Be Careful What You Say to Others About Your Personal Injury Case

Please don’t be compelled to talk to everybody about your personal injury case.  Remember there is something called confidentiality that exists between an attorney and his or her client.  That confidentiality does not exist between the client and anyone else - even their spouse.  

I’ve had some cases where my clients tell friends and family information about the accident case that isn’t terribly helpful to their case.  If those people are called to testify, they might testify against you and whatever you’ve told them is fair game.  You can’t claim confidentiality of any sort.   You can’t even claim it if the witness is your spouse!  Spousal privilege only applies to criminal cases.  

Therefore, unless it is imperative that you share certain information with other people, please keep the facts of your accident case to yourself.  Share the information about your accident with your doctor and with your attorney and no one else unless it’s absolutely necessary.  Of course, if you do share information with others, always make sure it’s consistent with your claim!  What you say to other people can come back to haunt you later on.