I recently blogged on a case were a Facebook and Myspace post of a snowboarding video cost a car accident victim $20,000.00. Chris Davis’s blog on this case has received national attention and  and has lead to Seattle Attorney Chris Davis being featured on the Legal Broadcast Network. Davis states that 30 days before trial he was notified by the insurance adjuster that they had a video of the client snowboarding and going over jumps. This post damaged the accident case and cost Davis’s client $20,000.00 in his recovery. Davis states that the problem with such a post goes to the jury perception of his client. That is whether the client is exaggerating or making up his injuries.

As a trial attorney representing accident victims I know it can be difficult to convey to a jury the gravity of the injury sustained in a car accident in a 2-3 day trial can be difficult. This job is even tougher when a video of physical activity is shown, even if it was taken a year or two after the accident. As an accident victim you do not need to make it easier for the insurance company to defeat your case.

I advise my clients of the dangers of posting on social media sites and how these post can affect their Kentucky accident case. I have previously talked about what can happen and what you should watch out for.

As an accident victim it is important to take listen to and follow the advise of your attorney. My tag line is “Don’t Get Hurt Twice”. Unfortunately this is what happened to Mr. Davis’s client. He didn’t follow the advise of his attorney and he got hurt not only by the car accident but by the insurance company which does what ever it takes to lower the value of his accident settlement and keep the money in their pocket. Use common sense and listen to your attorney so you don’ end up in this situation.

Last month I wrote a blog warning Kentucky auto accident victims that information placed on an accident victim’s social networking site can have an adverse affect on the settlement of their case.  You may have thought that this was Chicken Little yelling that the sky was falling, that I was a little paranoid. Unfortunately a friend of mine, Seattle attorney Chris Davis, has a client that has learned this the hard way. In a blog posted by Davis he tells the horror story of a client that down loaded pictures and videos to his facebook and myspace pages that literally cost him $20,000.00!

            Davis starts his blog with a statement that this is a true story. During the course of litigation Davis’s client posted pictures and videos of himself snowboarding. This was two years after the accident, but before the case was going to trial.  He was going to trial to get compensation for neck and back injuries suffered in a car accident.

Can you imagine the reaction of a jury? They are hearing evidence in a case where the accident victim will be asking for an award of money damages for their pain and suffering. During the trial the attorney hired by the insurance company shows a video of the accident victim speeding down a mountain on a snowboard and then going over jumps, flying several feet in the air and landing with a thump. The case is over at this point.

            I am sorry that Chris had this unfortunate experience. It is horrible to put your blood, sweat, tears and money into a case and work for a client you truly believe in and then have your hard work fall apart before your very eyes. I do want to thank Chris for posting this information so that we can all learn from it.

            You need to be extremely careful in what you post on your facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. You don’t know who will be able to gain access to the information. It may be a potential employer. It could be an insurance adjuster playing cybersleuth. Whether you are a Kentucky accident victim or a Washington accident victim you need to protect yourself by being careful. Learn from this $20,000.00 mistake.

      Facebook, Twitter, My Space and other social networking sites are becoming more and more popular not only with kids but with all age groups.  You may have read about employers using these sites to help screen job applicants or to check up on their employees.  There are recent cases where jury verdicts have been over turned because jurors had made updates on their social networking site during the trial.  Everyone is on Facebook. Everyone is tweeting.

      Guess what? These sites are not just for fun and keeping up with friends.  Insurance companies and their attorneys are using these sites too.  Adjusters are checking Facebook, Twitter, etc. and looking at blogs to get information about the accident victim.  There may be valuable information about you on these sites that could severely damage your Kentucky auto accident case.

      The insurance adjusters’ job is to pay you as little as they possibly can on your injury claim. Social media sites and blogs can help them accomplish their objective.  You voluntarily put all of your personal information on these sites.  You load personal photos on these sites.  Friends make comments about you. You put videos on YouTube.  Internet surveillance may be the only investigation the insurance company has to do.

      Why are insurance companies looking at social media sites?

·          To confirm or disprove the severity of your injury.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to perform activities and sports.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to work.

·          To confirm or disprove whether you interact normally with friends and family.

      Pictures, videos, personal information, posts and comments can wreck your case.  When you become an accident victim, you begin living in a glass house.  You MUST be aware of how your pictures and comments will be viewed.  Sometimes even the most innocent and seemingly irrelevant things can be twisted to make it look as if you were not injured or that you are lying about being injured.  Just look at what happened to Michael Phelps.

      Even making the pages private may not stop the insurance company from seeing it.  You may inadvertently make a friend or follower out of someone the adjuster knows.  You make a friend or follower out of the law clerk of the attorney that represents the insurance company.  If your case goes to Court, the Judge may order you to produce your social media page.

I know you are not going to quit using these sites, but here are some tips in dealing with your social media pages:

• Don’t post anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable having the insurance adjuster read.

Be Careful!

• Check your privacy settings and block anyone you do not know from viewing your personal pages.

• Search your name on all sites that you are a member of and on Google to see what comes up.  See what photos you have been tagged in and take the appropriate action to remove photos you are not comfortable with.

• Do not accept any friend requests or answer any e-mails from people you don’t know.

THE BOTTOM LINE…USE COMMON SENSE AND PROTECT YOURSELF AS YOU USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.   They are fun and they are addictive, but they can be used against you in many different ways.

Every time you turn on the TV, listen to the radio or even read the newspaper you hear someone talking about Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and other social networking sites. What does this have to do with someone who has been in an automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, truck or pedestrian accident in Kentucky? Well if you are not careful with what you post on your site it may have a devastating affect on your accident claim. It used to be that these sites were limited to the young. Not anymore. Employers are checking Facebook and Myspace prior to hiring someone. Jurors have used Twitter to comment on trials which has resulted in mistrials.

Guess what? Insurance adjusters are looking at your information on these sites to find any information they can to deny your claim out right or to limit its’ value. They are involved in internet surveillance. For instance, if you make a post about playing basketball the day after an accident this could be used to disprove the severity of your injury. Photos you upload can be damaging as well. A little bit of information can be taken and distorted by the insurance company if you are not careful.

The point is to be careful. If you have been in an accident use some common sense so what you believe to be an innocent post does not come back to hurt you in your accident case. Be aware of what you are doing. A good friend of mine said; “Don’t say or do anything that you would not be comfortable with seeing in the paper tomorrow”. The same can be said with the social networking sites. Don’t end up like Michael Phelps. It may cost you a good result in your Kentucky accident case.