Careful What You Put On FaceBook and Other Social Media Sites

Trying to hide a client’s FaceBook pictures has cost a Virginia lawyer $544,000.  Because the lawyer did not comply with discovery in a tragic wrongful death case, he paid over half a million dollars of a $722,000 legal fee award to opposing counsel. In addition to paying this sanction, the plaintiff’s lawyer resigned from the law firm where he was a partner and is no longer practicing law. According to the American Bar Association Journal article, the pictures of the surviving husband included one of him holding a beer can and wearing a t-shirt with the slogan, “I (heart symbol) hot moms,” as well as a garter belt on his head.  As solace and grief are elements of a wrongful death case, the pictures were determined to be relevant, and thus proper subjects for pre-trial discovery.  The Court noted that it was improper to destroy or hide such evidence.

While Internet Social Media is still a new and evolving area of discovery, and injury lawyers are learning how best to manage the explosion of information posted by, and about, their clients, this Charlottesville case illustrates the point that once something is put up on the Net, it becomes something opposing counsel is going to want to see in a “fishing expedition” aimed at finding anything that may detract from the claimed harms and losses; embarrass the injured plaintiff or his counsel; or even contradict the allegations of fault in the case.  Bottom line: Do Not Post Information About Your Case on the Internet.  And, if you do, do not think that you can hide it – assume that there is a camera in the heavens that is always watching and govern yourself accordingly.

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