Although it may be a bit too late for some of your clients, you may want to remind them that any Facebook comments or Twitter tweets are published for public consumption, likely discoverable, and most likely admissible at trial (as noted by this personal injury lawyer in New York).  As for you defense-types out there, if you are not Googling witnesses and personal injury plaintiffs, then you are likely missing out on a lot of potentially juicy fodder for your upcoming depositions or for cross-examination at trial.  You should also be asking plaintiffs for their “handle” or name they use when posting or commenting on the Internet.  Oftentimes people use the same name for their Twitter username as well as across the other sites that they frequent, i.e, Digg, del.icio.us, Stumbleupon, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, etc.  Another potential source of information are photographs of the witness/plaintiff posted on blogs, websites, Facebook, MySpace, Flicker, Picasa, etc.  The photos are not always posted by the witness/plaintiff but are posted by others who identify those contained in the photograph.  This can lead to a wealth of information about your potential client/witness/deponent/plaintiff.

So, have you warned your clients about the dangers of exposing too much on the Internet?  Or, have you done your research so that you know when your witness is lying about not being able to snowboard any longer when the witness recently posted on Twitter how awesome the halfpipe was at Brighton?  Let’s be safe out there or, alternatively, good hunting!

Update: The New York Times published an article today that highlights the dangers.  NYT reports that most Facebook users never adjust their privacy settings which by default allow the public to view everything on your Facebook profile, including photographs, comments, and personal information.

Update: Aren’t you convinced yet?  No?  Well, see what happened to the poor bloke working the gates at the Philadelphia Eagles’ home stadium who bad-mouthed a Philadelphia Eagles’ player decision in a Facebook comment: he was fired.  Do you really want everyone to know what you think?  Just put it on Facebook.