Landau Injury Law

A rash of broken baseball bats in big-league ballgames has some crying foul about the safety of players, coaches and fans. In one case, a woman at a Los Angeles Dodgers game was struck in the face with a piece of a broken bat and suffered a broken jaw. At least one batmaker says some companies are producing substandard bats that are more likely to shatter and endanger unsuspecting onlookers.  For more on this timely subject, read Jim Armstrong’s article in the Denver Post, 07/21/2008

At Abrams Landau, Ltd., we have helped people injured while participating in Sports and Recreational Activities.  We were successful on behalf of a Fairfax, Virginia golf pro who was injured in a golf cart accident at a Maryland golf course.  Doug Landau noted that a 6/16/2008 New York Times piece recently revealed that the number of injuries caused by golf carts more than doubled between 1990 and 2006.   This data was taken from a study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine says. According to researchers, nearly 150,000 people were hurt by golf carts during the period from 1990 to 2006, with many of those injuries resulting from falls. Researchers say the widening use of golf carts coupled with increased speed and lack of safety equipment are likely culprits for the rise in injuries.  In Mr. Landau’s golf pro injury case, the player was thrown from the cart when it was caused to tip over by recently poured paving material.  The article was by Eric Nagourney of The New York Times, 06/16/2008    

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.

It’s never a good idea to stop during a sprint triathlon, that is, if you want a top finish !

Today I stopped not once, but three times !  I stopped in the cold, pool swim, in order to get my “electronics” (watch, “time window” goggle chronograph and heart rate monitor) working.  And then I had to stop on the bike ride twice.  My rear wheel was rubbing against the frame.  I could hear, feel and smell the burning rubber.  It was not safe.  And it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Especially when you represent injured athletes and bicyclists who have been in crashes.  Had I kept going, my wheel could have worn out or overheated and burst, causing me to crash, suffer a head impact or worse, a brain injury.  Averaging some 24 miles per hour, I try to not take unnecessary chances. There was a screw loose (many of you are cheeky enough to think, “no surprise there !”), and I was able to take the wheel off, and re-align it so that it would stay “true” for the remainder of the 12 mile bike course.  The Triathlon Trial Lawyer managed to finish in under 65 minutes, or about a minute slower than last year, for 14th overall, out of 550 registrants.  Had I not stopped 3 times, I believe that I would have been in the top 10 again, and had a course PR (= personal record).

With so many memorials and historic sights in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, we sometimes forget some of the places that are outside of the Beltway that are accessible and beautiful in their own right.  I have always wanted to bike the length of the C&O Canal after hearing about it from Casamo Court Reporting. It would take a week, and there is even a connection that you can take with your bicycle, all the way to Pittsburgh !  While Memorial Day Weekend did not afford me enough time to do the C&O Canal to its terminus in Cumberland, Maryland, I did want to see some of its expanse outside the area immediately surrounding our Nation’s Capitol.  So, on Sunday and Monday, my bride and I did 3 hours of cycling on our mountain bikes on the C&O Canal.  The C&O was the route used to bring supplies into D.C., and many of the locks and other features are kept up by the Park Service.  You can walk it, bicycle or horseback ride it, and even canoe, kayak or action cat along side it.  There are even ferries to take you across the Potomac River !  The “Jubal Early” ferry in White’s Ferry charges $1.00 to take a cyclist AND their bike across the river !  You do not have to be a triathlete or bike racer - there are ALL shapes, sizes, speeds and styles on the Canal path.

While many clients are aware of the Herndon High School track and cross country teams running past the “Landau Law Shop” and that ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd’s 120-year-old building is on the Herndon Festival race courses, not many know that in  the evening, on Thursdays, the Reston Bike Club leaves from the parking lot by the Caboose down the street.  With 5 levels of riders and directional “cue sheets,” the RBC draws many riders to the “Downtown Historic District” of Herndon, Virginia.  Doug Landau can see the group assembling from the upper balcony of the main ABRAMS LANDAU building.   During the racing season, the TriathlonTrialLawyer tries to join these skilled bicycle riders as they bike around Herndon, Reston, Ashburn, Sterling and other areas in Fairfax County and Loudoun County.  Since the “Landau Law Shop” is located by the 20 mile mark of the W&OD Trail, clients, teammates and friends have visited with us before and after their bike rides and/or run training.  Shown here is Herndon sports injury lawyer Doug Landau with Reston Road Runners Club President, Reston Triathlon Race Director and Virginia Trial Lawyer Donna Rostant before a recent Thursday night ride.

The Columbia Triathlon is another example of how I try to always combine friends, family, sports and the law.

This Olympic Distance race is one of the most competitive in the United States. The course included a cold mile lake around an island (so you could not see the finish until later in that leg of the race); a 26 mile bike ride over a hilly, challenging course; and then a 6.2 mile “rolling” run, with several steep hills. I improved over 6 minutes from my 2003 time with a 2:27:34, finishing 191st overall, out of over 1,900 finishers (and 2,500 starters). Here I am about to pump my tires before the race begins. (more…)

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.

Doug Landau, the “TriathlonTrialLawyer” enjoys competing in races all over the world.  The ABRAMS LANDAU trial attorney has represented injured athletes from all over the country. Landau also puts on small sporting events and volunteers at larger competitions each year.  In June, he will be heading to Lakeville, located in Litchfield County,in the NorthWest corner of Connecticut for his 30th high school reunion.  Like his classmate, and legislator Andrew Roraback, Doug has also been a member of the Litchfield County Bar Association for over 20 years.  While he has many duties as part of this class’s record setting Reunion Committee, he enjoys helping with the annual “Reunion Run,”  usually held on the school’s picturesque cross country and gold courses.  Here Landau (’78) is shown in 2006 after helping out Math Instructor Charlie Bell during an “off” year.