Protecting Your Clients from Their Own Social Media

Before the advent of social media, the most feared type of surveillance was the video tape. Defense lawyers and insurance companies routinely spent tens of thousands of dollars in the hopes of landing a 30-second video showing the plaintiff engaged in an activity that he could not possibly do if he was as badly injured as he claimed. Stories are legend in which the injured plaintiff was videotaped changing a tire, running, skiing, walking with ease up and down stairs or shoveling snow. While each of these activities had the potential to severely damage the plaintiff's claims, it was a given that the videotaped footage would depict the plaintiff outside of his home. Indeed, it was “off limits” for the videographer to surreptitiously tape inside the plaintiff's home. But with the advent of social media, the boundary of the front door is a thing of the past. Now, with little more than the click of a mouse, insurance companies and defense attorneys have a window “inside the home” and into the life of the plaintiff unlike anything seen before. What was once “off limits” is now readily available and created by the most unlikely of partners: the plaintiff, his friends and family.