Jul 29, 2010 10:50 pm US/Central
Divorce Lawyers Use Facebook, Texts, GPS In Cases
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
In this photo illustration the Social networking site Facebook is displayed on a laptop screen on March 25, 2009 in London, England.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The Internet, texting, cell phones and GPS devices have become crucial for divorce lawyers. Eight out of 10 of those attorneys say they're using those devices more and more these days to get the goods on errant spouses. One local woman tells CBS 2's Mike Parker how she nailed her straying husband.
The computer has become the go-to "evidence machine" for most of Chicago's divorce lawyers and their colleagues nationwide.
Local divorce lawyer David Grund says of the high-tech revolution, "I could probably draw an analogy to the Ebola virus. It's a virulent strain that can kill a lot of people undergoing a divorce."
Example: If you're trying to convince a judge that you, not your spouse, should get custody of the kids, a Facebook posting listing your likes and interests as "tattooing and drinking" will work against you.
"The clients need to know that whatever they do leaves a footprint," said Chicago attorney Robert Kipnis. "When they're involved in a divorce case, especially if it's a custody case, everybody's looking at them, like they're in a glass house."
And consider the wonders of GPS. It may give you directions; it may also give you away.
A divorced mom we'll call "Julia" says she and her divorce lawyer decided to get a GPS tracking device and place it in her then-husband's car.
She was convinced her spouse was lying to her about looking for work in the midst of an alimony dispute. Through the device, she learned he was not seeking employment, but in fact "was spending his time at his girlfriend's house."
The gadget sent the car's location right to Julia's computer, day after day.
"I just put the tracking device in the back of the car and everything else was just looking. There was a website to go to and watch it, nothing complicated," she said.
She won the dispute in divorce court.
And then, there are those cell phones with cameras. Attorney Kipnis tells the story of a man who stayed home with the kids while his wife went out with a "girlfriend."
Kipnis says the husband received a picture over his cell phone of "a gentleman leaning over, whispering in her ear and they both had drinks in their hands."
The husband immediately posted it on Facebook "and went running into court."
Finally, the story of a man who suspected his wife had a secret life. As they battled in court over custody of the children, he went online and found her secret life was real.
He discovered on Craigslist and other websites that she was, in fact, a prostitute in her spare time. The man won custody of the kids.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
10 Of The Best Free Places In Chicago
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments