Tara Hunt

Today I had a discussion with a friend who works as an insurance defense attorney for a large insurance company.  While sitting on a comfy sofa at Book Review in Huntington, Long Island, I began perusing a copy of The Whuffle Factor by Tara Hunt.  The book is about the importance of creating and implementing social capital. We then discussed its applicability to her job. Does social media have any place for an in-house insurance defense attorney?

Her opinion was a resounding no.  As an employee at an insurance company, she has no clients.  Why bother with social media if you are not looking to connect with anyone? I then asked whether she thought it was important to find out more about opposing counsel through researching their profiles on social networking sites?  She said that it was not worth the effort.

Lastly, I asked whether it should be common practice for her to view the social profiles of opposing plaintiff’s.  For example, wouldn’t it be helpful to view the Facebook page of an injured plaintiff?  What if the there is a current photograph of him playing soccer if he is claiming injury to a torn meniscus?  Wouldn’t it help your case?  She said that she thought that there would be a problem in getting the page into evidence (I certainly don’t agree with her there.)

Do you think my friend is right?  Is there a place for social media for Insurance Defense Attorneys?

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