Should Clients Brag on Social After Winning Big Money?

While your client might want to go a little crazy when you get them a good cash settlement or judgment, it might not be the worst idea to counsel your client against flashing a bankroll the size of a grapefruit on social media. Bad things can happen to those that show off all their greenbacks.

While cashing the check, rather than depositing it into a bank account, flashing a bankroll on social media could be asking for trouble (especially if your privacy filters don't restrict your posts to trusted friends and family). It's on par with publicly announcing to the world that you are on vacation and no one is at home and your security system is on the fritz.

A Client Can't Live in Fear

While living in fear of being robbed isn't ideal, there's a difference between being cautious and being paranoid. After a significant financial recovery, some clients you wouldn't otherwise expect may need a little pep talk about modesty and financial responsibility, similarly to an unprepared SuperLotto winner.

Though you want that happy client to tell everyone they know about how good you did for them, you want to play the long-game. Word of mouth referrals from former clients can happen years after the fact, and are less likely to happen if your client gets murdered for their piles of cash.

While you don't want to scare your now-flush-with-cash clients by telling them they'll get murdered if they tell the world about their new found fortune, if there was a settlement, they very well could violate a confidentiality clause, or some other provision, by posting about it on social media.

If you need some help with teaching clients about the potential dangers of social media, the FindLaw Consumer Blog team has a rather deep pool of posts on the subject that you can share with clients:

• Social Media Safety Tips for Teenagers
• 5 Tips for Safety on Social Media Sites
• Going On Summer Vacation? Don't Tip Off Criminals on Social Media

Related Resources:

• When Paying Clients Want to Litigate Despite Bad Value (FindLaw's Strategist)
• Social Media's Impact on the Attorney-Client Relationship (FindLaw's Strategist)
• How Social Media Is Changing the Way We Litigate (FindLaw's Strategist)