How Relevant is Social Media When Making a Personal Injury Claim? | Preszler Law

In this video, personal injury lawyer John Philp from Preszler Injury Lawyers discusses the implications of social media activity in personal injury lawsuits. He highlights how insurance companies can access social media accounts, even if set to private, and use posts against plaintiffs. Philp advises clients to deactivate their social media profiles during litigation to avoid potential pitfalls. He shares examples of cases where social media posts contradicted claims of injury, emphasizing the importance of presenting a consistent and believable narrative in court. For more information or questions, viewers are encouraged to reach out to Preszler Injury Lawyers or visit their Facebook page.

Thank you, Rosie. When you're involved in a personal injury lawsuit, you have to produce all documents that are relevant to any issue in the lawsuit. But what about your social media activity? How is Facebook and Instagram relevant to your case? Personal injury lawyer John Philp from Preszler Injury Lawyers is here to explain. Good morning.

Good morning. There are a couple of interesting cases that have happened across Canada. For example, a woman in British Columbia was seeking damages after suffering neck, back, and shoulder injuries in two car accidents. Suddenly, her social media activity pops up, and she looks like she’s having a pretty good time and is able to do physical activities.

Social media in any personal injury lawsuit, especially in the last decade, has become so prevalent in terms of being used against a plaintiff to the benefit of the insurance companies. It used to be that insurance companies could use surveillance techniques, where they would have an investigator following you around, trying to catch you for a day or two doing something that you claim you cannot do. With social media, it’s basically a gold mine for the insurance companies because they can now legally access people’s social media accounts. There are judicial decisions that allow these insurance companies to tap into what you’ve posted on Facebook and Instagram. This is true even if you are a private user.

What people don’t appreciate, and it happens very frequently in our practice, is that when we are hired by a client, the first thing we tell them is to get rid of social media. Shut your profile down. It doesn’t matter if it is private or public, or if it’s just for family and friends; turn it off. Even if it’s set to private, with the most restricted settings you can possibly have on Facebook, you will have to provide all of it. You will have to produce it.

It’s difficult for people because, in this day and age, Facebook is part of our lives. For a lot of people, especially younger individuals, it is an integral part of their lives. So, asking them to turn that part of their life off when they are involved in a personal injury lawsuit becomes very challenging. That’s how they keep in touch with people; that’s how their friends can see what’s going on in their lives.

As you pointed out, insurance companies were hiring private investigators, but now people are doing the private investigator’s work for the insurance company. It cuts both ways because if you have a personal injury lawsuit and you say you’re injured, then really, you shouldn’t be posting photos of yourself doing activities.

However, what we find in our business is that social media often reflects the persona we like to present to the public, which is not necessarily the reality. People post photos of what they would like their lives to be. So, even if you are seriously injured, there may be a circumstance where you tried to do something once. I was reading about a woman who claimed depression and said that was why she had to be off work. Then, she was photographed at the top of a mountain, smiling and happy, and that became her defense. She argued that she was trying to get back to being happy, so she did that.

It really depends on the circumstances and the believability of the plaintiff. When you actually go to court, a judge and a jury will assess exactly that: Do I believe this person? Is it really this one time that they tried to do something? Now, there is evidence in the form of a photo of this person on top of the mountain, smiling. Even if you are the most likable, honest, and credible person, that photo is there now, and it will be put into the lawsuit, whether it has been deleted or not.

John Philp from Preszler Injury Lawyers, thank you so much.

Thank you for having me. It was good talking to you. If anyone has questions for John or his team, you can go to our Facebook page at facebook.com/MorningShow. We’re going to take a break; we’ll be right back.