Marking a Facebook Post “Private” is No Shield from Disclosure in New York State

By now, most litigators are aware of the potential gold mine that an opposing party’s social media account can contain. The trick is getting the other side to give it up. One common tactic for the party trying to prevent disclosure is to claim that certain material is private and therefore protected from discovery. Well, now litigators in New York State can combat this argument, thanks to the state high court’s decision in Forman v. Henkin, 2018 NY Slip Op 01015, 2018 N.Y. Lexis 180 (Feb. 13, 2018), which held that making a Facebook post “private” does not give it any special protection under the liberal principles applicable to the discovery process. The court also provided guidance for how to apply those principles to social media accounts, which can prove very useful for litigators in the future. Click here to read the full article.