Landau Injury Law

Slip and fall and trip and fall cases are not limited to injuries on dry land according to Alexandria, Fairfax and Leesburg injury lawyer Doug Landau.  In a recent case out of South Florida, the injured plaintiff was on a cruise ship at the time of the fall.   The plaintiff fitness instructor  alleged he was injured when he slipped and fell on a wet floor at a cruise ship spa

According to the premises liability lawsuit, the 42-year-old fitness instructor who worked for Miami-based Steiner Transocean, sustained a back injury and became incontinent and impotent as a result of the fall in 2006.  The case was tried in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.  Plaintiff’s counsel told the newspaper that the verdict included damages for economic losses, medical expenses and past and future pain and suffering. The South Florida jury awarded $9.5 million.  The defendant Steiner Transocean, which operated the spa on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Crown, filed papers seeking a new trial or a reduction of the jury award.  Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line previously settled out of court.  There are special rules and time deadlines for bringing claims on cruise ships and for injuries that occur on “the high seas.” If you or someone you know has been injured on a cruise ship or other ocean going vessel, please seek legal counsel at once.

ABRAMS LANDAU negligence, liability, personal injury & jury trial paralegal Krisin Tanzi and her canine assistant

Another friendly, experienced and helpful voice ABRAMS LANDAU clients and their families have come to appreciate is that of Kristin Tanzi.  If a case involves negligence, liability and jury trial issues, Mrs. Tanzi will likely be interacting with you along with law clerk Shawn Shook and Landau Law Shop founding partner Doug Landau.

Recently, she helped Mr. Landau successfully conclude a dog bite case in New Jersey, prepare a trucking negligence case in Georgia and an airport cart crash case in Florida.  Legal assistant and paralegal Kristan Tanzi has experience working for law firms in New York and Texas before joining the Herndon Reston area law firm.  The Ashburn area paralegal’s responsibilities include:
•    Intermediary between attorney and clients, opposing counsel and justice system personnel
•    Drafting and filing of pleadings and correspondence (i.e., Interrogatories, Discovery Requests and Responses, Settlement Agreements)
•    Discovery preparation (i.e. correlation of client’s discovery responses)
•    Preparation of insurance claim forms for clients; Correspondence with insurance companies regarding clients claims
•    Trial preparation and attendance
•    Case file and client management
•    Scheduling appointments and court dates
•    Deposition coordination
•    Screening of potential clients
•    Docket control

Herndon Reston area injury lawyer Doug Landau is often asked, “What is a premises liability case ?”

Premises Liability Lawyer Doug Landau under Dallas International Airport artwork

The author of several hundred pages of the best-selling Lexis Nexis 3 volume set, “Premises Liability: Practice and Procedure,” explains that when a building’s design, upkeep or use causes injury, the injured victim can bring a premises liability claim for their injuries and losses.  This is true whether it is a slip and fall, falling roof shingles, loose steps, tripping cases and even faulty doors, elevators and escalators.  Premises liability is the liability for a landowner or property management company for certain torts that occur on the real property.  In many states, a judge will give the jury an instruction at the end of the case, when all the evidence has been submitted for their consideration, that goes something like this:

• a landowner has a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of persons reasonably expected to be on the premises, and that duty includes an obligation to protect against the risks of a dangerous condition existing on the premises, provided the landowner knows of, or by the exercise of reasonable care would have discovered, the dangerous condition.

If the landowner or occupier created the dangerous condition or let it exist for a sufficiently long time, they may be liable to the injured person for the damages caused by their negligence.  If you or someone you know has been injured in a slip and fall, trip and fall or other accident caused by a dangerous building or structure, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Herndon Virginia Mediation, Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Lawyer Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU with his latest TRIAL Magazine article

While the ABRAMS LANDAU team prepares every case for trial, our success in Mediation, Arbitration and other forms of “Alternative Dispute Resolution” has resulted in Herndon disability and injury lawyer Doug Landau being asked to write, speak and teach for the State and National trial lawyer associations.  Landau teaches for the “non-profit” organizations committed to helping innocent victims and disabled persons and their families.  Landau is not paid for teaching, writing or lecturing for these groups.  This was his second major article in 2009 for TRIAL magazine, a peer-reviewed journal sent to judges, lawyers and schools around the world.  Herndon’s injury and disability lawyer has been contributing articles to TRIAL since the 1980s.

In addition, Landau was also a presenter at the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) 2010 winter convention.  The topics discussed at the “Litigation at Sunrise” session, included:

• *Birth Defects Suffered by Children Whose Parents Are Exposed to Chemicals Used in “Clean Rooms” — Frank Verderame, AZ
• Pool Safety: Drain Entrapment — Dennis M. Lynch, IL
• How I Learned to Relax and Love Mediation — Douglas K.W. Landau, VA

If you have questions about Mediation, Arbitration and other forms of “Alternative Dispute Resolution,” please contact us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., 703-796-9555

The death of a young Luge athlete from Georgia  and a U.S. snowboarder suffering a serious brain injury on the halfpipe during a December practice remind us of the risks inherent in Winter Olympic sports.  While Ashburn accident lawyer Doug Landau notes that while winter sport injuries can  be permanent, athletes do not normally have legal claims since they are presumed to have “assumed the risk of harm.”  The winter triathlete lawyer points out that if an injured sportsman tried to bring a claim for his injuries in Virginia, a judge would instruct a jury that:

• “If you find by the greater weight of the evidence that the injured athlete fully understood the nature and extent of a known danger and if the disabled sportsman voluntarily exposed himself to it, the competitor assumed the risk of injuring himself from that danger.  The injured plaintiff CANNOT recover for injuries that resulted from assuming the risk of a known danger.” [from Virginia Model Jury Instruction 6.100]

This rule applies in Virginia and some other states no matter how serious or disabling the injuries.  Even if the sled or skiing crash or snowboarding fall results in death, this very strict common law rule applies in this jurisdiction.  According to a report in today’s USA Today there have been other serious winter sport injuries, including short-track speed skater J.R. Celski gashing his leg in a crash at the U.S. Olympic trials and several Alpine skiers injuring themselves on icy slopes.  Sports writer Vicki Michaelis notes that, “this season has brought a series of reminders of the perilous nature of many ratings-grabbing winter events.”  Lawyer Landau hopes that the remainder of the Winter Olympic Games are safe, injury-free and wonderful to watch.

Doug Landau's friend and mentor, Maui lawyer Jim Krueger, and "Sheffield"

Whenever Franklin Farms injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau travels to teach and learn at state, national and international trial lawyers meetings, he makes it a point to meet with top lawyers from all over the world to exchange ideas on how to help injured and disabled clients.  One of the best is Landau’s friend, mentor and Masters swimming champion Jim Krueger of Maui.  Krueger’s firm

has successfully handled cases involving Ocean, Boats and Pools that have caused death, spinal and other serious injuries resulting from (more…)

Fairfax, Loudoun and Leesburg injury lawyer Doug Landau’s speech, “How I learned to relax and love mediation,” for the American Association for Justice (”AAJ”) was well received, as was his article in TRIAL Magazine.  In his presentation, Herndon’s Lawyer Landau discussed how to use Mediation in brain injury, slip and fall, dog attack, car crash, and premises liability cases.  One review of his article in the peer-reviewed trial lawyer publication reads as follows:
DOUGLAS LANDAU, p.40    TRIAL Magazine.
Mediation can be a blessing in disguise. In fact, depending on your jurisdiction, the results can be better than what you might get at trial. An experienced trial lawyer describes three cases where mediation led to unexpected benefits and exceeded everyone’s expectations—especially his own.

Experienced workplace injury lawyers Doug Landau and Ken Annis compare notes as to what is proper for reimbursement at last week's DC Trial Lawyers meeting

Recently, an experienced personal injury lawyer sent me the following, “We are settling a third-party tort claim in which there is a workers’ comp lien.  I know that my client is responsible for paying back Temporary Total Disability (”TTD”) benefits, medical treatment, prescriptions and transportation costs.  But is my client responsible for paying back the employer and insurance carrier’s legal costs, medical examination charges, nurse case manager, vocational rehabilitation and medical management costs in car crash, dog attack or slip and fall cases ? ”
The short answer, according to experienced Herndon Workers Comp “Super Lawyer” Doug Landau is “NO.”

The employer and their workers compensation insurance carrier is reimbursed for medical care and weekly benefits only, not administrative expense such as:

1. legal costs (lawyers, paralegals, subpoenas, depositions, etc.),
2. document duplication (i.e., the VWCC file, medical records, personnel file, etc.),
3. medical examination charges (often called an “IME” or “Insurance Medical Exam”),
4. private investigators/surveillance,
5. medical utilization review,
6. nurse case manager,
7. vocational rehabilitation, and
8. medical management costs.

There is Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (”VWCC”) authority on point: Lockwood v. Automatic Control of Tidewater, 63 O.I.C. 219 (1984) and Washington v. Miller & Rhoads, 68 O.I.C. 250 (1989).  While insurance companies, employers and their lawyers often try to claim these items for repayment from a workers negligence case, when the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team confronts them with the applicable Virginia case law, they back down and withdraw their claims for these expenses, saving our clients thousands of dollars.  WHile the insurance companies ARE allowed to get paid back on their “IOU,” they can only claim certain expenses.  If you, or someone you know, has had a serious and disabling on the job accident where someone else may have been at fault, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU (703-796-9555).

A $2,850,000 verdict against the Otis Elevator Company reminds us at the Loudoun Fairfax ABRAMS LANDAU law firm of Norman Landau’s extraordinary case against this same defendant.  Landau’s case, on behalf of a child whose foot was crushed because of an excessive gap in the escalator’s steps, resulted in a record verdict in New York City.  When the gap between the moving steps and the metal sides of the escalator are wide enough, they create a dangerous trap or “pinch point” that can swallow a child’s foot or hand in seconds.  The extraction of the child’s limb from the moving machinery, however, can take a long time, during which, the child can be in excruciating pain and agony.  Injury Lawyer Doug Landau, Norman Landau’s son, recommends that parents hold on to their children whenever riding up or down an escalator, and that adults watch to make sure hands and feet do not come too close to the gap between the moving steps and the sides of the escalator.  If you see a large gap or damaged step, report it to the premises owner or operator immediately !

In the escalator accident case reported in the Worcester newspaper, a jury awarded $2.85 million to the plaintiff and his parents.  This tragic escalator accident occurred when the boy was only 4-years-old.  He was 13 at the time of trial.  The jury also found that Otis Elevator Co., the maker of the escalator in question, should pay the boy’s parent $250,000 each.  The lawyer for the plaintiffs had argued that the company was responsible because the settings on the specific escalator violated the company’s own safety standards.  The child’s hand was mangled after he fell on an escalator and his had was nearly amputated by the moving structure.  According to the report in the Insurance Journal, his hand slipped through a gap between the escalator and its side panels.   His father will use some of the money awarded for further surgery to improve the functionality of his son’s mangled hand.  If you, or someone you know, has been injured in an escalator or elevator accident, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU (703-796-9555), as there are legal time limits for bringing such claims, and a parent’s time limit may not be as long as that of their own child.

With over 6 million people in the construction trades in the United States, it is a significant sector of our economy,  However, construction is also one of the most dangerous kind of work, with over 8,000 workers killed on construction sites each year and many thousands injured and maimed for life.  At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we see first-hand some of the devastation caused by unsafe construction practices and lax inspection, regulation and enforcement by state, local and federal agencies.  We have tried cases were our clients have been injured or killed on construction sites.  Some of the  injuries were caused by:

• Falls from roofing,
• Loads dropped on a workers head,
• Failure of scaffolding causing falls from heights,
• Unsecured stairways, steps or ramps,
• Wood snapping, breaking or coming loose,
• Getting shot with a nail from a nail gun,Ladders twisting and falling,
• Explosions causing hearing loss,
• Asbestos dust particles causing lung damage,
• Combustible materials catching firing and causing burns,
• Construction vehicles hitting other trucks, cars and workers on the ground.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a construction site accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.