Landau Injury Law

More than half of all fall-related deaths by the elderly are caused by brain injuries.  This is according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (”CDC”) in a first-of-its-kind study. According to the CDC investigation, the severity of brain injuries resulting from falls may not be patently obvious, even to healthcare professionals. In other words, there may not be bleeding, swelling of the skull, bruising or other indicia of brain trauma or injury according to Herndon Reston area injury lawyer Doug Landau.  Data for the study were gathered from records of 16,000 deaths in which unintentional falls were determined to be an underlying cause of death.  For the rest of the article, see Mike Stobbe’s The Washington Post article dated 6/24/2008.

When one thinks of filing appeal briefs, the image of piles of paper comes to mind.  However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is now moving towards electronic filings and documents.  Lauren Holtzman and I have received “electronic case filing” (”ECF”) training at the United States District  Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Alexandria.  With the new changes going into effect this month, we are learning along with everyone else who appears before this Federal Court which hears appeals from Virginia and the other courts located within its “circuit.”   Unlike the trial of this catastrophic brain injury and paralysis case, several judges will decide the appeal.  These specially trained and experienced appeals judges will not hear from live witnesses to this devastating car and cycle crash, nor would they learn from the live testimony of the various medical, economics and life care planning experts.  The judges of the Fourth Circuit will review the briefs of the parties and then decide whether to affirm the trial judge’s rulings, reverse or remand for further proceedings.

In order to gauge the likely value of a case, the ABRAMS LANDAU team looks at a number of things, whether the client is involved in a car wreck, bicycle crash, slip and fall, dog attack or are injured due to a defective product, dangerous premises or other negligent conduct.  One of the best indicators is looking at jury verdict, mediation, arbitration and settlement amounts from similar cases in the same or similar jurisdictions.  This often requires Herndon Reston area injury lawyer Doug Landau use computer research.  Lauren Holtzman, shown here, utilizes the expensive Lexis-Nexus programs the firm pays for as well as other state, local and national sources.  We also look at our own, internal data in order to narrow the range of expected jury verdicts.  We also look at collectibility and assets in order to determine whether, once we win, we can economically collect compensation for our deserving clients.  

The trial team at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. get calls from all over the country from victims of negligence, assaults and permanent injuries.  We are often asked (or told) “there’s a formula to these cases, isn’t there ?”When a brain-injured client’s parent tells me, “My neighbor’s friend’s dentist said that you just multiply the medical bills times three and that’s what you get for settlement” it is hard to explain that this has no basis in reality.  If this was true, then the woman I represented who slipped, fell and then lost her ability to have children would not have been able to seek more than just her Emergency Room bills.  If there was a formula of “three times specials,” then my younger clients, who miss time from school, would not get fair compensation.   A homemaker or person who could not get medical care (i.e., no CT Scans, x-rays, heavy pain medications) because they are pregnant, would be treated unfairly.  And those people who seek out unethical lawyers and over treat or go to unscrupulous doctors, would be unjustly enriched.  So, there is no “magic formula.”  It would not work in the majority of our cases, and we do not apply it in setting our demands, amounts sought in court or accepted in settlement.  At our Herndon injury law shop, we try to help people with all kinds of injuries, losses and cases.  Every case is unique and special.   See tomorrow’s post for more information on how Doug Landau and the ABRAMS LANDAU team evaluates injury, disease and disability cases.

Here are some reasons Herndon Reston area injury lawyer Doug Landau or ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. may advise a client that it is in their interests to enter a compromise settlement rather than risk a jury trial: 1. Time - you get compensation faster,2. Cost - you save on the expenses of trial,3. Emotional cost - you eliminate the uncertainty of trial,4. Patient-Physician relationship not subject to cross-examination, in public, causing your doctor to have doubts or unpleasantness,5. Privacy - “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” but what comes out in discovery or Court, does not always “stay put,”6. A jury may award you less,7. A jury may award you nothing,8. A judge may take away the jury’s verdict,9. The Defense may appeal the verdict, causing more time loss, expense and stress,10.  If the defendant or insurance company goes into bankruptcy, the proceedings are stayed and there is often more delay.

This important concept explains both short and long term neurologic deficits in patients whose trauma did not produce either contusions, hemorrhages or lacerations sufficient to account for the deficits. Frequently, the latter lesions are minimal but the deficit is severe. Sometimes, notes Herndon Reston brain injury lawyer Doug Landau, there is a minimal laceration (cut) or not cut at all, but the neurological damage is significant. This is often harder on the innocent crash victim because they have no “Red Badge of Courage” to display to friends, family or their physicians to buttress their claims of disability, deficit and suffering. This, in turn can cause anxiety, depression and fear, especially in cases in the long and trying litigation process adds Landau.

How does Diffuse Axonal Injury occur ? What has happened is that rotational and other movements of the brain during trauma has resulted in injury to numerous axons in both cerebrum and brain stem. Brain injury trial attorney Doug Landau explains that this can happen as the result of a sharp, fast back-and-forth movement of the skull, or a rapid twisting of the head from an impact, or a high-velocity combination of (more…)

When an injured victim of a crash is brought into an emergency room, x-rays are often ordered. However, Herndon Reston area brain injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that while such diagnostic testing, while good for showing broken bones and fractures, does not show many kinds of brain injury. For example, a cyclist or motorist injured in a crash may have a subdural hematoma (sometimes spelled, “haematoma”) which may not show up in the Hospital immediately on a post-accident x-ray.
A Subdural Hematoma is a collection of blood that pools under the dura. Because x-rays do not “see” blood as easily as hard, boney structures, Doug Landau advises that these are sometimes missed. The dura is a relatively tough connective tissue (collagenous) membrane, about the thickness of parchment paper. It is firmly attached to the under surface of the skull, and in the spinal canal, it is separated from the bony structure (more…)

In the previous posting, brain injury lawyer Doug Landau listed Direct Effects of head trauma and brain injuries.  In addition to those sometimes permanently disabling effects of an impact or blow involving the skull and brain, the Herndon Reston trial attorney notes that there are “Secondary Effect” which can also be quite devastating to the innocent victim of a bike or car crash.  Listed below are Secondary Effects of brain injury and head trauma:

B. SECONDARY EFFECTS OF BRAIN INJURY AND HEAD TRAUMA:

1. Cerebral edema or swelling

2. Herniations of brain tissue

3. Infection

4. As a result of traumatic brain damage, there may be permanent localizing neurologic defects or post-traumatic epilepsy.

See, www.pathology.vcu.edu/trauma.html

Traumatic lesions, whether they are the product of closed or penetrating injuries, and whether they are coup or contra-coup, may be said to have direct effects, and secondary effects.  Brain injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that it is important to have an experienced specialist examine and test for the subtle effects of a closed head injury and brain trauma.  Direct Effects of head trauma and brain injury, whether from bike crashes, falls, motor vehicle accidents, falling merchandise, or sudden acceleration/deceleration events, are listed below:

A. DIRECT EFFECTS

1. Skull fracture

2. Hemorrhages–epidural, subdural, subarachnoid or parenchymal

3. Lesions to brain–contusion, laceration [ the most minor “lesion” has no identifiable gross or microscopic counterpart in human material and is the concussion which produces unconsciousness].

4. Diffuse axonal injury [DAI]

(In the next post, Doug Landau will cover Secondary Effects of head trauma and brain injury.)

Brain injury lawyer Doug Landau studied neurology and neurophysiology before attending law school. He recognized that it was important to understand how his clients’ bodies functioned. This Virginia trial lawyer also realized that he needed to have more than just a passing understanding of the medical terminology used in his clients’ records and experts’ reports.

Landau (shown here teaching in Richmond on the topic of medical care and equipment for disabled workers on a government program) is fond of pointing out that the human body is a miraculous machine. It is resilient, and often able to recover from horrific and traumatic injury. The ABRAMS LANDAU trial team has seen a number of clients heal from terrible injuries and bounce back from enormous impact. This is especially true of our younger clients. Children, even those who sustain fractured skulls and subdural hematoma, seem to make better recoveries than their adult counterparts.

Part of the resiliency of the human body is found in the flexibility and elasticity of many of its parts. Tendons, ligaments, muscles and other connective tissues are often able to withstand and absorb significant impact and blows. There may be bruising and pain, but (more…)