I think social media can be a sword and a shield. When you’re looking at a case, especially a criminal case, where accusations are being made, a lot of times now people will make those accusations out on social media before they even go to law enforcement.
A lot of times you can start mining into the social media, not necessarily the post itself, but you get into the comments and the person that made the post will start responding to the comments. And so, you’re getting a lot of information about the background, people asking them questions about when and where, and why did it take so long for them to report and things like that, things that you really want to know.
Now, on the other hand, it can definitely be a detriment if your own client is on social media, we stop social media posting. All social media goes dark when a client of mine is charged. Likewise on the personal injury side, we have to do the same thing. I had a client…she was an Instagram model; beautiful girl had a very horrific lower back lumbar injury that was documented objectively with two discs that were herniated. She had to have epidural injections. And all of a sudden, she posts a video of herself walking on her hands across Fifth Avenue in New York City. That’s not really good for your case when you’re talking about somebody who’s been severely injured and the reality was she was injured, but this was maybe six months post injury.
She had had a lot of physical therapy. She had had a lot of epidural injections. And she, for the first time in six months was feeling really good and was out with her friends and walking around during the middle of the day in New York. And for the first time felt she could do something physical, and she did it. And one of her friends had videoed it and they posted it on Instagram. Well, obviously the insurance company tried to hop on that and make a heyday out of it. But the good thing was she had objective findings and they couldn’t really battle it, but it would be better not to have that posting at all.
Hi I’m James Tedford, aka “Ted”. I’m the lead trial attorney at Tedford & Associates and I’m a fourth generation Californian. If you are facing challenges from your insurance company over an injury call (626) 790-1066 today.
What many victims do not realize is that the insurance companies will purposefully offer you a very low sum of compensation in order to make a profit for themselves. They do not have your best interests in mind, and they can be extremely difficult to work with if you do not have a lawyer on your side. At Tedford & Associates, we make your best interests our number one priority. We are compassionate with our clients and aggressive when fighting to protect their rights.