The issue of the discoverability/admissibility of social media records is incredibly relevant to health-care litigation. The ability for a defense attorney to monitor the Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media accounts of a plaintiff for contradictory evidence against claims of injury or physical limitations, can provide significant fuel to a case. While the issue of discoverability/admissibility of social media is still in its infancy in New Jersey, both sides of the aisle have great stakes in the future outcome.
According to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, the chances are high that your client or an opposing party in one of your malpractice cases is actively using Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Pew’s Internet Project Library Survey (2013) indicates that 90 percent of Internet users aged 18-29 are active social media users; 78 percent of those aged 30-49 and 65 percent of those aged 50-64 use it; and even 46 percent of individuals aged 65 and over utilize social media.
