If you are currently engaged in a personal injury lawsuit, you should think twice before you hop online and start using your social media accounts. Your case is as much about you, the plaintiff, as it is about the defendant. What you post on social media has the potential to harm your case. Here are the top three reasons why you should stay-off social media while engaged in a personal injury lawsuit.

1. What You Post Can Be Used Against You

Opposing council can obtain access to your social media accounts and information during the discovery process. If your attorney receives a subpoena requesting access to your social media account, you will have to grant opposing counsel access to your account.

Don't think you are off the hook just because you go through and delete comments and pictures before granting access to opposing counsel. Opposing counsel has every right to ask the business whom owns your social media account for your information. That business is obligated to turn over all of your activity – even the stuff you deleted from your account.

If opposing counsels finds anything that may disprove your injury claims, they can use that against you in court to cast doubt on your case.

2. What Others Post About You Can Hurt You As Well

It's not always about what you do online. If your friends or family post pictures or tag you in comments, all of that information falls under the same discovery directive. Even if you didn't post photos of that vacation you took while you were [supposedly] recovering from an injury if anyone in your social network posted photos, those could be used in court against you.

Any pictures or comments that could cast doubt on the validity of your personal injury claim can be used against you in court, even if you were not the person who posted that information.

3. The Amount Of Time You Spend Online Can Hurt You

When social media companies are required to turn over a client's account information, that includes information about how much time you spend on-line. Opposing council will be able to see exactly when you logged in and out of your account. They will also be able to see, based on your activity, how much time you spent online.

If you have many any claims in your personal injury suit about how you were not able to be active, even the time you spent on these sites could be used against you.

Furthermore, if you are suing for lost wages and work a desk job, the defense could potentially argue that based on the amount of time you spend on these social media sites while you were supposedly injured, you would have been able to perform your job at work.

The bottom line is, opposing counsel can find numerous ways to use your social media activity against you during a personal injury case. The best way to handle your social media activity during a personal injury case is to either limit and censor what you post online, or disable your accounts for the time being. To learn more, contact Kiernan Personal Injury Attorneys PA.