Personal Injury Cases and Facebook

Have you been injured in a car accident and are you thinking of making a personal injury claim? Do you also have a page on Facebook or some other social networking site? These questions are not unrelated. Social networking sites such as Facebook can provide a great deal of information about someone. If you are like me, you may have posted pictures of yourself and your friends or family. You may have written about things you have done, whether work or pleasure. These entries and pictures are proving to be useful for lawyers and insurance adjusters who are defending personal injury claims. A lot has been written about how prospective employers and schools have used Facebook or other sites to screen people. We are now seeing that use extended to the defense of a personal injury claim. It is becoming more common to see an Interrogatory (question) asking for a list of all social networking sites to which the injured party belonged. The question is also asked in depositions. My advice to clients who have been in an injury is to either shut down your personal page or, after I have reviewed the content, to limit future posts and never to discuss your injury case. This advice is on top of a standard admonition never to discuss your case with anyone except your lawyer. So remember, what you post today, will be looked at by everyone tomorrow. If you don't want the world to know something, don't post it on Facebook or some other social networking site!