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Lawyers in the House with Montlick - Your Legal Podcast
040 Social Media & Your Case

040 Social Media & Your Case

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Attorneys in Podcast: Ellis Liu, Esq.

Listen, we get it, social media is just a part of life at this point. But Montlick attorneys are in the house to talk about some pretty important dos and don’ts when it comes to what you’re posting after an accident and injury.

Can your review of a store after a slip and fall hurt your case? What’s okay to post after you get your settlement check? Can social media ever help your lawyer win your case? Find out!

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The purpose of this show is to provide general information about the law. Our guests will not provide any individualized legal advice. If you have a personal situation and need legal advice, contact us for your free legal consultation with a Montlick attorney.

Topics Discussed on the Podcast

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00:05	ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House. With Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host. Veronica Waters. VERONICA: Welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters here with another fabulous episode coming your way about how the law helps you when you get hurt through no fault of your own.
00:31	VERONICA: Social media – it is part of our everyday lives. We post, we pin, we TikTok, we reel, we put up pictures, we put up memes, we put up all kinds of snaps, we do tweets, we’re Facebooking, we’re all over the place on social media. But is that public forum what you need when you’ve got a personal injury? We’re talking about that today on Lawyers in the House and with me in the house today two returning very special guests to the show.
01:03	VERONICA: Let’s start off with everyone loves Ellen Forrester and her amazing duets with Veronica here on the show. ELLEN: That’s true. That’s true. And I’m thankful that we don’t have to duet – do a duet on all of those platforms you just talked about because I’m like, what does all that even mean? I need to be doing all that social. VERONICA: I’m gonna pin you. ELLEN: Drop a pin, whatever that means. Oh, there it is. VERONICA: Ellen Forrester has spent thousands of hours in courtrooms fighting for her clients. She knew from a very young age that she wanted a career that was going to allow her to help people.
01:34	VERONICA: And she’s been called to do something positive very early in life. And now she’s found her calling in law. She’s a tireless advocate for folks who are hurt. She always makes sure they understand the details of their case in a very real-world way. And she has served as an adjunct professor of constitutional law and criminal law at Lipscomb University. ELLEN: That’s right, in Nashville. VERONICA: Which is where she earned her bachelor’s degree. I love Nashville. ELLEN: I do too. VERONICA: She earned her bachelor’s degree there. And she also graduated from Tulane and American University with a couple of law degrees.
02:05	VERONICA: So, I guess one wasn’t enough. ELLEN: I went a little bit extra. So, when you go to law school in New Orleans, they teach you this phrase lagniappe, which means a little something extra. And so, after law school, I went and got a little something extra. I got a Master’s of Law, an LLM, in trial advocacy. So, I’m your gal if you want to go into a courtroom because I get… VERONICA: You’re a brawler. Is that what you’re saying? ELLEN: That’s right, scrappy. VERONICA: Put your dukes up. ELLEN: Post that. Snap that. TikTok that. VERONICA: That’s right. Put a pin in it. Drop a pin on it. All right, now let me ask you this, ’cause you’ve been here so many times, and I’ve talked to you about what inspired you to go into law.
02:38	VERONICA: If you could have a career in anything other than law, what would that be? ELLEN: I would… Ooh, so good. I would be a farmer. I mean, like, I know that… It’s close. ELLIS: For sure. ELLEN: It’s really close. But I would love to like grow things and cultivate things and homestead things. I’m about to go pick up my bees and my new beehive for the spring bee season is upon us, my chickens are laying eggs. I’ve got my gardens going in.
03:05	ELLEN: So, I would try to cobble together some sort of like farmy – make a goat milk lotiony soap thing. And Ellis would be all about it with me. ELLIS: I love goat milk lotion, yeah. ELLEN: There’s a lot of that on the socials. VERONICA: But we need to put that in a reel. Goat milk, lotiony things, right? Lotiony soapy things. All right, so Ellen Forrester’s next career. Put a pin in it. It’s around the corner. And also back in the house with us today –
03:36	VERONICA: Ellis Liu, who is a graduate of UGA and Emory Law, Ellis’ clients say he always goes above and beyond. And even the lawyers who go up against him talk about how his ethics and his diligence always shine through. Now, Ellis used to be an attorney for the insurance companies and saw how they treated people, he told me, and decided that he wanted to be on the more personal side of the law. He is a natural born leader. Maybe that’s evidenced by the fact that this guy was Mr. Pope High School.
04:06	ELLIS: Oh, wow, that’s coming out. VERONICA: And then Ellis distinguished himself early in his career racking up recognition as a super lawyer’s rising star. Several years in a row, he is multilingual, speaks not only English, but Spanish and…? ELLIS: Mandarin. VERONICA: Mandarin, okay. And tell me about this. And here’s the thing, cute thing, both Ellis and Ellen went to Pope high school, right? ELLEN: I was not Miss Pope, but I was the class president. Like 15 years before Ellis even got in the building. VERONICA: Look at these two high achievers.
04:36	ELLIS: Pope High School representing. VERONICA: So, Ellis tell me, remind us what inspired you to become a lawyer? ELLIS: You know, my daddy wanted a doctor and I didn’t want to study medicine. Yeah, and here we are. VERONICA: That’s it? ELLIS: I’m still helping people, in a different way. VERONICA: Really? ELLIS: Yep. VERONICA: What did your dad say? Was he like, son, I really wanted you to be… ELLIS: Oh, he didn’t talk to me for a while. VERONICA: Oh no. ELLIS: Yeah, yeah, I really crushed his dreams. But now he’s very supportive. Hey, dad.
05:03	VERONICA: Hi, Dr. Liu. ELLIS: Very proud of me. VERONICA: Yeah, really? ELLIS: Yeah. VERONICA: What was it about law, though? So, you sort of were staking your claim, I guess, as your individual identity, right? But you didn’t have to stay in it. So clearly something about it connected with you. ELLIS: Well, it really wasn’t until I got to Montlick that I really found my home. I tried different practice areas. You know, the goal was always to try to help people, you know. That’s why I wanted to get into medicine. Well, no, why I wanted to get into medicine was because my dad wanted me to get into medicine.
05:32	ELLIS: But I had always wanted to help people, and that’s what drew me to medicine. And then finally getting to Montlick and seeing the way the culture here at the firm that David and Alan have created… it’s really, it’s really made me feel like this is a rewarding place to work. ELLEN: Yes. VERONICA: You’re doing the right thing. ELLEN: Yeah. A 100%. Yeah. Yeah. VERONICA: Look at the amen corner. Before we move ahead to talk about social media, will you please do me a quick favor?
06:01	VERONICA: Tell me what’s this about you lobbying – drafting and lobbying – for a bill that got passed here in Georgia? ELLIS: Oh, okay, sure. This was back in 2013, actually, during law school. There were laws that prosecuted minors – state obscenity laws that prosecuted minors for sending text messages to each other.
06:25	ELLIS: And those laws that were felony prosecutions that would prevent these minors from getting student loans, from getting jobs in the future. And so, we carved out an exception in the Georgia code to prevent these sort of prosecutions against minors who are sending text messages that probably their parents wouldn’t be proud of, but they shouldn’t be considered obscene, obscene messages in the eyes of the law.
06:53	VERONICA: That follow you for the rest of your life and hinder your abilities going forward. Kudos to you. ELLIS: Thanks. VERONICA: Ellis and Ellen in the house with me, your girl Veronica Waters. What’s going on? Thanks for being in the house. With me. Thanks for being in the house with me. You guys, we’re talking about social media today. And as I said, it is ubiquitous. It is everywhere. Some people don’t do anything before they TikTok. Their wake up for the day. And here’s me, first cup of coffee on the Instagram, right? Telling everybody about my espresso machine.
07:21	VERONICA: But for you guys, how does social media come to your attention? ELLEN: Personally, or professionally? No, I’m just kidding. VERONICA: What’s your IG handle? ELLEN: Well, I – VERONICA: Okay. Then professionally. ELLEN: Professionally. VERONICA: Professionally. Let’s go there. ELLEN: I mean, I like to be on the socials, but I’m really… you know, I think I know from my former practice as a criminal defense attorney, that those things follow you forever. I mean, you post something on the Internet and whether it’s a TikTok that you think is going to go away or something that you can think that you can remove, it’s there forever.
07:54	ELLEN: And so, I find that I’m fairly cautious personally with what I post online. And then professionally, you know, the first thing, one of the first things that you do when you really want to go hard after somebody that’s hurt your client is you look them up on the socials. What kind of person are they? Because you convey a sense of who you are, even though we all know there’s some element of fluff on the Internet, you still are conveying, if you can read between the lines, what someone is about, what their life is about, what their, you know, what their kind of vibe is.
08:26	ELLEN: And that’s really, really helpful when you want to attack them, frankly, with their insurance company. VERONICA: Wow. Ellis? ELLIS: And one thing to keep in mind, I mean, social media for lawyers – it is a buffet of evidence. It is, you know, trial… trial, yeah… trial is about who’s right and who’s wrong. But unfortunately, trial is also about who is more likeable. ELLEN: Yes. ELLIS: Trial is about making the other side look bad.
08:54	ELLIS: All right, and so social media has now opened up a – I’m gonna use the word again – buffet of evidence for us to use against people in trial. To make them look bad, to make the other side look bad. And also, the other side will use it to make you look bad. Even something that you think is pretty innocent, taken out of context, put it… put in the hollowed walls of a courtroom, can look really, really bad. VERONICA: So, is it always being twisted out of?
09:24	ELLIS: Absolutely. Absolutely. VERONICA: Really? ELLEN: Well, you get to make up the context when you’re a lawyer in the courtroom. You provide the context to the jury. VERONICA: So, you’re looking at people’s lifestyles really to see what they’re all about. Basically, like you said, to get their vibe. But it can also be used maybe to look at your client, too, and try to say, hey, hey, hey, check you out. ELLEN: That’s right. That’s right. When we see that nationally, there’s so many of these stories that come out where things come up out of the vault like Ellis was talking about, right, where somebody did something 20 years ago and a picture got put on the Internet and now they’re trying… they’re grown up and they’re different and their life is different.
09:58	ELLEN: But like that stain stays with you. Or people that post bad acts on the Internet. Oh, here look at me, I’m driving, you know, 700 miles an hour on the interstate. and then they kill somebody, and their chance of… I mean, you know, that case is done from the beginning because they’ve already provided all the evidence that was needed to prosecute them criminally, to get all of their insurance money, and it’s foolish. VERONICA: I think a lot of people remember that SnapChat ended up getting rid of what they called a speed filter on their app because there were so many accidents that came about because teenagers in particular were using the speed filter and trying to get selfies.
10:33	VERONICA: We even had a case here in Georgia, trying to get selfies so that the high 100 mph speed would get posted and they could put that online. And the case in Georgia involved a girl rear ending a guy sending his car off into an embankment, left him with brain injuries. I mean, it’s… so social media, to your point, a buffet of evidence, Ellis. You probably saw it a lot, too, in your job pre Montlick. Working for the insurance companies? ELLIS: Right, absolutely. My job, when an insurance company gets a case, especially if the insurance company represents a large corporation.
11:07	ELLIS: Like a ride share company or a trucking company. You know, those corporations, those big companies, they have a lot of resources. They can afford to pay very good lawyers to handle these cases and… from the date of the collision. The lawyer might be going out to the scene in the middle of the night. Sometimes we would have to do that. You get a call about a bad accident. Your trucking company got in a bad accident. The lawyer’s out on the scene that night gathering evidence. And within hours, we are all over – the insurance company lawyers are all over your social media.
11:38	ELLIS: They may be sending an investigator or a private investigator to stake you out in front of your house to verify your injuries. You know, Ellen just had a great result in a huge case against the big box corporation and you bet those big corporations are absolutely investigating you and your allegations. VERONICA: It sounds like stuff out of a TV show to think that somebody’s like snooping around my life in real life.
12:09	VERONICA: You talk about snooping in person and online. ELLIS: Absolutely. ELLEN: Absolutely. VERONICA: Have you had a case where social media could help a client? Something that somebody posted online actually helped somebody. ELLEN: I had a case where… what’s funny is that this was actually a bed bugs case, and we take these cases if all of the facts kind of line up. We’ve got to have the perfect storm of bed bugs, but I had a… which I mean, it’s always a storm when there’s bed bugs involved. I had a case where a client had rented a hotel room that had bedbugs, and then when she and her husband were bitten and they had to go to the hospital, they had a terrible reaction.
12:42	ELLEN: The hotel tried to say they didn’t know that they were on notice that the bed bugs were there. And I was able to look through social media, TripAdvisor, Facebook, you know, all of these different sites, and there were bookoo, buffet style reviews, about them being – there being bed bugs in this hotel. And so, it was really helpful because I went back to the insurance company, and I said, um, they did know, or should have known because it’s all over the Internet. VERONICA: They could not, at that point, say, we had no idea. ELLEN: That’s right.
13:10	VERONICA: Or they would be saying we never looked at these reviews. ELLEN: Which we know isn’t true. VERONICA: Right. All right, so coming up on Lawyers in the House, a little bit more about what you might do on social media that could help or hurt your case. And hearsay. Objection, your honor. That’s coming up next on Lawyers in the House. I’m Veronica Waters, stay with us. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m.
13:39	Every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m your host Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorneys Ellis Liu and Ellen Forrester. We’re talking about social media and how it might help or hurt a case. And I’m thinking you two… people put anything they want to on social media. I mean, people are putting up filters to make themselves look cuter. We’re telling the most glamorized versions of our lives so often.
14:07	VERONICA: So how in the world is social media not considered like hearsay anyway when it comes to going to court? ELLEN: Sure. So, I’ve run into this a couple of times with clients who say, well, they couldn’t bring any of that in it to hearsay. Hearsay is a there’s a very specific definition of hearsay. Hearsay is a statement made by somebody outside of court, offered for the truth of the matter of that statement. Boring lawyers speak meaning you say something that you intend to convey the truth of that thing that you’re saying.
14:34	ELLEN: When you’re a party opponent or if you’re a plaintiff, a person that’s injured that we represent or you’re a party opponent defendant, the person that calls the accident, your statements by virtue of the fact that you’re a party to the case, are not hearsay by definition. So, anything you say, if you’re a party to the case, is not hearsay. So, if it’s posted on social media, it becomes fair play. So, Ellis can tell you, you know, we ask for everything in litigation.
15:02	ELLEN: We send discovery requests where we say we want your Twitter handle, your Instagram h- I think it’s called a handle. Your Facebook page. We want all of this. And we wanted to see all of your statements, all of your posts, everything. And we’re going to comb through all of it. Things that you say are fair game. VERONICA: Does that only apply to the posts- public posts and stuff or when you get… when you’re getting that evidence back? Do you have- ELLEN: We can ask for everything. That’s the thing about the buffet analogy, which I love, is that… and I tell my clients, I cast a wide net.
15:33	ELLEN: I’m going to request and I’m going to get everything. VERONICA: Messages back and forth. ELLEN: Everything. VERONICA: Really? ELLEN: Whether it comes in is an issue to go… to go in front of a judge and argue in front of a judge about why it should or shouldn’t come in. But I think judges err on the side of letting things come in because they don’t want to be reversed, right? So, if you post it to me personally, privately and my lawyer gets it, they are going to figure out a way to use it. VERONICA: Incredible. What is the… what are the odds that you are going to have then some evidence that’s going to help you really nail down a case?
16:08	VERONICA: A piece of evidence that’s like a gold nugget for you that closes the case. ELLEN: I think good lawyers like the lawyers that we have at Montlick will turn anything into that nugget. If you’re a creative problem solver, like we are, like I am, like I know Ellis is with his successes. At the firm, we will figure out a way to polish that nugget to where it looks like gold. Even if it doesn’t seem to be at the beginning. VERONICA: I love it.
16:33	VERONICA: Social media, the nuggets of information we’re getting here with Ellis Liu and Ellen Forrester. Coming up, we’re going to delve into some of their real-life cases about social media and how it might have helped or hurt personal injury cases that they took. That is straight ahead on Lawyers in the House, don’t you move. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSB.
17:05	VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorneys Ellen Forrester and Ellis Liu and we are talking about social media today on the show. So, this is a great time for me to remind you that you can find us on every social media platform @MontlickLaw. Keep up with us all throughout the week between episodes. And when you want those extra special nuggets that are shined to a beautiful polish, you can always check them out on YouTube. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or just go to LawyersintheHouse.com where you can see everything, hear everything and 24/7 send us a question around the clock.
17:43	VERONICA: Social media @Montlicklaw. So, when we are talking about social media, Ellis and Ellen, it is, as you said -we’re going to keep using this- a buffet of evidence. You don’t know how people are going to react when they see it. ELLIS: That’s right. Let me give you an example. There was a case… social media is great. And for a lot of people, it’s fun. But taken out of context, it can look really bad. So, for example, there was a case in federal court in Georgia, in Atlanta.
18:13	ELLIS: It was a Americans with Disabilities Act case, where the plaintiff was denied entry to a popular restaurant in Atlanta due to her service dog. And part of the case was making the restaurant owner look like they discriminated against people with disabilities.
18:37	ELLIS: And that restaurant owner – the lawyers in that case for the plaintiff, the person with the service dog… the lawyers in that case, dug up, looked on the restaurant owner’s social media… and she had… the restaurant owner had posted a video that was quite clearly a joke. It was a prank video of a blind person pretending to… well, it wasn’t a blind person. It was a not-blind person pretending to be blind.
19:08	ELLIS: And urinating on people passing by in a lazy river. And it was a prank. However, that video that the restaurant owner posted, when used in court, in the seriousness and gravity of a Americans with Disabilities Act case made that restaurant owner look very biased against people with disabilities. So, you know, social media, it can be fun. But taken out of context, it can be very dangerous and harmful.
19:38	VERONICA: It can make or break a case, it sounds like. ELLIS: Absolutely. VERONICA: What are some of the other instances that you guys have had when social media really helped you turn the corner on a case and bring it home? ELLEN: I had a case once where it was a hit and run case. And my clients were struck. It was after dark. They could not see the car that drove off. Someone followed that car got their license plate, came back and gave that to the police. So, plug for the good Samaritan that got that information.
20:06	ELLEN: But what was funny was that the investigation that the police did in the days after was cut short because the car that struck my client’s car mysteriously caught on fire before the police could complete their hit and run investigation. VERONICA: Mysteriously caught on fire. ELLEN: And so, the insurance company for the defendant driver whose car caught on fire, quote-unquote mysteriously, denied the claim. They said you know, it wasn’t our guy. He says it wasn’t him. You can’t prove it was him.
20:33	ELLEN: So, we filed a lawsuit because we don’t back down at Montlick when things get tough. We dig in and we go, you know, bring it on. So, I filed a lawsuit. I go to depositions and in the course of deposing this defendant, find out that there was a video online of the car on fire. He just kind of volunteered that in the depositions, and it was on social media. And so, while we’re sitting in the deposition, I was like, can you just go ahead and pull up your Facebook page and show me that video? And he’s looking at his lawyer like, do I have to do that?
21:02	ELLEN: And I’m like, uh huh. You can look at me, sir. I’m the one asking the questions right here. And so, he pulled it up and watched the video. And while I’m doing that, you know, I’m not just watching the video. I’m looking at all of these people’s names. And it’s not in a vacuum, right? I mean, this video is posted in the context of everything else on this person’s page. And I’m like, oh, if I could just see that for a minute, you know, to start like, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And so, you know, while the video itself was helpful, the way that it disarmed this defendant in the deposition was really meaningful because it was very clear at that point who was in charge.
21:37	ELLEN: And it was not him. VERONICA: How? But what happened? ELLEN: It was like another accident, quote unquote, where he hit a tree allegedly, and the car caught on fire. But we’re talking about like a brand-new car. It was just all very, very shady. And at the end of the day, after the deposition, the insurance company’s attorney called and they said, we’d really like to get this case settled. And I thought, I bet. I bet you would. VERONICA: I bet you would. ELLEN: I bet you would. I’m sure. VERONICA: Let’s talk about what somebody else posts.
22:06	VERONICA: Okay, let’s say that you are really hurt, right? And Ellis, you have talked about people being investigated for their injuries. So, let’s say I’m in an accident. Somebody T boned me at an intersection. I rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills. But maybe I finally feel well enough to go to my cousin’s wedding. I’m all dressed up. Somebody’s got a picture of me there. Maybe I’m on the dance floor doing the electric slide. You know, for one turn, and there’s somebody- my cousin, my aunt posts a picture of me, and I’m looking happy that day.
22:39	VERONICA: I could actually be in real pain, right? A picture is just one moment in time, but that could be all somebody needs. ELLEN: That’s right. ELLIS: Yeah, absolutely. It happens all the time with our clients when we’re in court. The insurance company lawyers, they want all of our videos. And I’ve had an insurance company lawyer delay a case until they found out our client went on vacation to the beach. And they wanted every single photo, every single video, public or private.
23:08	ELLIS: Let’s be clear, there’s no such thing as private when it comes to a lawsuit context. And in the court, even your DMs, even your private messages, those are absolutely available in court under a subpoena that- you don’t even need a subpoena. You’re just required to turn all of that over. It doesn’t have to be public. So, there is no distinction between public and private postings. VERONICA: No matter what your privacy settings are? ELLIS: Right. Right. Again, even the private messages, even the DMs are available in court… are subject to a subpoena, and they must be produced.
23:41	ELLIS: Any statement, even text messages, private messages have to come out in court. VERONICA: You guys love social media. Tell the truth. ELLIS: As a lawyer, oh, yeah. VERONICA: Yeah. ELLIS: Oh, yeah. VERONICA: Yeah. ELLIS: It’s a feast. VERONICA: It’s a feast. ELLEN: I had a case once where the clients were, you know, two years after an accident and they had gone to Machu Picchu, right? I mean, like, hello, that’s awesome. VERONICA: Beautiful. ELLEN: Apparently it involves a lot of steps. VERONICA: It does. Or, so I’ve heard. ELLEN: And so, the photos, right, of their vacation to Machu Picchu came out in court from the other side.
24:11	ELLEN: They said, well, I mean, they couldn’t have been hurt that bad. Here they are enjoying, you know, Machu Picchu. And I’m like thinking, well, yeah, but it’s two years later. And it’s… It just takes one or two people in a jury box or one inkling in a judge’s mind on either side. Ellis said at the beginning of the – at the top of the show, you know, that court, you go to court to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong. That’s true. But what drives that decision is whether or not, like he said, people like you.
24:41	ELLEN: Trial is a play. Going to court, I liken it to a play. You’ve got the characters in the play. You’ve got the costumes in the play. You’ve got the plot of the play. You’ve got the first act, the second act, the closing act. And if your character, your client, is the most likeable and has the best, you know, character arc and the best plot, you win because people walk away liking your version of the play best. That’s why you win. And that’s how you prove who’s right, because you put on your show. That’s the whole thing.
25:10	VERONICA: I would think that if I was in an accident and I took to Facebook and said, oh my gosh, I’ve been in a wreck and I… but don’t worry, I’m okay… that there’s nothing wrong with that. Yay or nay? ELLIS: Nay, I tell all my clients from the very first phone call, please, please, please do not post anything about this on social media. Stay off of social media. VERONICA: But you know people, people’s first reaction, Ellis, is to get on social media and tell somebody. ELLIS: That can be very dangerous for your case. That can be very dangerous for the case.
25:40	ELLEN: Because the insurance companies love to come in later and say, look, Veronica was fine that day. We don’t know what happened between Veronica saying she was fine and Veronica saying that she had to go to the doctor a week later. Maybe she went to Costco, you know, and hoisted a case of, you know, rotisserie chickens. ELLIS: Slipped on blueberries. ELLEN: Yeah. You know, maybe that’s what did it, right? I mean, who knows? She was fine that day. VERONICA: She said so right here.
26:06	ELLEN: She said so with a smile on her face, there she is at her cousin’s wedding and going to Machu Picchu. And by the way, there’s this terrible joke she posted 15 years ago on her Craigslist page or whatever it is. I’m so bad. VERONICA: Craigslist page. Her MySpace page. ELLEN: Her MySpace page. You know, whatever. So, it all comes back around. Nothing is private. VERONICA: Nothing is private. And you got to be… so I’ve got to be looking out for what I post – which Ellis is saying, don’t post anything at all- and what other people post or tag me in?
26:37	ELLEN: Oh, I hate that. ELLIS: Right. ELLEN: The tags are the worst. VERONICA: The tags are the worst. ELLIS: Oh, yeah. ELLEN: Because you have no control over it. My friends learned a long time ago, do not tag me in your business. No, ma’am. ELLIS: And even outside the context of a car crash lawsuit. I mean, for privacy, security reasons. You know, when you post that you’re going out tonight, what does that necessarily mean about your home tonight? You’re not there. It is empty. And people out there know that you’re vulnerable there.
27:04	ELLIS: Or, gosh, you know, I have two young kids and we try very hard not to post any pictures about them. Because it’s dangerous outside of the context of… even outside the context of a car crash lawsuit, it can be dangerous in other ways too. You gotta be really careful about what you’re telling the entire world. VERONICA: Yeah, I’m one of those people who only posts her vacation photos once I’m back home. ELLIS: Yeah. VERONICA: Nobody knows where I am when I go on vacation. You know, you don’t find out about my trip to Tahiti until I’m already back in Atlanta GA.
27:35	VERONICA: So, I know exactly what you mean. And we’re always telling people that on the news to be very cautious about what you’re revealing. I don’t even I’m not one of those people who… if I’m checking into a location, I’m leaving it. You know, I’m not there. So, do you guys have any advice for people about if they’ve already posted something? Like, how often… you know, does that… does what you posted online really play a role into how your case ends? ELLEN: I think it just depends. I would never, ever, ever advise anybody to intentionally delete or do away with anything.
28:08	ELLIS: Right. ELLEN: That’s a bad idea. ELLIS: Right. You’re destroying evidence. ELLEN: If you are listening to the show right now… VERONICA: That’s considered destroying evidence? ELLEN: That’s right. VERONICA: But what if I just thought better of it though? ELLEN: Well, too bad, so sad ‘cause it’s already out there. Think better about it before you post it, right? ELLIS: Right? ELLEN: Because what’s worse, right? That you’ve got this thing that you posted and then your lawyers who are really skilled come in and they try to offer an explanation for it. Is that worse? Or she posted this thing, then she deleted this thing, then we found out about this thing. And now we have to explain why you posted it, why you deleted it.
28:37	ELLEN: And then all of that, right? So, if it’s out there, it’s out there. You can delete it, but it’s still there. VERONICA: So basically, I’m just supposed to be taking a hiatus from social media. ELLEN: Well, we know you don’t. You’re a social butterfly. VERONICA: Hey, don’t post anything on social media. Don’t let anybody post anything about you. Actually, just get off social media. Just deactivate your page. ELLEN: I mean, would that be better for everybody? ELLIS: I don’t post on social media. VERONICA: You don’t post on social media? Ever? ELLIS: I don’t. I used to. I used to be really big on social media. But at this point, no. VERONICA: Have you ever been hurt in a personal injury?
29:06	VERONICA: You ever had a personal injury? ELLIS: I have not, no. Thankfully, no. VERONICA: Yeah, just cautious? Just extra cautious? ELLIS: I just don’t post on social media. VERONICA: Or antisocial? ELLEN: That’s it. ELLIS: Yeah. Antisocial in a different way. VERONICA: He’s antisocial. So, I really am curious though. Not that you’re trying to, again, you’re not telling people to be dishonest, but you do want us to have our eyes open as to how somebody else might look at our content and try to use it against us. Does that involve… Does it… but I was asking about when the case ends? Does it matter about me getting the check?
29:36	VERONICA: When I’m in the right, whatever social media is out there. If I’ve, let’s say… you mentioned a slip and fall at a big box store or something like that. Do I have to go back and because I’m like, oh my God, look at me on the floor here. You know, selfie time. Lucky… I’m so glad to be alive. ELLEN: You may have to, it just depends on what kind of agreement is reached with the insurance company. Sometimes if there’s a non-disclosure agreement or things like that, you may have to retroactively go back after the case, but your lawyer would give you direction about that.
30:06	VERONICA: Okay, so it won’t stop the settlement from coming, but it needs to be part of what happens to wrap it up. ELLEN: Maybe, yes, ma’am. VERONICA: All right, Ellen and Ellis here with Veronica on Lawyers in the House. Coming up the Montlick closing argument and the only four words you can say on social media. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with mount lick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8 a.m.
30:35	on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick and your host Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorneys Ellis Liu and Ellen Forrester talking about social media, the hold it has on people, and how it could affect your personal injury cases. We have lawyers here with decades of experience in the room with us and for the Montlick closing argument they’re going to tell you the four words -the only four words- that you can say on social media.
31:08	VERONICA: Ellis and Ellen, take it away. ELLIS: So, in the context of social media, sometimes you post something about your case and maybe it’s a bad thing about the people who hurt you. And when your case starts to settle and you need to sign a release to wrap up the case, the people who hurt you might want you to take that down off social media.
31:32	ELLIS: Which that can be part of the agreement that you make. And oftentimes -I used to work for these big companies- we would require that the injured person not talk about the case at all. They could not say anything about how they were hurt, couldn’t say anything about the corporation, the business that hurt them, and the only four words that you could say is, “The matter is resolved.” And that’s it. VERONICA: The matter is resolved. The only four words that are safe to say.
32:02	ELLIS: Right. VERONICA: Yeah. Speaking of safe, Ellen, so much more to think about when it comes to social media than just personal injury. ELLEN: Right. Absolutely. I mean, Ellis said that he has two kids. I have two kids. I have a husband and a family. And I’m very, very protective of the information that I share online. I was fortunate enough to participate in a training session several years ago that was put on by law enforcement talking about protecting your children from online predators or online… you know, the dangers of online.
32:34	ELLEN: And behaviors that have become really, really second nature to so many people are actually very dangerous. Posting where you are. Posting where you’re going, being Ellis said during one of the breaks, if you post that you’re going out of town, everybody knows your house is empty. Are you inadvertently telling people where you and your children go to the grocery store, where you go to church? You’re sharing information that could be used to harm you.
32:58	ELLEN: And quizzes online about your street that you grew up on or your dog’s name or this and that… that you’re just giving Internet predators information that they can use against you. And so, I think that’s one of the reasons that as lawyers we become so cautious about sharing this information. But just as people be really careful, people know that what you’re posting isn’t real, you’re not fooling anybody. Keep some of that business to yourself because you’re just giving people ammunition to use against you later. Personally or professionally.
33:28	VERONICA: Social media is supposed to be something that we can all enjoy together. And even though it does have its nasty corners sometime… even when you mean well, it could be especially in a personal injury case. It could be the foe that you didn’t even know. Yeah. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Could it be worth thousands of dollars whenever you get hurt through no fault of your own? Social media with Montlick injury attorneys, Ellen Forrester, and Ellis Liu. Thanks so much for being in the house with us everybody. I’m Veronica Waters, we’ll see you next time.
34:01	You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick, catch us live every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.

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