A lawyer’s close relationship to his or her client is almost sacred. Lawyers take pride in their ability to hold onto the private information that they receive. Still, today, certain lawyers have taken a strong interest in the sort of information that their clients have chosen to post on the Internet. What changed the approach to matters that get shared on the Internet?

What lawyers know about insurance companies?

Every injury attorney in Lakewood knows that he will need to fight hard for each dollar that his or her client gets awarded in the form of compensation. That is due to the insurance company’s desire to make a profit, despite being required to honor the promise in a policy. Denial of payments represents one way for an insurance company to strive for the ability to make a profit.

In the past, insurance companies had to rely on the discoveries made by special investigators. Today though, an insurance company can pay someone to visit the social media networks that have been visited by the plaintiff.

What sorts of material might a client place on a social media network?

• The progress made on a given case.
• Pictures of activities enjoyed while on vacation.
• Comments, regarding the imagined use for any contemplated award.
• Pictures of activities tried on a day when the injury’s symptoms were almost insignificant.

What could be the danger in posting such material?

A posted photograph might show the client performing an activity that the same client has claimed the inability to accomplish, due to the nature of the accident-related injury. Such a picture can challenge the legitimacy of statements made by the plaintiff.

Comments about the progress on the case, or about the tentative plans for the yet-received award could make it seem that you faked an injury, in order to feel right about taking it easy. Anything that an investigator for the insurance company finds on a social medial site can be used in a courtroom, in order to question the veracity of the plaintiff’s statements.

What tactic might lower the amount of danger that is linked to the posting of pictures on social media sites?

If it can be shown that the treating physician had agreed to the action depicted in the online photograph, then that could lower the elements of danger that gets attached to posting such a picture. Why might a physician agree with a plan that involved performance of a once-prohibited activity?

The physician must report when the patient reaches the stage of maximum medical recovery. Doctors cannot be sure that a patient has reached that point, until an activity that was impossible earlier has been tried. Hence, a physician might agree to performance of certain activities.