As a car accident attorney, I always tell my clients that playing around on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or other similar social networking sites can have dire consequences for an auto accident case.

For example, insurance adjusters and defense attorneys will investigate your accounts, Web pages and blogs — even when set as ‘Private’ — and look for things that can help them avoid taking full responsibility for the harms they have caused. The purpose of this Internet research is to attempt to show that you are not as injured as you claim.

In my practice and in previous blogs, I frequently warn Michigan auto accident attorneys that defense lawyers hired by insurance companies are looking at what car accident victims are posting on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Classmates.com and blogs. I recently came across the agenda for a large insurance defense firm seminar that drives this point home. One of the topics the defense lawyers and insurance adjusters discussed was, “Using Internet Social Networking Sites as a Discovery Tool.” Basically, they ironed out how to use Facebook, MySpace, blogs and Internet sources for discovery purposes.

Top Mistakes Accident Victims Make: No. 5

People injured car accidents and collecting no-fault insurance benefits are frequently told by their insurance companies and claims adjusters that they must apply for Social Security Disability (SSD). But it’s a big mistake for an auto accident victim to consider a Social Security Disability application or SSD claim as separate from his or her personal injury automobile auto accident case. It’s imperative that you contact your Michigan auto accident attorney as soon as an insurance adjuster instructs you to apply, to discuss how applying could affect your case. For example, if you’re accepted too soon, it could literally wipe out your entire economic recovery in your third-party case.

Top Mistakes in Auto Accident Cases: No. 4

This is the fourth blog post in a series on avoiding mistakes in a Michigan auto accident lawsuit, to protect clients from insurance company defense lawyers aiming to destroy legitimate cases. But aside from advising car accident victims to take the proper steps during litigation, referring attorneys must also take caution with first-party and third-party cases alike. Understandably, many personal injury attorneys would rather settle cases themselves. But even with the best of intentions, they often wait too long to refer them. This creates several reoccurring problems can be detrimental to a car accident case:

Top Mistakes Accident Victims Make: No. 3

Our personal injury lawyers believe everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs. But auto accident victims with pending personal injury lawsuits should also remember that some opinions, whether political, religious or social, can offend or turn off jurors who do not share the same views. We have tried countless injury cases over the years, and if there’s one universal truth about winning trials, it is this: juries tend to help people they like, and tend to punish people they do not like. Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits must keep this in mind.

Top Mistakes Accident Victims Make: No. 2

One of the biggest problems our auto accident lawyers face — especially because many of our personal injury cases are referred to us by other attorneys a year or two after a car crash has occurred — is that accident victims do not take photos of their injuries. Taking photos is critically important. Pictures are objective, credible evidence, and they help to correlate a car accident with the occupant’s trauma; especially when the defense later contests that the collision wasn’t severe enough to cause the claimed injuries. Additionally, taking photos of injuries is compelling. It makes the injuries real, believable and vivid.

Top Mistakes Accident Victims Make: No. 1

The best way to avoid mistakes in a lawsuit is excellent communication with your personal injury attorney. There are so many confusing laws that can trap the unsuspecting and wreck havoc on a Michigan automobile accident case, even when people are trying to be truthful, honest and do the right thing. The best advice remains the simplest: Call your accident attorney if you have a question, and certainly before doing something that can have a major impact on your personal injury case, like filing an application for social security disability, not understanding why an injured person cannot file for unemployment or posting misleading photos of yourself on the Internet.