Landau Injury Law

When clients have obvious loss of function, injuries resulting in amputation or other obvious deformities, the Administrative Law Judges who hear Social Security claims have objective signs supporting disability. But when there is no outward sign of injury or disability, such as with cases of brain injury, spinal cord trauma, closed head injury, or internal organ disease, they often have a difficult time discerning legitimate claims from unsupported cases. When Herndon lawyer Doug Landau presents claims for clients who do not have obvious signs of injury or disease, he and the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team works hard to make sure the medical records and evidence support our clients’ legitimate claims.

In a recent case brought in Washington, D.C., Doug Landau brought a Social Security claim for a client who suffers from multiple medical conditions, including arthritis and continued abdominal pain including symptoms associated with diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. The Herndon/Reston Virginia disability lawyer thoroughly reviewed this woman’s medical history. The medical record and exhibit revealed that she suffered constant pain (more…)

Herndon Reston area Workers Comp injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that since the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (”VWC”) does not hold Hearings in Court houses as often as it did 20 years ago, it is important to know where you are going and that the place of your Hearing may not look like the local Court House.
If you can attend Hearings weeks before your own “day in court,” then you and your family and witnesses should absolutely do so.  Workers Comp Hearings are generally open to the public, and you will be far better prepared and less anxious.  Also look at your “Official Comp File” while you are there.  Call before you go to make sure they have your file is in Fairfax, as the headquarters is in Richmond, and that is where most VWC files are kept before and after Hearings.

Shown here is disability and workplace injury lawyer Doug Landau outside the Fairfax branch of the Northern Virginia Regional Office of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission.  The lower picture shows ABRAMS LANDAU’s Doug Landau in the reception area, where he often meets clients, their families and co-workers before and after their Hearings.  On this particular day,  he had met with a family as the result of a fatal truck crash injury.  Landau also reviewed the official files on other clients’ cases involving: paraplegia from a farm tractor rollover, brain injury, spinal cord surgery, permanent disability, head trauma, scarring and multiple fractures.

Fredericksburg Virginia Radio station WFVA (1230 AM) will feature Herndon Injury Lawyer Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. on its morning “Peoples Law School” program Monday, March 17th at 9:00 AM.  The affable Triathlon Trial Lawyer will answer questions from callers as well as from the host, fellow Virginia Trial Lawyer John Harris.   So, if you have any questions about all kinds of injury claims, workers compensation, dog attacks, occupational diseases, defective products, sports accidents, children’s cases, brain injury, Social Security Disability or other related topics, please call in !  The number is 540-371-5756.

Where do I go to meet my Abrams Landau team before and after my Hearing at the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission in Manassas ?

Since the judges do not like people talking while Hearings are going on, there are small conference rooms available where Herndon “Super Lawyer” Doug Landau can meet clients, witnesses, experts and review the VWC OFFICIAL FILES.  Very often, this is a good place to collect one’s thoughts before ntering the Hearing room and testifying in an injury or occupational disease claim.  These conference rooms are also where witnesses who have been asked to wait outside of the Hearing room can stay until they are summoned by the bailiff or clerk to testify under oath.  Shown here is one such room at the Manassas Hearing location, located to the left of the Clerk’s office.  These rooms are found at “Sudley Tower”, off Route 234, just South of Route I-66 in Manassas, where Doug Landau routinely tries spinal cord surgery, broken bone, deep wound, infection, joint replacement, brain trauma, amputation, burn, chemical injury, disease, concussion,and other permanently disabling condition cases.

A recent caller to ABRAMS LANDAU asked, ” Are attorney’s fees in workers comp claim 1/3 like in car accident and bike crash cases ?”
The short answer is, “No” according to experienced Herndon workers compensation lawyer Doug Landau

So, what are attorney fees in Virginia workers comp claims ?

At Abrams Landau, Ltd., we have contingent contracts with our clients for (more…)

Sometimes things go smoothly, without the usual delays and stalling tactics many Insurance Companies resort to in order to avoid paying money due ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. clients whose cases the Landau Law Shop has won.

The following is the text of an actual fax received by our office. Only the names have been taken out to protect our injured and disabled client’s privacy.

ATTN: DIANA MEREDITH
Please be advised pursuant to your fax received on 11/07/2007, with regard to the above referenced claim, please be advised payment has been issued to Mr. G…
Reimbursement for parking fees for 6/21/07 and period of 8/21-10/18/07 in the amount of $21.25
Mileage reimbursement for the period 8/18-10/18/07—846 total miles x $.445/mile = $376.50

The mileage reimbursement rate changes periodically - for different years there may be different rates. At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we get reimbursement for our client for the expenses related to their medical care, INCLUDING mileage, parking and prescription reimbursements. Even if you have had a friend or family member drive you, you can still receive a check. And, in cases where our injured or disabled client cannot drive, we have been able to get cab fare reimbursement and even van service ! Doug Landau recognizes that when you have been hurt or disabled in a crash, job accident or from an occupational disease or illness, every little bit helps !

(PHOTO: Abrams Landau staff wishing Law Clerk Wilson Castellanos a safe trip to Columbia, South America. Dianna Meredith, who helped the injured worker get his check for mileage and parking, is in the middle, in pink. L->R: Beatrice Vargas, Lauren Holtzman, Wilson Castellanos, Dianna Meredith, Ferhana Ali, Doug Landau)

On December 21st, the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission ordered Zurich American Insurance Company to pay Tidewater Orthopaedic Associates the full amount of their bills for the treatment of Doug Landau’s West Virginia clients.  The orthopedic doctors’ charges totaled $10,071.78.  The insurance company only offered to pay a fraction of the cost of treating Mr. Landau’s client, whose foot was crushed on the job.  What is more, this ruling comes over 2 years after the initial treatment !  In Workers Compensation cases, insurance companies save their money by only sending partial payments after much delay.

The sad part of this story is that many doctors allow the insurance companies to get away with this conduct.  They do not know that they can (more…)

Food poisoning cases can be tricky, because it is often hard to pinpoint what exactly has caused the illness or injury. The team at Abrams Landau has been contacted on a number of occasions by people who have been sickened or injured by tainted or poisoned food. There are several important steps you can take to protect your legal rights if you or someone you know has been injured or disabled due to “bad food” or defective food products. (more…)

What facts are important to win a Disability Income claim ? Are there “magic words” or phrases that the Judges look for ? Herndon lawyer Doug Landau represents disabled workers before the Federal Social Security Administration has won these cases and Hearings over the last 20 years by showing the following on behalf of the clients of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. :

1. The claimant has disabling impairments.
2. The impairments are disabling and have lasted in excess of 12 months.
3. The client is unable to perform his or her previous types of work.
4. The disabled wage earner is unable to do other forms of work that are found in the NATIONAL ECONOMY.
(more…)

Herndon Lawyer Doug Landau chalked up another win on behalf of a school cook who contracted breathing difficulties because of her work for a Prince William County middle school. The claim was denied by the Third Party Administrator (“TPA”) for the School Board. The TPA alleged that our client could have breathed in particles in her own kitchen and that her exposures at home could have been the cause of her medical condition.

While many experienced workers compensation lawyers are not equipped to competently represent people with industrial illnesses, repetitive trauma and toxic chemical exposures, at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we have take on some difficult claims on behalf of remarkable people who get hurt simply doing their jobs the best way they know how. Occupational Disease cases are more difficult and expensive to try as Virginia law has stricter requirements for these cases. Accidental injury claims need to prove a “sudden accidental injury causing a change in the body.” Occupational disease cases require significantly more evidence.

Virginia Trial Lawyer Landau engaged the services of pulmonary and critical care specialists in Fauquier County in order to support the case on behalf of a baker who had faithfully worked for the school system for 24 years ! She needed medical attention for her damaged lungs. (more…)