Renzulli Law Firm, LLP, on behalf of a Pennsylvania indoor shooting range, recently prevailed on a motion to compel the production of information that a personal injury plaintiff posted privately on Facebook. Plaintiff’s lawsuit alleges that he suffered hearing loss from gunshot noise he was exposed to while discharging firearms in defendant’s shooting range. We successfully argued that information posted on plaintiff’s Facebook page related to both the causation of plaintiff’s alleged hearing loss and plaintiff’s alleged loss of enjoyment of life. The discoverability of information shared “privately” on social media remains a developing area of the law, but courts in various states have now issued orders compelling the production of such information, often based on their finding that personal injury plaintiffs have a limited expectation of privacy in information shared privately on social media.
This information may be critical in any personal injury lawsuit, particularly one involving firearms, because it may provide a rare unfiltered portrait of the plaintiff’s life both before and after the alleged injury. Renzulli Law Firm, LLP attorneys are highly experienced in the discovery and use of social media information in firearms litigation.