How social media can hurt your personal injury case

There is a lot riding on the outcome of your personal injury case. Due to your injuries, you may no longer be able to work and earn money, and your medical bills are likely piling up. You may be counting on an award from your personal injury lawsuit to cover these expenses. It is therefore important to avoid doing anything that might hurt your case. 

According to Forbes, however, your social media habits could work against you in court. The lawyers and insurers representing the interests of the responsible party are looking for evidence to undermine your claim, and they may need to look no further than your Facebook wall or Twitter feed. 

Legality 

There are laws that place restrictions on the ways that police can acquire evidence against you in a criminal case. However, these rules do not apply to ordinary people involved in a civil case. Attorneys, insurance adjusters and private investigators are all at liberty to use whatever evidence they can find in your social media accounts, including posts, tweets and photos. Making some material private will not necessarily protect you. 

Response 

It is important for you to be careful about how you behave on social media after a personal injury. You should refrain from posting anything that could hurt your case, especially since social media is so often lacking in context. However, you should also refrain from deleting posts. It may appear to the court that you are trying to dispose of evidence, and that can have severe consequences as well. You can adjust your privacy settings, but do not delete your accounts altogether.