Landau Injury Law

Disability lawyer Doug Landau is often asked about the facilities used by the Federal Government for Social Security Disability (”SSDI”) Hearings before the Administrative Law Judges (”ALJs”).  Herndon and Reston lawyer Landau was recently asked, “What is a Social Security Disability Hearing “Witness Room” and what happens inside ?”

ABRAMS LANDAU Social Security Disability client and witness in an SSDI conference room

Landau flew from Dulles Airport, conveniently located just minutes from the Landau Law Shop, to try several cases this winter in North Carolina.  Shown on the left is a happy client (and also a witness in another ABRAMS LANDAU SSDI Hearing). There is a desk, some chairs and a computer in many of the Witness Rooms.   There is room for wheelchairs, and with little in the way of other furnishings, Landau’s paralyzed, brain injured and impaired client little in the way of other distractions.  The computer enables Landau to review the official Federal Government computer file, as he is usually given a CD with all of the evidentiary exhibits on it the morning of the ALJ Hearing.  The CD given to Landau that morning is usually more up to date than the disc sent to ABRAMS LANDAU beforehand, so it is important to review it, with the disabled claimant and their witnesses and family members before entering the Hearing room.  As the saying goes, “The best surprise is NO surprise !”  These rooms give clients, witnesses and counsel to talk in private just prior to going on the record and giving testimony under oath.

Having represented someone who suffered from Hepatitis C after getting tattoos, the following story about a self-proclaimed Neo-Nazi who is getting his prison tattoos covered up by a makeup artist during his trial caught Herndon personal injury lawyer Doug Landau’s eye. While everyone at ABRAMS LANDAU agrees an accused deserves a fair trial and representation if they cannot affords a lawyer, getting the taxpayers to pay for a make up artist or cosmetologist seems a bit over the top. If a defendant in a criminal trial can get this service, what’s next ? A make up artist for a assailant whose face is bruised ? Cover up for a cauliflower-eared rapist ? How about Retin-A for child molesters to look younger ? In this case the offending swastika tattoos and barbed wire across his face were done AFTER the accused was arrested and in prison. The Defendant knew that he would be appearing before a judge, perhaps a jury and others who might be offended by what he did to his appearance while in prison.

Here’s the full story at MSNBC.com.

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 

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.  

A combination of disabling conditions can be sufficient to prove a Social Security Disability claim.  The disabled worker does not need to have one medical diagnosis only; we have won Federal disability cases where the claimant has several permanent injuries or chronic problems that prevent them from working.  Recently, a Lovettsville client complained of nerve damage in her legs, feet and hands as a result of her chemotherapy treatments.  She is a survivor of breast cancer who was experiencing knee pain, shooting pains in her legs, and was unable to perform any tasks requiring kneeling or standing.

Her treating doctor explained that due to her impairments, the claimant was limited to lifting only 10-pounds occasionally in her 8-hour day.  She had become limited in feeling and grasping.  The worker’s doctor wrote that this middle-aged woman would not likely recover from her symptoms.  As a result of her chemotherapy she sustained chronic peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy is “a problem with the functioning of the nerves outside the spinal cord.”

http://millercenter.uchicago.edu/learnaboutpn/aboutpn/whatispn/

The Government hired a medical consultant to examine and question the disabled worker and then give evidence against her in Court.  However, the Government’s doctor’s physical assessments were given little to no weight in the decision because they did not properly recognize the treating Doctor’s consultative examination, treatments or the full effects of ALL of the claimant’s injuries.

Doug Landau represented the claimant, explaining her disease, neurological problems and resulting problems. In the winning decision, the Judge wrote, “ After considering the evidence of record, the [Social Security Administration] finds that the claimant’s medically determinable impairments could reasonably be expected to produce the alleged symptoms, and that the claimant’s statements concerning the intensity, persistence, and limiting effects of these symptoms are generally credible”.  While Landau has helped disabled workers who cannot work because of a crash, major accident or debilitating disease (like Multiple Sclerosis, Hepatitis, AIDS, etc.), the ABRAMS LANDAU team has also been able to assist people with SEVERAL disabling conditions to win their Social Security Disability cases.

Doug Landau explains, “having one law firm handle all of your related cases saves time, effort and money. For example, the medical records prescriptions and bills are relevant to all your injury and disability cases. Once I learn a client’s medical history, I can apply that knowledge to their car crash, dog attack, product liability or slip and fall case, as well as their related on the job injury claim, and also their Federal Social Security Disability claim. We only have to pay for these records ONCE, and we can use one of these cases to help the other.” Coordination of state and Federal benefits is becoming increasingly more complex, and law firms that claim to handle injury cases are settling the motorcycle crash, dog bite or premises liability claim and then failing to properly protect the client on the workers compensation or Social Security claims.  Plus, ABRAMS LANDAU gets calls all the time from distraught injury victims who have a good lawyer, but that lawyer does not handle their related cases, and the legal time limit is about to run against them.

Herndon, Reston and Leesburg injury and disability lawyer Landau’s advice: “Don’t be a dummy and split up your negligence, workers comp and Social Security cases.” Keep them “under one roof” with an experienced law firm that regularly handles permanent injury, lifetime disability and fatal accident claims before the trial courts, compensation boards and Federal Social Security Administrative Law Judges.

The “dummy” ABRAMS LANDAU trial lawyer Landau is pictured with can be found in Lightfoot’s, the Loudoun County restaurant across the street from the Leesburg Court House where many of this InjuryBoard member’s airport injury, car wreck and bicyclists’ crash cases are filed

Despite a Federal Judge’s finding that Doug Landau’s client’s “Frozen Shoulder” was NOT an impairment that meets Social Security’s medical listing, he won her case for disability benefits dating back over 2 years. The Richmond Administrative Law Judge only took 3 months to issue this partially favorable opinion for a 57 year-old woman who does not have a high school diploma or G.E.D. This ABRAMS LANDAU client had a vocational history consisting of custodial jobs (unskilled, heavy work). Injury Board member Doug Landau was able to present evidence that his client was disabled from multiple conditions, including:

• Frozen shoulder
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Arthritis
• Diabetes
• Radiculopathy

Because of her disabling conditions, her children and grandchildren care for her and her home. She can only cook soup, sandwiches, hot dogs and frozen dinners because she cannot lift the 5 lb. pans with any regularity. She does no household chores, and often drops things. Her degenerative disc disease affects her lumbar spine and lower back such that she cannot bend, stoop or squat, which are necessary activities for even unskilled and sedentary jobs. Because of her lumbar spine’s deterioration and arthritis in all of her joints, she cannot sit for more than 5 minutes, and she has numbness and tingling down her legs and into her knees. This ABRAMS LANDAU client has a significant medication load for her pain, discomfort and other symptoms. The side effects include interference with her ability to concentrate and stay on task.  Virginia disability and injury lawyer Landau was able to successfully bring lay and expert witness testimony and evidence to convince the judge of his client’s inability to work.

If you, someone in your family or someone you know needs help with their Social Security, accident, workplace injury or other disability or permanent injury case, please e-mail or call us today at (703-796-9555).

Doug Landau traveled to Florida in order speak on “Hip Fractures in the Elderly” at the InjuryBoard meeting in St. Petersburg. Utilizing his laptop to give the presentation, the Loudoun Fairfax injury lawyer shared strategies for successfully representing older clients whose lives have been altered due to broken hips caused by the negligence, carelessness or recklessness of others.

Hip fractures can occur due to slip and falls, car crashes and defective products. Landau and the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team have helped clients with their cases throughout the United States, and stand ready to help you or a loved one if a broken hip or fractured pelvis have taken away good health, independence and pain free living.

In a word, “no’ according to Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.  The Fairfax, Leesburg and Loudoun injury lawyer belongs to 5 state bars, so sees the difference between the various jurisdictions.  In most states, a lawyer must belong to the state bar association, pay annual dues and attend a minimum number of “Continuing Legal Education’ classes (”CLE”).  the best lawyers belong to a number of bar associations that have educational and practicer oriented programming, but who lobby on behalf of injured workers, victims and their families on Capitol Hill.  Since the injured victims and their families have no “lobby,” as is the case in the courtroom, the trial lawyers associations are their only “voice.”

Many lawyers, unfortunately, just attend this minimum number and belong to only the “mandatory bar associations.”  They do nothing else.  Either they are too cheap, too lazy, too swamped with cases they should not be handling or a combination of those factors.  They do not learn: the latest changes in the law, trial techniques, technical advances or changes in the Code of Ethics.  Landau believes so strongly in continuing legal education, that he not only takes many more hours of CLE than is required in all the states where he practices; the firm also pays for staff to attend these all-important programs.

Furthermore, Landau also belongs to various “voluntary” bar associations.  Landau belongs to the American Association for Justice, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Workers Injury Law&Advocacy Group and other organizations that help injured victims and their families.  Landau is shown here before his speech (on fractured hips and elderly clients) with another “second generation ATLA member” Stephen Herman of New Orleans, Louisiana at the InjuryBoard meeting in Florida.  Landau and Herman shared insights into the handling of personal injury cases and how best to help their cleints, just as their fathers did before them.  Both know it is important not just to pay the dues, but to actually participate, teach and share their knowledge in order to help those who have been injured or lost loved ones due to the negligence or reckless conduct of others.

Celebrating “Hepatitis Awareness Day,” the 10th Annual “Tim Harmon 5K Run/Walk” was once again held at the Fairfax County Government Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board’s Alcohol and Drug Services program sponsors the event to raise awareness of Hepatitis C and substance abuse in the community and to honor the memory of Tim Harmon who served as Director of CSB Alcohol and Drug Services Residential Services. Tim, who was instrumental in the development of the Community Service Board’s substance abuse treatment services that exist today, died from Hepatitis C (HCV) in 1999. This event is a tribute to Tim and his work, and an effort to make a difference to people impacted by HCV.

Shown here in front of the Fairfax Government Center is Race Director (and race participant!) Peg Cook, who gave an impassioned (more…)