Landau Injury Law

When a Hearing decision is received or a Settlement Order comes by Special Delivery, ABRAMS LANDAU staffers are often asked “When will I get the money ?”

The response is, “When the decision is final.”  That is because the staff at the Herndon and Reston area injury law firm knows that the insurance defense lawyers can appeal several weeks after the decision or Order are rendered.  In fact, they have additional time BEFORE late penalties are Awarded.  We are advised by the Commission that we must wait 34 days before they will entertain a request for 20% penalties to be assessed against the insurance company.  This is despite the “20 day” language in most contested Hearing decisions.  SO…save the envelope containing the checks, in order to prove late payment, BUT do not expect a check for 30 days or penalties to be assessed right away.

Herndon, Virginia Personal Injury, Brain Injury and Accident Attorney Doug Landau started his 2008 Multisport racing season in Richmond, Virginia at the U.S.National Duathlon Championships this month.  The Herndon Reston area trial attorney brought several helmuts with him because entrants cannot participate without approved helmuts.  In fact, cycling helmuts must be clipped on before a racer can mount the bike, and must remain secured until the bicycle is racked in the transition area.  Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau brings extra helmuts and other gear in case another competitor forgets, loses or has a damaged helmut.  Once a helmut is damaged, is ability to protect the wearer’s head and brain is compromised.  DO NOT WEAR A DAMAGED HELMUT THAT HAS BEEN IN A BIKE CRASH.  It’s impact absorbing materials may no longer function and you could suffer a significant head injury or brain trauma.

Doug Landau, the Herndon Brain Injury Lawyer is concerned that you find the right personal injury, brain injury and car accident attorney for your Herndon, Reston or other Northern Virginia injury claim.

Our law firm, ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., has a Virginia statewide practice in all forms of Brain Injury, Personal Injury, Disability and Wrongful Death cases.

Please consider contacting Doug Landau about your Brain Injury case.

While the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission REQUIRES a valid address for injured workers in order to receive benefits, and failure to keep the Commission updated can lead to a termination of benefits, several clients each year fail to apprise the staff at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. of their new addresses, phone numbers or medical status, saving the insurance companies hundreds of thousands of dollars each year !  While the insurance companies certainly appreciate not sending these clients the money they have in reserves on their claims, in nearly every case, the injured worker and their family could use the funds.  Several clients have let the time limits run on their claims despite correspondence, phone calls and, where available, e-mails from ABRAMS LANDAU staff to advise them of their rights and responsibilities.  Do not let the time run on your claim.  Follow you counsel’s instructions and act responsibly and in a timely manner.  The time limits in the law are strict.  If you want to give the insurance company a “present,” send a card.  And remember, they are not going to do the same for you.

Under Virginia law, undocumented workers are eligible for most, but not all benefits. What are they eligible to receive under the law ?

Herndon/Reston Trial lawyer Doug Landau lists the following as some of the benefits such ABRAMS LANDAU clients are able to receive:

1. Temporary Total Disability (weekly wage loss)
2. Permanent Partial Disability (for a permanent partial disability % rating)
3. Medical Bill coverage (100%, with no deductible or limit) (more…)

Large verdicts in catastrophic cases do not always “stick.”  While the popular press likes to report our big number trials, the public does not realize that these extraordinary results are often taken away from deserving Plaintiffs or hung up on appeals for years.  The Connecticut Supreme Court has reversed a $41 million judgment for a construction worker who was paralyzed when a defectively welded girder fell on his head. In a unanimous finding, the court held that contractor Sordoni Skanska could not be held liable because it was not responsible for inspecting welds and because the accident was not foreseeable. The court based its ruling on Connecticut’s construction code concerning non-delegable duty for contractors.  Thomas B. Scheffey, Law.com  04/15/2008  Read Article: Law.com

Not every accident is actionable. In other words, even where there are terrible injuries, not every accident should give rise to a lawsuit. Not every accident is someone else’s fault. If we investigate a brain injury claim and find that there is no provable liability. In other words, if, after reviewing the evidence, speaking with the experts and discussions with the client and family, it is determined that (more…)

‘Catch 22′: Price of doing well is more work elsewhere
By Peter Vieth”
from March 24, 2008 http://valawyersweekly.com/archive.cfm?recid=433388

Most Virginia Social Security disability claimants and their attorneys have avoided the long hearing delays that recently have plagued other areas of the country. Claimants in Northern Virginia, however, often wait a year or more for their hearings, and attorneys there are feeling the heat as the process slows down. (more…)

The Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission has announced that the Commission has entered into a partnership with two groups that will offer on-line defensive driving courses to New Jersey drivers. Under New Jersey law, a person who completes a defensive driving course is entitled to a two-point reduction in his penalty point total. The credit can be awarded once every five years following completion of the defensive driving course. Those who successfully complete the course are also entitled to a mandatory, three-year automobile insurance discount.

The providers and their web addresses are:

The American Safety Council – www.safemotorist.com (course fee is $49)

I Drive Safely – www.idrivesafely.com (course fee $50)

Unlike traditional classroom safety courses, the computer-based instruction can be completed over a period of days at the convenience of the student. The computer will keep track of the student’s progress during the course.

This just in on the Trial lawyers listServ from our friend Dick Thomas, esteemed Roanoke Virginia Workers Comp lawyer:

We just got a review opinion , written by Commissioner Dudley, reversing the deputy commissioner and awarding benefits. Claimant had a series of injuries over the years, and had bilateral degenerative disease of the hips. In 2003, he fell on his left hip, and the deputy commissioner ruled that the fall aggravated his preexisting degenerative disease. He then developed increased symptoms in the right hip, which his treating orthopedist at the time attributed to overuse from favoring the left hip. He then had a left hip replacement, covered under his award. Further problems with the right hip ensued, resulting in right hip replacement by a different surgeon. The original doctor failed to relate the right hip problem, and the treating surgeon refused to give an opinion.

The Defense was “consequence of a consequence,” and therefore NOT compensable. In other words, the defense lawyer contended that causation was TOO REMOTE and that the employer/carrier should not be held responsible any more. The trial judge (more…)

Several clients noticed workers, ladders, compressors and trucks all around the smaller building at ABRAMS LANDAU.  We put a new roof on our smaller building.  Shown are workers in the process of performing this construction work.  The building, formerly let out to talented photographer Doran Smith, will be converted from photo gallery to massage studio.  Appearing before the Town Council, Doug Landau received permission to sublet the smaller building to two Thai Massage therapists.  These specialists have already helped an a staff member of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. with her chronic and intractable back pain.  Stay tuned for more updates about our newest tenants…