Many consumer probably don't realize it, but one social media post by an injured plaintiff can torpedo or hurt an otherwise valuable and meritorious personal injury claim.
It is well known to experienced personal injury law firms that one of the first things that insurance companies and their lawyers do after receiving notice of an injury claim or notice of an injury-related lawsuit is to scour an injured plaintiff's social media accounts.
What Insurance Companies And Their Lawyers Are Hoping To Find In Social Media Posts
Defendants are hoping to find something posted by the plaintiff that is entirely inconsistent with what they have stated about the accident or their injuries. The classic example is someone testifying that they are seriously injured, but making a social medial post featuring the supposedly injured plaintiff doing something very strenuous or athletic.
Defendants are also hoping to find posts that suggest that the plaintiff is engaged in activities or behaviors that people (i.e. potential jurors) might find shocking or embarrassing An example might be an injured person making social media posts supporting mass murder or something similar.
Your Post Doesn't Even Have To Be About Your Case To Be Harmful
Another real-life example is finding social media posts where an injured plaintiff makes very disparaging posts on social media about his or her job or boss. An insurance company that sees this will be very confident that they can defeat a wage loss claim by simply showing the social media posts to the boss. Whatever sympathy or support that boss might have had for the injured employee is likely to dissipate once he or she sees what the injured employee has written about him or her.
We advise all of our clients to give social media a rest during the pendency of a personal injury case. There is absolutely no good reason to give an insurance company or any of its lawyers free help or assistance in defending a case.
If you have any questions regarding a Florida personal injury case, or how social media posts might negatively impact a personal injury case, please call Florida personal injury attorneys Kim Cullen and Robert Hemphill at 407-254-4901.
