Landau Injury Law

Motorcycles parked across from the Loudoun County Court House in Leesburg, Virginia

A spate of fatal bike crashes has recently been reported just as our law firm gears up for our Federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals arguments in our catastrophic accident case.  Last year, deaths on the highway fell in almost every category except accidents involving motorcycles.  “With the traffic being what it is in this area, inexperienced motorcyclists are particularly likely to get into trouble,” said Capt. Susan Culin, who commands the traffic division of the Fairfax County Police Department.

For the most part, motorcycle riders die for the same reasons that people who are driving vehicles with four wheels die: inexperience, alcohol, miscalculation and inattention to the road. But a motorcycle tends to be less forgiving than a car on all four of those counts.  Motorcyclists, like bicyclists, also are more vulnerable to mistakes by other drivers. And, like pedestrians and bicyclists, they are less visible than cars and sport-utility vehicles.  “There are so many more trucks and SUVs,” said Pete terHorst of the American Motorcyclist Association. “Are you more likely to be killed in a crash with an SUV or with a [Honda] Civic hybrid?”

Motorcycle fatalities fell during the 1970s.  Pressure from the Federal government persuaded all but three states to require helmets. Many states have since rescinded that mandate.  Presently, just 20 states, including Virginia, Maryland and the District require helmets for all motorcycle riders.  Interestingly, three out of four motorcycle fatalities involving another vehicle occur when the other vehicle makes a left turn in front of an oncoming motorcycle, said Patricia A. Turner, who studies motorcycle accidents for the Texas Transportation Institute.  According to Herndon trial attorney Doug Landau, making a  left turn is one of the more dangerous maneuvers for drivers on the road.  The Loudoun and Fairfax bike and car crash lawyer notes that this is why the the turning vehicle should yield the right of way.   Virginia bike and motorcycle accident lawyer Landau notes that turning cars are also required to pay full time and attention to two-wheeled and four-wheeled traffic in both directions.

Pedestrians have been struck by cars when not walking in the crosswalk, often resulting in the death of the person on foot.

Northern Virginia Police are unsure why pedestrian fatalities have nearly tripled from last year.  There have been 10 pedestrian fatalities so far this year across Fairfax County.  In 2008, there were a total of four pedestrian deaths in Fairfax County; in just the first eight months of 2009, there have been 10.  This month two fatal pedestrian accidents involved people not walking in the crosswalk.  In both cases, the drivers were not charged.  “A lot of times the pedestrians are at fault,” said Lt. Butch Gamble of the Fairfax County Police Department. “Other than that, we have not been able to link any causation factors among the ten fatalities this year.”

According to Gamble, if an open or activated cell phone is discovered in the possession of a victim or a driver, police can determine if it was being used at the time of an accident for either voice or text messaging. He said none of the ten fatalities this year seemed to involve cell phone transmissions.

“There were 14 pedestrian fatalities in 2006 and 16 in 2007,” police public information officer Tawny Wright said. “We would like to attribute the low number in 2008 to the fact that we have cracked down on drunk driving and public intoxication in the county, but we really don’t know why the number is higher again this year.”  According to the Web site Streetsmart — a “crosswalk education” campaign that places posters in the Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia area — pedestrian fatalities in the greater Washington region are high in proportion to the number of pedestrian trips.  The Fairfax Times reported that approximately 2,900 pedestrians and bicyclists are injured every year in the region, and an average of 84 are killed. Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities accounted for one-fifth of the total traffic fatalities in the District, suburban Maryland and northern Virginia from 2002-2006.  “We can’t stress enough that pedestrians use a crosswalk when crossing a street,” Wright said.

An olympic health and swim club was sued as the result of a drowning during a nudist party in 2007.  The drowning victim’s family brought a wrongful death case in state court saying the facility violated state law by not providing a lifeguard for a party held by a nudist club.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the 72-year-old retiree’s death was investigated by the medical examiner’s office and local police. The cause of death was ruled accidental.

The plaintiff’s lawyers said in court filings that the pool owner had a duty to provide a lifeguard under state law.  The health club and pool owner countered that there was a 23-year agreement with the nudist club, which holds parties every other Saturday night at the pool, and that they would take full responsibility for all activity during their events.  The pool owner turned the facility entirely over to the nudist group and had them sign a waiver to that effect.  The owner, “was was assured they had a lifeguard.”  But the victim’s lawyers said the waiver doesn’t matter and that the owner is liable for damages at law.  Under the terms of the settlement, worked out in May and approved earlier this month by the Judge, the owner’s insurance carrier, will pay a total $246,000.  The drowning victim’s widow will receive $158,000, and her lawyers will get the rest.

The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (”MWAA”) has announced its 2010 board of directors. Michael O’Reilly, former mayor of the Town of Herndon, was selected as vice chairman, Charles Snelling was chosen as chairman and Quince Brinkley, Jr., was chosen as secretary.

O’Reilly, owner and principal of The O’Reilly Law Firm, served as mayor of Herndon from 2004-2006 and was a member of the Herndon Town Council. The O’Reilly law firms office is cream with green shutters, just like the Landau Law Shop.  Seen jogging right by our front door, Mike O’Reilly was a member of the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership, the Virginia Municipal League’s Transportation Steering Committee and Transportation Policy Committee, and the Dulles Corridor Rail Association Advisory Board. O’Reilly was appointed by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and has served as chairman of the Audit Committee and Finance Committee. He is chairman of the Legal Committee. In August of 2002, Michael O’Reilly and his sister Nancy established The O’Reilly Law Firm, bringing their 30 years of combined legal experience in Northern Virginia to the old town historic district of Herndon, around the corner from the ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. building. The two firms have recommended clients to each other in their respective fields of the law.

The City of Norfolk Virginia settled with the mother of a teenager who suffered permanent brain damage after being struck by a city truck for $7,500,000 one week prior to trial. Because the teenage Plaintiff will never be able to work or care for himself, this lawsuit was filed on his behalf by his mother.

In December 2006, Plaintiff was 17 years old. He was standing in the median, on his way to a job interview. He was hit by a truck, owned and operated by the Defendant City of Norfolk. Plaintiff suffered a serious brain injury requiring three months of hospitalization. The Plaintiff’s sustained severe brain injury swelled, which necessitated the removal of a portion of the skull to relieve the pressure. Plaintiff was left with the mental capacity of an 11 year old and was not expected to be able to hold a job or live by himself at any point in the future. At the time of this settlement, plaintiff lived with and was cared for by his mother. 

Defense lawyers for the City of Norfolk maintained that the physical evidence and the testimony of at least one eyewitness indicated that the teenager was running across the street at the time he was struck and not in the median as the Plaintiff contended. Defendant City of Norfolk insisted it was immune because their truck driver was engaged within the scope of the his work at the time of the accident and that his work, which was almost exclusively limited to the maintenance and repair of recreational facilities, parks, and beaches, was necessary and essential to Norfolk’s operation of such facilities.

Defense counsel maintained that the City enjoys immunity pursuant to Virginia Code Section 15.2 under these circumstances. The lawyers for the City of Norfolk filed a special plea (to dismiss the injured victim’s case), but were not heard on it prior to settlement. In many cases, Virginia cities, towns, counties and municipalities are given partial or total immunity from lawsuits for injuries caused by their employees who are carrying out certain functions for these governmental entities. If a truck, bus or other vehicle owned or operated by the government has injured you or someone you know, call for legal help right away. There are strict time limits that give less time to the injured victims and their families than what is accorded plaintiffs in other personal injury cases.  

Settling a Virginia Workers Compensation case has almost always taken more time than settling a car crash case in the Commonwealth.  This is because the Workers Compensation Commission reviews all proposed settlements, whether they involve traumatic brain injury, lifetime disability or a simple broken arm or leg.  Now the Federal Government is also insisting on reviewing certain workers comp settlements that involve long term disability and medical care.

If you have a workers’ comp settlement that is over $250,000 OR you, the claimant, are currently a recipient of Medicare OR receiving SSDI benefits, it will be necessary to get CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) approval of the settlement. The reason is that Medicare wants to make sure payments for any treatment that should be covered by workers’ comp is not shifted to the responsibility of Medicare. In other words, the Federal Government does not want its programs to get stuck “holding the bag.”

How long does it take CMS to approve a workers’ comp settlement? Expect approximately 90 days for the turn-around once the settlement has been submitted to CMS. The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission has its own review process, which takes 3 to 8 weeks. From the time the completed and signed settlement paperwork is received by the Deputy Commissioner (judge), they take several weeks to review the file and make sure that the compromise settlement is in the best interests of the claimant.

The judges in Richmond do NOT simply rubber stamp and approve every single settlement that is submitted to them.This is for your, the injured worker’s protection. Because settlement are so important, the government requires that the insurance company have a lawyer sign the paperwork. Furthermore, an out of state lawyer who is not properly licensed in Virginia cannot sign Virginia settlement documents. If you or a loved one have questions about a workers compensation settlement, please contact our office at once.

Car and bike crash injury lawyer Doug Landau warns: Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by a green gecko or Neanderthal.

Who can resist an adorable lizard with a Cockney accent, or a cave man and his quest to be accepted into modern-man’s world? We all laugh as the jokes in these campaigns unfold. So when the commercial ends and the insurance company name appears on the screen, we smile.

But when our laughter leads us to blind trust, then we have fallen for a clever advertising technique. The companies invent these fictional characters in the hopes that we the consumers, see the catchy ads, and put our safety and money in the hands of the gecko or cave man. Insurance companies use these false characters to lure us in, often without conferring with an attorney.

According to car crash and bike injury lawyer Doug Landau, watch out! This advertising is the result of many millions of dollars of research and testing. The gecko and cave man are designed to lull the injured victim of a car, bike or truck crash into a false sense of security. The insurance company ads are geared toward suggesting: “You CAN trust us,” “put yourselves in good hands,” “like a good neighbor” etc.

When you are injured in an accident, the insurance companies will discourage you from getting competent legal assistance. The insurance companies know that they can settle cases for much less money when the injured victim is unrepresented by counsel. Insurers have special units geared toward keeping “control” of the file and working on the unrepresented claim. Personal Injury Lawyers are now combating the national “put your trust in this funny creature” epidemic fueled by insurance companies, by means of commercials that intend to expose the true facts.

When you are in a car accident, you reach for the insurance companies card, but do you have an experienced personal injury lawyer’s number handy as well? Probably not, and the problem with that is insurance companies answer your call knowing you have just had an accident and are feeling vulnerable and insecure.

Doug Landau advises: Take a deep breath, remember that the Gecko is not real, and call an experienced injury lawyer.

Picture courtesy of American.edu 

The world would be much simpler if each accident resulted in, “he hit me… he pays”. But unfortunately this explanation does not always sit well with both the defendant and the plaintiff.

One more complicated version of an at-fault accident is called negligent entrustment. An example of this accusation would be if a person, or primary party, sued a boy’s parents, for allowing their son to drive a car, even though he was an inexperienced and unfit driver, and the boy hit and injured the primary party.

By definition, negligent entrustment is a claim that a primary party is to blame, because they entrusted a secondary party with an object or ability, who then injured a third party with that entrusted object or ability.

In this claim, the plaintiff must prove that

• The defendant expressly or impliedly permitted the driver to drive his or her vehicle
• The driver was an unfit driver
• The defendant knew or should have known the driver was unfit
• The driver was negligent as a result of the unfitness

In the case of suing the parents of a teen driver, the plaintiff must prove all of the above accusations.  The parents could be held accountable for the accident, because they allowed their son, an unfit driver, to drive their car and the teen driver was negligent due to his unfitness.  In Virginia, the innocent plaintiff can collect damages against the young or unfit driver and, if the facts support the claim, also against the negligent car owners who let the unfit driver operate their motor vehicle.

The idea that an unfit driver does not always put his or herself behind the wheel comes up all the time, but sometimes people overlook negligent entrustment.

The best way to determine what claims can be made (and won) and who may be responsible for your losses is by consulting an experienced trial lawyer.

My lawyer helped me file my claim and we won! But what do I actually receive?

Social Security Disability and personal injury lawyer Doug Landau hears this question all the time. He knows that the official legal jargon can be difficult to decipher, so he has given us an example of a case that was recently won and benefits paid. 

The Federal Administrative Law Judge found that Landau proved his client was disabled from performing any work. This resulted in a payment of  $30,000 in “past due benefits.”  In addition, this ABRAMS LANDAU client will receive monthly payments of $1,206 each month thereafter, increasing each year with Social Security’s Cost of Living adjustments.

The first page of the summary indicates that the defendant will receive a payment of $23,904 this coming month, and a monthly payment of $1,206 each month thereafter.

But how did these numbers come to be?

Here is how the money is broken down:

Of the $30,000, a premium due one month in advance is deducted, as well as a fee for the representative.  The total payment becomes $23,904.  A monthly payment to the disabled claimant is also awarded of $1,302. Once the premium for medical insurance is deducted, the Social Security recipient gets $1,206.  So of the first year’s grand total awarded, with all of the deductions, is $37,230.48.

Attorney Doug Landau does not receive a portion of future payments, and in SSDI cases, attorney fees are contingent (upon winning) and capped!  The client receives 84% of the $44,322 ($30,000 and 11 months of $1,302), in just the first year.  This is not atypical for ABRAMS LANDAU Social Security Disability clients.

The fees paid to our law firm turn out to be a very small percentage of the benefits won.  If you, or someone you know, needs help with their Social Security Disability Income case, please call or e-mail us today.  

Who has forgotten the 2.9 million dollar case where a woman spilled hot coffee on herself, got 3rd degree burns on her legs, and sued McDonald’s for serving her coffee at 190 degrees? The facts of the case may be a little foggy, but everyone THINKS they know the facts of this case. The truth is, most people do not.

I recently attended a screening of the movie, “Hot Coffee” in which the family, doctor, lawyer and witnesses are interviewed to bring the truth about what McDonalds did to light, and how the press and insurance companies distorted the truth in order to portray this as a “frivolous lawsuit.” The ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. personal injury trial team is against frivolous lawsuits. As a Herndon/Reston area trial lawyer I talk people OUT of bringing unnecessary claims.

But soon a unique production crew of editors, photographers and interestingly, a lawyer, will bring the details of the story to the big screen. “Hot Coffee”, presents Stella Liebeck’s story in a documentary format. It is scheduled for next years Sundance film festival and will outline the facts of the case that made headlines, and discuss why it has lead to so much discussion regarding law suit abuse and frivolous litigation. The film will expose the details by interviewing doctors, lawyers, jurors, and even Stella’s grandson.

The car was parked. There was no cup holder in the car. And McDonalds KNEW that their coffee was so hot that it would scald and cause permanent injury. McDonalds had almost 200 prior scalding accidents. The plaintiff burned through her flesh in her pelvic area and has permanent scars from the scalding and graft sites.

McDonalds admitted in the 1994 hearing that they were aware that they were serving extremely hot coffee but they tried to excuse their actions. The McDonalds representatives explained that most customers did not immediately drink their coffee, but instead drove away from the drive-thru window, and took the first sip 5-10 minutes later. But some customers want their caffeine fix right away, accounting for the hundreds of claims of burning coffee McDonalds had ignored prior to the famous Liebeck case.

So who was in the wrong? Did the elderly woman spill the coffee and throw an exaggerated fit? Or did McDonalds get what they deserved from an impartial jury when someone finally stepped forward to accuse them of their ignorance? “Hot Coffee” will reveal to audiences the true story that set the country ablaze.

Picture courtesy of hotcoffeethemovie.com