Will I Lose My Privacy if I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
If you’ve tried and failed to settle your personal injury claim, you may now take the next step and proceed with a proper lawsuit. Still, worries about your privacy might be giving you second thoughts. How much of it, if any, will you have to sacrifice? Is your intimate personal life in danger of going public? A good personal injury attorney on your side can help.
What Attorneys Want to Know
The truth is that filing any kind of lawsuit can result in loss of privacy to a certain extent. Defense may ask questions that seem intrusive. They can legally insist that you turn over your financial, medical and employment records. Your opponent’s lawyers have one objective, and that’s to get their client off the hook. To achieve that end, they will do whatever they feel they must.
All the digging may seem to you like privacy invasion, but it’s all just part of the process. Instead of getting your dander up, it’s best to expect the onslaught and get yourself ready to deal with it. Knowledge is power, and things may go more smoothly than you think.
When Your Lifestyle Comes Back to Bite You
In an attempt to cast aspersions on your character, attorneys will look for anything derogatory that could possibly bring you down a notch in the eyes of a jury. They may therefore target such seemingly unrelated items as your marital status, your body mass index or even your line of work.
For this reason, the Las Vegas blackjack dealer, gogo dancer or cocktail waitress could have a tougher time than teachers, doctors or bank tellers might. Although your chosen career may be perfectly legal, a desperate defense attorney could hope to convince a jury that it marks you as someone not to be trusted. Fortunately, this sort of tactic is simple to fight. You can easily make mincemeat out of such attempts by using your mode of dress and demeanor to show that you are honest, upstanding and above all likeable.
Here Come the Paparazzi
As part of their effort to mount a credible defense, the other side will often go to great lengths to insinuate that you are faking your injuries. They will need some evidence to prove this allegation, so don’t be surprised if you wake up one day to find a private investigator parked outside your residence. At any moment, he could decide to video record your actions. Since Nevada laws do not enjoin against the practice, you must scrupulously avoid any behavior that might conflict with your testimony. This is no time to meet up with friends for a rousing round of golf.
Fool Me Once
Despite your most dedicated attempts to remain on your best behavior, shady investigators for the defense could try to pull a fast one and trick you into doing things that the injuries you claim would not allow. Be especially suspicious of the sweet old lady who asks you to carry her heavy bags or the straightforward soul who begs for help when his car is stuck in the mud. A photographer could lurk in the bushes nearby.
Your Tell-All Facebook or Twitter Account
Anyone engaged in a personal injury suit would do well to take a break from social media. It’s the rare individual who hasn’t somehow sacrificed his privacy on Facebook’s gleaming altar, and the things that you or your friends post there might conceivably serve as fodder for opposing counsel. Contrary to popular belief, lawyers who desire to access your posts need not trick you into “friending” them. They can simply petition the judge to make you give them permission.
Once they’ve gotten past your privacy settings, the defense lawyers will search for revealing posts, defamatory comments or pictures that show you engaging in strenuous pursuits. Retaliatory postings of an “unfriended” friend could further weaken your case. A temporary social media break will help you to sidestep such problems.
Is Your Loss of Privacy Worth It?
Yes, it often is. Despite your gravest concerns, the possibility of winning a substantial settlement should easily outweigh any temporary embarrassment that you might suffer during litigation. In any case, the vast majority of people have nothing terribly embarrassing to hide. If you deserve a settlement for injuries that you have suffered through no fault of your own, don’t let privacy concerns stand in the way. With the personal injury attorneys at Weiner Law Group standing at your side, you will more than likely glide through the process with little discomfort at all. Call today at 702-202-0500 or fill out our contact form.