Facebook In Personal Injury Actions
Time and time again lawyers acting for Plaintiff's in personal injury actions are facing the dilemma posed by Facebook. The Globe and Mail reported today, Facebook Foils Canadian Lawsuits. This has been a growing trend since 2007 where a number of courts have produced Plaintiff's personal Facebook profiles.
In a lawsuit the court can order various documentation about a Plaintiff both pre and post accident. It has become customary that certain information is almost always produced. For example, clinical notes and records from treating physicians, income tax returns, employment file etc. However, in some cases photographs are requested depicting and or showing the Plaintiff engaging in various sorts of activities.
It then stems, that there are few options for the Plaintiff in a lawsuit to resist producing a Facebook profile. Moreover, given the recent precedent from Courts across Ontario a Plaintiff is obliged to produce his or her profile.
The comments on the Globe and Mail site are interesting and really hate on Plaintiff's and their lawyers.
Keep in mind that these rulings would also apply to Twitter pages, My Space pages or any other forms of Blogs.
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