Those of us attending a sporting event or concert recently have probably observed a troubling trend. So many of the younger people in attendance, who we now call millennials, are more interested in filming the event with their phone than simply watching and enjoying it. After our view of the proceedings is severely diminished, the films and photos are posted on social media, such as Facebook, and shared with the world. If attendance at the event is not somehow documented on social media, it’s as if they did not witness it.

Back in the dark ages of the 1990s, before the technology boom, defendants frequently conducted videotape surveillance in the hopes of catching plaintiffs on film engaged in robust activity. As recently as 2003, the Court of Appeals observed that “[i]n the world of personal injury litigation, defendants will sometimes conduct videotaped surveillance seeking to verify the extent of plaintiffs’ injuries or to establish that plaintiffs have feigned or exaggerated them.” Tran v. New Rochelle Hosp., 99 N.Y.2d 383, 385 (2003). These days, surveillance videographers are short on work and have gone the way of the Maytag repairman (millennials can look that one up on YouTube!). Their services are now rarely required because plaintiffs perform their own surveillance, carefully documenting and recording their lives, and then posting it all on social networking sites, complete with editorial comments.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]