The Boston Globe ran a story today about a Pediatrician who was betrayed by his very own blog while defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of one of his patients.

His name is Robert P. Lindeman. Apparently, the case was leaning in his favor, at least until the opposing counsel sprung the following question:

“Was Lindeman Flea?”

At the time, the jury had no idea what this meant. It turns out that Dr. Lindeman had a blog, and on this blog he went by the name Flea. This obviously isn’t bad by itself, but what he was writing on his blog was a bit of a shocker. According the Boston Globe, Lindeman scoffed at the plaintiff’s case and the plaintiff’s lawyer. He wrote things like the jury was dozing. He even revealed what their defense strategy was.

Needless to say, the defense quickly settled the next day.

I don’t usually write about stories like this, but this one caught my attention. Probably because of a discussion I had a month ago with a friend of mine who was stating the reasons why NOT to blog. One of his arguments was that you can get busted for things that you don’t want other people to find out. He’s not the only one with this view either. But that’s no reason why NOT blog. Just don’t blog about stuff you shouldn’t be blogging about, e.g., the details of an on going court case that you happen to be a part of. If you’re going to blog about something, or comment about something, or post about something, or……almost any case where you add something to the almighty Internet, assume anyone can get a hold of that information. Because for all intents and purposes, they can.