|
If you are alleging personal injury from a serious accident, don't post photos or videos of yourself dancing at a party a few days after the accident. Also, don't post pictures of yourself snowboarding, skydiving, or running a marathon. Yes, I actually have to tell my clients NOT to do this.
One client said, "Well, I only posted it for my 'friends' to see!" I explained that when you post to one person on Facebook or other social network, you still run the risk that dozens of others will learn of your posting. One client posted, "Had an accident today. Feeling fine. No worries." Then he decided to bring a claim a few days later. The insurance adjuster lived in the same town and had learned about the accident online! Needless to say, this cast a big shadow of doubt on this fellow's claim. The best advice is to lay low and avoid social networks entirely after an accident. You should be recovering...not tweeting...after a serious accident. 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. |
Attorney Robert MansourRobert Mansour is an attorney in Santa Clarita, California who has been practicing law since 1993. After working for 13 years for the insurance companies, he now counsels victims of personal injury. Click here to learn more about Robert Mansour. Categories
All
Archives
September 2024
|
Call anytime 661-414-7100 / Text anytime: 661-249-9990
RSS Feed
