In the age of social media, it is tempting for trial lawyers to communicate in some way with potential juries. But, lawyers who succumb to that temptation will learn the lesson one Georgia lawyer learned. Both before and during the start of a trial in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the plaintiff lawyer posted videos explaining “three lies we actively have to tell the jury.” The videos explained such information as defense attorneys are paid by the insurance company and that the defense made settlement offers, but would ask the jury to award the plaintiff nothing.

The lawsuit, styled as Cartagena v. Medford, No. 20C-4779-4 (Georgia District.Ct. 2023), concerned a car crash. The lawyer made these posts on TikTok and Instagram. The lawyer had 130,000 followers on TikTok and over 30,000 on Instagram.

$1.5 Million in Damages

The jury found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded $1.5 ,million in damages. There was nothing to indicate that any person sitting on the jury actually saw these posts. But, the state district court was still unimpressed. The court held that there was a “substantial likelihood” of this information materially prejudicing the out come of the trial. The Judge granted the Defense motion for a new trial. The judge vacated the jury award.

I think by now all trial attorneys understand that members of the jury will Google a case, the lawyers, etc. after being seated on a jury. That trial lawyer surely understood the risk of posting that sort of information. Too, it is law school exam question that a lawyer may not tell a jury about settlement negotiations. See Texas Bar Journal report for more information here.