6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit: Part 6 - Social Media is Not Your Friend

      Just in time for the holidays, we bring you the final installment of our 6 part series on how to increase your odds of a favorable result of your potential personal injury claim. This one focuses on the impact of social media. As we are all aware, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. have become increasingly popular and are gaining more and more users each day. Social media users commonly post photos and other updates about what they are doing, what is going on in their life, and even pictures of food he or she is about to eat. Many can attest to how frequently these individuals are updating their social media accounts by how often people are seen glued to their cell phones and computers in public. While this can be fun and certainly can be a useful way to connect with people, it can have major consequences on any legal proceedings, including personal injury claims, you may have.

      Any posts on social media are public posts, and can all too easily be discovered by people looking for information about you and your life. It is very important to carefully screen anything you post on social media. If you have a personal injury claim, you are up against attorneys and other individuals who are paid to investigate your life and the claims you are making, are paid to look for inconsistencies in your claims, and are paid to keep you from being fairly compensated. One of the first places these people look for inconsistencies and problems in your claim is social media. These individuals are familiar with most if not all different social media and know how to search for and find the information they are looking for, even information you might feel has been blocked or made private. Therefore, it is important to consider everything you post on social media as available for the entire world to see.

      All too often people post updates, statuses and pictures on social media without thinking of what these posts, updates, or pictures say about themselves, their lives, or their situations. Particularly when there is a personal injury claim. Keep in mind, when you are making a claim for injuries you sustained in an incident, you are also claiming that these injuries have had an impact on your life, that includes your ability to perform your normal activities and chores. Pictures and updates of you playing sports, working out, running around or having fun are big indicators that the injuries you are claiming are not as severe as stated. These statements will certainly be used against you and are admissible in court.



      The problems with posts on social media aren't limited to only posts about your activities. Many people use social media as an outlet to their frustrations or a place to lie or brag about conflicts and incidents in which they are involved. All too often social media users will post rants about a car accident or their work and speak out of emotion and ego. They will say things that aren't necessarily true, exaggerate facts, or bring up things that happened in the past that have nothing to do with the incident itself. Again, these statements can contain information that can and certainly will be used against you in your personal injury claim. If you have truly been injured in an incident due to someone else's negligence, the truth is enough. There is no need to exaggerate, lie, or make up anything about the incident. In fact, lies and exaggerations will more than likely hurt your claim.

      A good rule to remember is this - don't post anything on social media you wouldn't be comfortable saying out loud in open court or in public. An even better rule is not to keep any social media posts to an extreme minimum until the conclusion of your case and not to post anything at all about the incident or your claim itself.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

6 Things You Can Do To Help Win Your Personal Injury Lawsuit - Part 3: Tell Your Doctor Everything

     Part 3 of our 6 part series on how to prevent problems in your personal injury lawsuit follows part 2 nicely. When you visit your doctor for treatment, make sure you tell your doctor everything. A very important step in establishing your injury, in creating hard evidence to prove that you were in fact injured, comes from talking with your doctor.

    When someone first sees a doctor on any visit, the doctor will more often than not take what is called a "history" from the patient. This basically means they are asking the patient why he/she came in, is the patient suffering from any problems (pains, illnesses, etc), and if so, when did they start and how did they come about. While the patient is giving his/her history, the physician is writing down what the patient is saying. It is very important that the patient gives a complete and accurate history to the physician. This is important for two reasons: 1. an accurate and complete history is necessary for the doctor to come to an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan (if the doctor doesn't know what is wrong, he can't very well treat it); and 2. this written history makes it onto the medical record, which will act as hard evidence of the injury later.

     Every personal injury lawsuit will require the injured party to be able to prove that he/she is injured, and hard evidence in the form of medical records goes a long way to help. Certainly the injured party will testify, assuming he/she is able to, that he/she was injured and will talk about his/her injuries at trial. However, judges and juries will often look at plaintiffs skeptically.

     Think about it this way: You are telling 12 people who don't know you that you were injured because of the Defendant and you should be compensated. Most members of the jury have likely heard a story or two about some plaintiff faking an injury, or have heard about frivolous lawsuits, or know someone who knows someone who won millions of dollars in a lawsuit. If the jury can't physically see the effects of your injuries, they will very likely think that you might be trying to get rich, or that you are faking the extent of your injuries. Even if this isn't true, as a plaintiff' it is your burden of proof; you must first prove all the elements of your case with a "preponderance of the evidence," including your injuries and the extent of the pain and suffering you suffered.

     Medical records will help to support your testimony about your injuries. You testify that you suffered head injuries in a construction accident and were extremely dizzy and nauseous after the incident. When the jury views your medical records they will see what you told the doctor you were suffering from. If the history in your medical records says you were involved in a construction accident and were complaining of dizziness and nausea, then the jury will see that your story has been independently corroborated. If they see that the medical records only mention that you told the doctor you had a headache, they jury will think that the medical records contradict your story and your credibility will suffer.

    So remember, tell your doctor everything. Tell your doctor about how your injury occurred, when it happened, and report to your doctor all of your symptoms, whether you think they are minor or not. Let the doctor figure out if your complaints are major or minor.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

New Illinois Law May Make It Easier to Get Out of Jury Duty

     The Illinois Legislature has passed Bill 3075, which is waiting for Governor Quinn's signature before it comes into law. Many believe that this law is great news for Illinois citizens. Why? Because Bill 3075 will significantly reduce the likelihood that each citizen gets called in for jury duty.

     Jury duty, while a very important service required to maintain our legal system, has never been very popular. As almost anyone who has been called for jury duty will recount, it can be tedious and inconvenient, and on top of it, jurors aren't compensated very well for their time.

     Every Illinois citizen over the age of 18 can be selected at random for jury duty. Bill 3075 will cut the number of jurors at civil trials from 12 to 6. Less jurors at trial will reduce the size of jury pools, which will reduce the number of individuals selected for jury duty, which will reduce the odds that each individual citizen is called for jury duty.

                                                  

     This bill also raises the compensation levels for jurors to $25 for the first day and $50 for each additional day of service. This compared with current law which sets jury compensation by county population size; the highest current jury pay is in Cook County, which pays $17.20/day.

     Bill 3075 is supported by a large swath of the Illinois population, including several prominent legal interest groups, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. It is also opposed by some other legal interest groups, typically those focused on civil defense. These defense groups argue that this bill favors plaintiffs, there aren't conclusive studies which support this assertion.

     The bill's supporters claim that it makes civil trials more efficient and is designed to benefit jurors. Supporters also argue that the bill will save state and county governments a significant amount of money, which considering the current state of Illinois budget problems, could offer a great deal of relief.  to Illinois. Supporters also cite the bill's increased jury compensation provision will make jurors happier, and result in more attentive and effective juries.

     For more information, see these articles: here and here.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

New Year's Resolutions 3 of 5: Get A Better Job - The Realities of Job-Hunting and Social Media Posting

     For Part 3 of Eckert & Smestad's 5 Part New Year's Resolutions blog, we will explore the realities of job hunting and its relations to personal social media postings.  A common fear that is discussed among people searching for jobs is the fear that posting inappropriate pictures or comments on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. can cost them their job, or a job opportunity.  There have been many instances in which employees have been fired, or prospective employees have been rejected for job opportunities, because of comments or photos posted on social media (see here, here, here, and here).  However, a recent development in Illinois law may give employees and job seekers some relief.  Note, "some" relief, does not mean complete freedom to post anything with no consequences.

   On January 1, 2013, an amendment, commonly known as the "Facebook Bill," to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act went into effect.  This amendment effectively makes it illegal for any employer or prospective employer to request or require passwords or account information for social media from employees or prospective employees in order to gain access to such social media accounts as conditions of employment.  The "Facebook Bill" also prohibits employers and prospective employers from demanding access to its employees' or prospective employees' social media accounts or profiles as conditions of employment.

 
     The amendment states that it is "unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise disadvantage any individual, with respect to compensation, terms, or conditions or privileges of employment because the individual uses lawful products off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours." (Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, 820 ILCS 55/5).  This Act applies to all employers in the State of Illinois.  The law does nothing to prevent or limit an employers' right to set policies regarding the use of social media in the workplace, nor does it prevent an employer from seeking public information regarding an employee or prospective employee.

     This Law can give employees and job hunters some relief, however, it is worth noting that the normal rules of social interaction and business will always apply.  It is still advisable to remember that anything posted on social media should always be considered public and available to the entire world.  Therefore, if you are considering posting a picture or a comment on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media, you may want to take a second and think about whether it is something you want out there.

*This is attorney advertising, and is not intended to be taken as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Any advice given in the preceding statement is given as general advice and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice for any specific scenarios. For specific advice, or for answers to your questions, call Eckert & Smestad (312-789-4810) or call a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.