when it comes to your online presence.

Call Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

More Blog Entries:

Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyers on Handling Crashes With Uninsured Drivers, Feb. 1, 2021, Fort Lauderdale Accident Attorney Blog

We’re all familiar with those “gotcha” news clips of a person who claimed they were seriously hurt and video evidence showed it clearly wasn’t as bad as they’d alleged. We’re not even talking about those cases. The insurance company and other defendants, they will want to damage your credibility any way they can. Defendants in personal injury lawsuits can request the court grant access to review your page – your posts, your likes, your photographs, your videos and even private messages. (Some courts have held that privacy settings matter when it comes to these requests. For example, a federal appellate court ruled in Crispin v. Audigier Inc. that when a user’s settings are “private,” their posts there are to be treated as private and not-discoverable, based on a 1986 electronics communication law. Yet the Supreme Court of New York, Suffolk County, ruled just the opposite in Romano v. Steelcase, finding the court could compel plaintiff to consent to turning over all current and deleted contents from her social media accounts, absent any consideration for her privacy settings, so long as the information contained therein was “material and necessary.”

What you need to bear in mind is that everything has the potential to be used against you. This is true even among injury plaintiffs that are truthful about how the accident happened and the extent of the injuries they suffered. Sometimes, it’s as seemingly innocuous as emojis or “likes.” more

Take the Romano personal injury lawsuit for instance, wherein plaintiff was injured when her workplace chair collapsed. She sued the manufacturer of that chair, alleging defective design. She asserted in her complaint that her physical injuries had resulted in emotional anguish, as she was not able to leave her home or socialize with friends. To counter this assertion, the defense presented evidence gleaned from her social media page: Showing her in more than one instance outside her home, counting up the number of “friends” she had on her page and even pointing out the smiley-faced emojis with which she often punctuated her posts. Of course, we all know what we post on social media paints a rosier picture than the reality. Nonetheless, it was twisted and used against her.

Some judges have found, in the interest of privacy and to avoid “fishing expeditions,” the alternative is to have a neutral third-party review the material in question to determine its relevance. But Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys know that still doesn’t keep your pages and pictures from being reviewed and potentially entered into evidence in your injury lawsuit.

It should be noted that Facebook does not guarantee complete privacy, and regardless of one’s privacy settings, the company’s own disclaimer states, “Please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.” (This was the basis on which the court decided the Romano case.) Further, be wary of any new “friend” requests from unfamiliar individuals.

If you have questions about what to post – or avoid posting – you can discuss these concerns with your personal injury attorney. However, when in doubt, go the cautious route.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Crispin v. Audigier Inc., May 26, 2010, U.S. District Court, Central District, California

More Blog Entries:

Families Seek Damages for Florida Keys Truck Accident That Killed Four Tourists, Sept. 22, 2018, Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney Blog