After an accident or injury, your natural instinct might be to delete embarrassing photos or clean up your social media. Don’t. This seemingly innocent action could destroy your legal case and even result in court sanctions against you.

Spoliation of Evidence

Destroying, altering, or concealing evidence relevant to legal proceedings is called “spoliation.” Courts take this extremely seriously, and judges can impose severe penalties including dismissing your case entirely, regardless of how strong your claims might be.

What Counts as Evidence

Evidence includes more than just accident scene photos. Text messages, emails, social media posts, medical records, repair estimates, and witness contact information all constitute potential evidence. Even dashcam footage, fitness tracker data, and browsing history might become relevant.

Preservation Obligations

Once you reasonably anticipate litigation—which often means immediately after a significant accident—you have a legal duty to preserve all potentially relevant evidence. This obligation continues throughout your case and applies to digital and physical evidence alike.

The Safe Approach

Instead of deciding what’s important, preserve everything and let your attorney determine relevance. Back up your phone, save social media posts, keep damaged property, and maintain all documents related to the incident. What seems unimportant now might become crucial evidence later.