Author: Shelby Benavidez
Contributing Attorney: Myranda Vaughn, attorney team lead
Digital footprints are no longer background noise – they are admissible forms of evidence, shaping narratives in litigation, leveraged aggressively by both plaintiffs and defendants. For personal injury attorneys, the rise of social media, smartphone metadata, online records, and public platforms has transformed discovery. However, the challenge is just as great as the opportunity: whatever you use against the defense can be used against your client.
So how do plaintiffs’ lawyers capitalize on digital evidence without exposing clients to avoidable risk? To explore this dynamic, Texas trial attorney and attorney team lead at Daniel Stark Injury Lawyers, Myranda Vaughn, reveals tactics (and cautions) that every plaintiffs’ lawyer should build into their case strategy.
The Double-Edged Sword of Digital Discovery
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are accustomed to mining publicly accessible content: online court records, crash reports, news posts, employment profiles, company websites, and the ever-revealing personal social media pages. However, defendants are doing the same – arguably at a much more significant rate. Insurance defense counsels frequently request expansive discovery spanning social media profiles, private photos, diaries, texts, emails, or anything tied to the timeline of injury.
“They ask overly broad requests for production,” Vaughn said, “all emails, all text messages pertaining to the collision, diaries, any photographs from the day of the collision through today. They even go so far as requesting log-in information to Plaintiff’s social media platforms.”
And while defense counsels can’t necessarily gain access to private accounts, they can scour public posts and hire private investigators to follow clients.
Authenticity Matters – and the Defense Will Test You on It
When the defense produces something that doesn’t seem genuine, authentication is necessary to protect your client and their case.
“If we’re doing our job right, we’re really vetting a lot of these issues before we ever file a lawsuit,” Vaughn said.
However, even well-prepared lawyers encounter surprises; not because clients intentionally hide things, but because they simply don’t realize the gravity of posting certain content. That reality makes early, proactive digging an important part of the case. Plaintiffs’ attorneys must assume the defense will uncover everything. Best advice – we must review it first, make our independent evaluation on its impact, and prepare either to explain the context or neutralize its impact.
A common misconception is that social media or digital content will never make it into evidence because it’s too difficult to authenticate.
“Don’t bank on the fact that your client’s social media isn’t admissible or can’t be authenticated,” Vaughn warns.
Between metadata, prior statements, carrier records, screenshots, and witness testimony, the defense has multiple authentication paths. That means plaintiffs must do the same. Scrub for surprises early, make sure your own exhibits are clean and defensible, and expect opponents to attempt live authentication in front of jurors. Because once opposing counsel pulls up a TikTok in trial and asks, “Is this yours?” – the damage may already be done.
Investigation Requires Creativity
Some of the most valuable evidence in a case is uncovered through curiosity rather than procedure. Plaintiffs’ attorneys shouldn’t limit themselves to subpoenas and formal disclosures – they should cultivate investigative intuition.
“The tools are already there,” she says, “you just have to use them. Google is my first stop, and I spread out from there.”
Her go-to channels include:
- FMCSA databases for collision histories and fleet safety data
- State e-filing portals like Re:SearchTX to track corporate litigation patterns
- County court record systems and public justice repositories
- LinkedIn, corporate bios, and internal employee pages
- Local news archives and community comment threads that reveal sentiment, timelines, or admissions
These sources expose inconsistencies and undermine defenses. So, don’t wait for discovery – investigate first. Approach evidence gathering the way a journalist or private investigator would. Follow threads, check unconventional public databases, and look at how the defendant presents themselves publicly versus how they describe themselves in litigation.
The strategic advantage allows you to see what the defense missed, framing the narrative early, and identifying exposures long before opposing counsel realizes they exist.
Social Media Can Be a Storytelling Asset
Plaintiffs’ attorneys often view the client’s online presence as a liability, but Vaughn has used it to secure favorable verdicts by reframing the narrative.
In one trial where the defense pointed to her client’s TikTok workouts as proof she wasn’t injured, Vaughn flipped their argument. She used the posts to map the functional decline and recovery arc, demonstrating how treatment aligned with capability, and how interruptions mirrored symptom flare-ups. The story resonated with jurors, and the verdict reflected it.
“Here are all the things you know she was doing, and then it just stopped. Why did it stop? Because she was injured. Then you see a slow progression, and then it just stops again. Every time it would correlate with when she got treatment,” Vaughn said. “And it told the jury, ‘What you see is that the treatment she’s requesting you pay for is helping her heal, helping her get her life back on track.’ We had a great verdict in that trial.”
Sometimes, we have to use our clients’ social media as a way to prove that they are a person, a community member, a parent – that becomes trial-level narrative value.
What About Using Defendant Character Evidence?
Plaintiffs can also weaponize social media and public records pre-suit – especially during prelitigation negotiations or mediation.
“The defense may try to say, ‘This is his only DWI, he’s an outstanding citizen,’” Vaughn said. “Then you go to Facebook – beer cans everywhere – and he’s nineteen. It may be his first lawsuit, or even his first crash, but that information is a heavy hitter. If this were to go to trial and there’s even a ten percent chance a judge says that evidence is admissible – it’s pretty damning to the defense.”
Beyond admissibility, character matters. Jurors instinctively evaluate who they believe deserves protection – who looks like the villain and who looks like the hero – and the side that earns that moral high ground is the one the jury is inclined to help.
The Practical Takeaways for Plaintiffs’ Attorneys
1. Investigate Early and Often
Don’t wait for defense discovery to alert you to your client’s vulnerabilities. As soon as you sign on a client, scout out their social media and check to see if there’s any content that could be used against them.
2. Assume Everything Will Be Found
Clients don’t conceal information maliciously – they just may not realize what matters. They may also assume that, because their account is private, they can post whatever they want. Inform your client that big insurance companies are in the business of minimizing claims to save themselves money, and they will go to great lengths to do so.
3. Use Social Media Proactively
Your client doesn’t need to delete their accounts or erase their social media presence. Sometimes, you can use their social media as a storytelling tool. If you frame it correctly, it can illustrate damage, recovery, credibility, and character.
4. Authenticate Before You Assert
Digital evidence loses value if you can’t defend its chain of credibility. Before leveraging surveillance footage, social posts, or online records, make sure you can prove where it came from, who created it, and that it hasn’t been altered. Opposing counsel is increasingly skilled at attacking the foundation. If you haven’t verified authorship, metadata, or corroborating testimony, your “smoking gun” may become a liability instead of an advantage.
5. Prepare Your Client
The best way to remain proactive with digital evidence and social media is to teach your clients how the insurance company or a jury will perceive their content. It may seem innocent to post a family picture at the beach, but those photos mask the pain. The jury doesn’t have the context that your client has – they can’t see your client left early because they were hurting. They only see smiling faces. Make sure your client understands how crucial optics can be in a personal injury case.
Digital Evidence Is Only Growing – Plaintiff Strategy Must Grow with It
Technology has given plaintiffs’ lawyers extraordinary investigative reach but also exposure risk. Vaughn cautions other attorneys to stay updated on growing technology and learn how to use it to their advantage.
In a world where social platforms, court portals, carrier records, and archived web pages can all become proof or impeachment, strategic handling of digital evidence is no longer optional – it’s an important part of advocacy.
