Social media and lawsuits.

THE INJURY LADY SAYS: Think before you post! Let’s talk about criminal charges, social media and lawsuits! Folks, I spend quite a bit of my time talking to criminal and personal injury clients about what to do and what not to do. Sometimes they listen and sometimes, most of the time, they ignore me. The one thing I cannot stress enough relates to social media and lawsuits. I don’t care if you are involved in a general civil case, a family law matter, a personal injury case, or a criminal case…your social media personality can harm you! The BEST thing you can do for yourself is to delete or suspend your social media accounts. If you simply can’t do that, then I want you to remember this statement:

Social media and lawsuits don’t mix.

“THE INJURY LADY SAYS: THINK BEFORE YOU POST!!!”

This is common sense, people. If you are injured and pursuing a claim, but you post about how tired you are from your martial arts tournament…this is going to be a problem! If you are fighting for custody of your kids and you post pictures of yourself drunk every weekend…this is going to be a problem for you. If you are facing criminal charges and you admit to the crime and make jokes about it on your Facebook status…this is going to be a problem for you!

Criminal charges, social media and lawsuits, think before you post!

Never underestimate your opponent! If you think that the individual(s) opposite you will not think to look at your social media…you are WRONG! It may not be the first place that is looked at, but it WILL be looked at.

Social Media and Lawsuits

I will give you an example…each time I file a lawsuit, I get what is called an “Answer” from the opposing party, usually an attorney. This provides me with the name and contact info for the attorney. The first thing I do is go online and do my recon! And I know they are doing the same thing! They look into me and I look into them. But at some point we are all going to be looking into the clients.

Before you post, I want you to make this your mantra:

“THE INJURY LADY SAYS: THINK BEFORE YOU POST!”

Before you hit post, or hit tweet, or whatever it is you are about to display for the world to see, I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Am I involved in a lawsuit? Or have I been charged with a crime?
2. If the opposing lawyer sees this can he/she twist it into something it is not?
3. Will I regret posting this if I have to answer questions about it later in a deposition, trial, or in front of a judge or jury?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then DON’T POST IT! Social media is the norm these days. We all use social media outlets for various purposes. Some use it to stay in touch with their families; some use it to stay in touch with their military spouse, some use to stay in touch with long lost friends. Whatever your reasons for using it remember the mantra:

“THE INJURY LADY SAYS: THINK BEFORE YOU POST!”