Attorneys often say, “I have a deposition tomorrow, and I need to preserve social media.” But gathering social media evidence that helps establish timelines and supports a narrative takes time. The time to preserve social media evidence is right away. If you wait until the last minute, you risk losing evidence that could help your case.
Collect online evidence now
The time to collect social media evidence is as soon as you know you will need it.
If you wait, you run the risk of claimants or witnesses removing or deleteing posts. Waiting gives claimants and witnesses time to privatize or delete relevant content. These actions could eliminate vital evidence you need.
Despite state laws and litigation hold regulations, once that information has been removed from the web, it’s gone. And there is not much that can be done to recover it. This is particularly true for social media posts. Once information is no longer accessible, you may need to gain the subject’s cooperation or obtain a subpoena to access it.
Preserve social media evidence early
Pretrial discovery, e-discovery, and related motion practice, are frequently the primary determinant of whether a case is successful. An e-discovery strategy that includes social media evidence collection at the beginning can mean the difference between a successful case and one that fails.
Gathering online information incorrectly can leave your evidence open to rejection by the court. For this reason, many firms and legal teams already have social media and open-source experts on contract.
But in an effort to save time and money, many attorneys don’t always follow these policies and workflows. Many times, they
- Attempt to perform social media and open-source discovery in-house without proper tools or training.
- Wait until the last minute and risk evidence loss.
- Run into problems with identifying and preserving social media evidence.
When you fail to involve an expert in social media and open-source information at the beginning, it can create big problems during discovery. And when this happens, it can lead to missing or improperly gathering information that can negatively affect your case.
Build a solid case by integrating social media and open-source data collection into your pre-trial workflow. Gather evidence as soon as you know you need it.
Finding relevant information in just one case could translate into a huge payout when it comes time for litigation.
SMI Aware is an extension of your team
At SMI Aware, our team of experts helps you discover, analyze, and preserve information from social media and the web. Our proprietary software and technology, combined with expert analysis, ensure that we collect the evidence you need while managing the costs. Contact us today to see how we can provide “best in class” results for a much lower cost than the alternatives.
