How Social Media Can Affect The Outcome Of Your Personal Injury Lawsuit

We are probably all aware that Facebook is now the most visited site on the planet. In fact, going into 2012 it now has over 800 million active users. It has been the reason for millions of people to reconnect with others in their past, make new friends and to share their personal experiences. However, for anybody who is involved in a personal injury lawsuit, what you say, and whom you share it with, could well be detrimental to your case. A team of Los Angeles personal injury lawyers explain...

Any team of attorneys worth their salt should warn their clients to be careful with regard to what they post on places like Facebook, Twitter and My Space. It has been well documented in the past that people such as insurance adjusters, defense attorneys and even private investigators have all used the social media accounts of plaintiffs as a way of being one jump ahead. Let's say for example that you are waiting for your personal injury case to come to fruition when you post an innocent statement on your Facebook Wall stating "time is a great healer and I feel on the mend again after my accident". This completely innocent looking statement might just have blown your case out of the water, because by now the defense attorney has picked up on it and has used it against you. This kind of thing really does happen!

In order to give your team of Los Angeles personal injury attorneys the best chance to represent you, there are some precautions that you need to take when it comes to social media. Probably the best way to protect yourself and indeed your litigation is simply not to use any form of social media whilst your case is ongoing. However if this is not possible then there are some other things that you can do.

Remove any incriminating evidence or statements

Go through your recent social media sites and simply remove anything that you don't want any unsuspecting insurance carrier or lawyer to see that would give them an advantage in your case. Things like photos and posts mentioning your personal injury claim or accident are of particular threat to another interested party

Privacy settings

An LA personal injury lawyer explains that the next step that you can take to safeguard your case is to take a look at your privacy settings. One of the good things about sites such as Facebook is that you can change your settings so as to limit who sees your profile. By taking this into consideration and taking action accordingly will see that your social media life is away from prying eyes.

Do a quick search

It is also a good idea to type in your name in the search field and to see what is thrown up. This way you will see if there is anything there that you don't want people to see.

Scrutinize friends' requests

It is never a good idea to accept invites from friends that you don't even know. It is an even worse idea when you are undergoing a personal injury case. Again lawyers, insurance carriers etc can and will use false names to glean any information on you that might otherwise remain private to the outside world.

Be fully aware of what others are posting

In a case such as this a person really needs to be not only be aware of their own social media postings, but any photos and posts from others that might incriminate them.

Social media can be a great tool for keeping in touch and communication, but caution needs to be exercised when involved in any kind of personal injury case. An experienced Los Angeles attorney can explain your rights and can advise you of the necessary path to take in order to achieve a successful outcome. So if you are unsure, then give your attorney a call.