Landau Injury Law

The Virginia Workers Compensation has issued new guidelines for what will constitute “Reasonable” Efforts to Look for Light Duty Work. No longer will 2 visits per week (as required by the Virginia Employment Commission to get V.E.C. Unemployment benefits) be sufficient.

The value of marketing one’s residual capacity is critical to a workers’ comp claim when the claimant has been released by the doctor to return to light duty work or work with restrictions related to the on the job accident. If the employer does not have work within the parameters of the doctor’s light duty restrictions, the claimant must seek employment elsewhere to demonstrate a good faith effort to return to work. Below are the Marketing Guidelines adopted by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission for injured employees.

• Good faith search for work - An employee who is partially disabled – ie., unable to perform his or her regular job, but able to perform light duty work – is required to seek light duty work in good faith in order to receive disability benefits if he or she is not on an open award
• Factors the Commission considers - In deciding whether a partially disabled employee has made a reasonable effort to find suitable light duty employment the Commission considers Read the rest of this entry »

Workers Compensation and Social Security Legal Assistant Dianna Meredith of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., received a call of thanks today from a Workers Compensation client whose Virginia comp claim had been successfully settled for a lump sum of $150,000 almost a year ago.

This West Virginia man was pleased to report that his Social Security Disability Income claim (”SSDI”) had been APPROVED without having to go to before a Federal Administrative Law Judge (”ALJ”).  While our 48-year-old client was rejected when he originally applied for his Social Security assistance, once Dianna filed his paperwork, we expected another denial and then success at a full evidentiary hearing before the ALJ a year or more later.  These Federal disability cases usually take years.

This Powerhouse Mechanic First Class was injured in 2005 when his left leg was run over by a forklift and he was also thrown to the ground, injuring his back.  During his state workers comp claim, he was under the protection of an AWARD which provided partial wage loss and other benefits.  Our disabled client was a lifelong construction and power plant worker.  He had only a 10th grade education, no G.E.D., no military or union training, so we were able to present evidence that demonstrated disability for vocational and medical reasons.  Many ABRAMS LANDAU clients have several files and several successful cases.  In long-term and permanent injury cases, it is not unusual for our Herndon Reston area injury and disability law firm to win cases in different places for different kinds of benefits, for our clients and their families.

Inova Fair Oaks Hospital has applied to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for the prestigious designation of Magnet. The Magnet designation recognizes excellence in nursing services.Patients, family members, staff and interested parties may provide comments and are encouraged to do so. As many clients of Herdon Reston area injury and disability law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. have been treated at this excellent Northern Virginia facility, it is hoped that they will send in their comments. Comments may be sent via email, fax or direct mail. Comments phoned in to the Magnet Program Office must be followed-up in writing. Comments must be received by January 2, 2009. For more information, click INOVA.

Many people are burned by flammable garments each year. Some victims of these defective products are “burned” a second time, when they entrust their cases to lawyers who advertise, but do not know what they are doing.

One of the ways these lawyers can ruin a meritorious “Flammability case” is by failing to preserve the evidence and “chain of custody.” In other words, if the remaining nightgown is lost, destroyed or tampered with, the Defendant manufacturer, seller or supplier may be able to avoid responsibility. While in the Florida State Attorney’s office, I learned to secure evidence, label its origin, and Read the rest of this entry »

Medicare Set Asides are becoming required in the settlement of permanent disability compensation cases.   In light of the confusion and delays caused by this relatively new requirement, CMS has Published WCMSA Operating Rules.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has now published a copy of its Operating Rules regarding the evaluation of set-aside proposals according to the Workers Compensation blogspot put out by New Jersey lawyer Jon Gelman.  CMS cited that distribution of this material may reduce review time by the agency.

The Operating Rules, an 11 page document, highlights the procedures to be utilized by CMS. They instruct CMS on how to respond to telephone quires including specific instructions such as, “Do not give recommended amounts or expected completion dates.” The Rules also instruct CMS contractor to consider the Total Settlement Amount (TSA) if the claimant has multiple workers’ compensation cases and suggest one Recommended MSA (RMSA). Therefore “apportioning” multiple claims into a series of cases below the threshold level will not avoid CMS scrutiny. Also legal malpractice awards based on the mishandling of the workers’ compensation claims are deemed not to be payments of compensation.

The Operating Rules were previously made available under a Freedom of Information Request in October 2008. The Operating Rules have been posted in redacted form and will be updated periodically by CMS.

Some observant clients noticed dozens of fire, police and other HazMat personnel in the vicinty of the Landau Law Shop recently.  Apparently there had been a leak in the underground pipes, and Town, County and other first responders came on the scene.  There was no damage to the ABRAMS LANDAU home, and other than the closure of several streets and re-routing of traffic, no impact on our Herndon Reston area law firm’s ability to help injured and disabled clients from all over the country with their Personal Injury, Social Security Disability, Workers Compensation cases.  There will be maintenance and repairs performed later this winter in an effort to continually improve not only our service to you on the inside, but the preservation of our 125+ year old building on the outside.  There’s always something “new” and happening at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. !

At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., every time we think we have heard the most outrageous story about what an insurance company’s vocational rehabilitation vendor will do, we are surprised with a new story, such as this…

Story #2

The injured worker’s treating neurosurgeon recommended a multi level cervical fusion for the claimant, but said his patient must stop smoking for at least 30 days before he would perform surgery.  The insurer instituted vocational rehabilitation immediately — doubting that the claimant would quit smoking.  The Insurance Company’s Vocational Rehabilitation Vendor instructed the claimant to be silent about the fact that he would be having spinal surgery because he (claimant) would most likely not quit smoking.   Claimant quits smoking.     The claimant thinks it would not be fair to any potential employer to hide the fact that if hired, he would soon be taking a long leave of absence to have spinal surgery.  However, the Insurance Company’s Vocational Rehabilitation Vendor tells the claimant that it would be speculative to say that he is having surgery and implies that this could be job interview sabotage.  Anyone see a trend and moral ambiguity ?

Sometimes truth is better than fiction.  These two tales were sent to us by Virginia trial lawyers concerning the troubling tactics taken by Vocational Rehabilitation “specialists” hired by the insurance company to work on their disabled client:

Story #1:

Insurance Company Vocational Rehabilitation Vendor prepares resume for claimant.  The claimant has only a 7th grade education.  Under the heading “EDUCATION”  the resume has something like:  XYZ Elementary School and under that “County Adult Education G.E.D. Program”

The problem is that the claimant has not even started taking GED classes and will not start the program until January.  The claimant is worried about using the resume that the Insurance Company Vocational Rehabilitation Vendor instructed him to use since it falsely states that he already has a GED.  This is intentional deception of potential employers.   Would Insurance Company Vocational Rehabilitation Vendor’s licensing board approve of this ?

For another example, see tomorrow’s post…

Several clients have asked what their family members can do while they are having their deposition at our office or working on answering Interrogatories for their cases. There are several fun and interesting things to do, all within walking distance of the “Landau Law Shop.”

• One of the most popular is walking to Great Harvest Bread for free samples from this wonderful bakery,
• Another is to visit the Herndon Depot (SHOWN ABOVE), which has a small museum that is free to the public,
• Families with children like to walk to the caboose, at the W&OD Trail, where kids play on this decommissioned train car, and then often go to Dairy Queen in the warm weather months, or to one of the local stores for hot cocoa or coffee in the winter time,
• From Memorial Day to Labor Day, there is the Thursday Farmers Market, sometimes with puppet shows and concerts in the summer. On Friday evenings, there is the well-attended “Friday Night Live” rock concerts on the Town Green, where families often bring chairs, blankets and picnics.
• The W&OD trail is a “rails-to-trails” park, and a good place to walk with a stroller in good weather,
• The “Herndon Fortnightly Library” has story time, an excellent collection of books, and is a clean, well lit place to spend some time while a family member is busy at our injury and disability law firm working with us on their case.

So, while Herndon is not a “big town,” there is still plenty to do if you bring the whole family to visit out “home.” And, unlike many law firms which go for “fancy,” we would rather be “family friendly.”

According to NOSSCR (the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives), the user fee rises each year because it has an automatic Cost-of-Living-Adjustment.   [info@nosscr-news.info]

The fee cap for fee agreements does not rise each year because it has no automatic Cost-of-Living-Adjustment. By statute, the Commissioner has the discretion, but not the mandate, to raise the fee cap. That has happened only once, in 2002, when Commissioner Barnhart raised the cap from $4,000 to $5,300.  How many attorneys do you know who have not raised their fees over a 7 year period ?  And, this fee is CONTINGENT AND CAPPED !

Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) has introduced legislation to address this issue. His bill, H.R. 7285, contains two provisions. First, the bill would increase the maximum fee in fee agreement cases to $6,264.50.  Second, the bill would establish a statutory annual COLA for the fee cap.

This Congress will be adjourning shortly.  NOSSCR anticipates that the bill will be re-introduced next year in the new Congress. At that time, it will be given a new number.