Landau Injury Law

The homeowners insurance company for the parents who hosted a teen sleepover party has settled a wrongful death claim brought by the family of a 14-year-old girl who died in a car crash.  The $1.75-million settlement in the controversial case  was approved by a Henrico County judge.  The money comes from the homeowners’ insurance for the parents of the victim’s friend who were hosting a sleepover visit.  They allowed the two girls to ride with a teenage boy who then crashed his car, killing the plaintiff’s daughter.

In his lawsuit, the deceased girl’s father alleged he told the host parents, “No boys with cars.”  Despite her agreement to that request, the friend’s mother allegedly permitted her daughter to ride with the boy, which left the victim no choice but to go along.

The case produced an opinion from the Supreme Court of Virginia that a parent who agrees to supervise and care for a child has a common law duty to do so with reasonable care.  The court’s ruling sent the case back to Henrico County Circuit Court for trial. According to the stories in Lawyers Weekly, trial had been scheduled for July, 2010. The plaintiff’s family hopes the case will bring attention to the responsibility that adults have towards children in their care and the risks of teenagers driving with multiple teenage passengers.

Bottom line according to car crash and wrongful death attorney Doug Landau: if you agree to take responsibility for someone else’s kids, you had better do so responsibly.  And if the rule is “No driving with boys,” then, as the supervising parent or adult, you allow no driving.

The current edition of the Virginia Lawyer Register had a Proposed Legal Ethics Opinion (#1802) on Advising Clients on the Use of Lawful Undisclosed Recording.  This proposed legal ethics opinion (LEO) addresses the ethical implications of a lawyer’s advising clients regarding the use of undisclosed recording.

After looking at several examples and prior precedent, the Virginia State Bar Legal Ethics Committee concluded that in both of the examples provided, the committee is faced with situations in which the client has asked the lawyer for his or her opinion on how to address the client’s legal problem. Further, the proposed undisclosed recording in both examples is not only lawful, but it could very well be the only means by which the client can obtain relevant information. The committee believes that the circumstances presented are easily distinguishable from and stand in stark contrast to the illegal wiretapping case presented in Gunter v. Virginia State Bar, 238 Va. 617. Click here to read the Proposal

Insurance companies routinely tape record disabled victims and get signed statements while clients are on strong medications and still recovering from their injuries.  Then, when counsel request these statements, the insurance companies resist, stating that they are “protected,” were taken “in anticipation of litigation,” and therefore privileged.  At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. we believe that the insurance companies should have to turn over all statements and that the insureds and victims be allowed to use the same technology.

I have known some very loving dogs, and I have also lived with some very unfriendly canines.  The fact is that any dog, no matter the breed and even if raised with kindness and care, is capable of unprecedented and unprovoked attack.

So if a pit bull that has a history known for absence of aggressive behavior one day attacks someone without provocation, then we conclude after the fact that it must have happened because of how the owner had treated it?  And if the dog never did the attack, we conclude the owner is a good owner ?  Not necessarily.  Statistically, Pit Bulls are one of the most likely breeds of dogs to attack a human being, and they have a natural propensity to attack and bite hard.  They were bred as a fighting dog, when society accepted that as a sport.  One neighbor and pit bull  owner told me that they were bred to fight lions and other animals in the Roman Colosseum.

However, the type or breed of a dog is not sufficient in Virginia to cause a jury to find for the injured dog attack victim.  In a dog bite case, the injured plaintiff must still prove negligence.  To prove this point from an evidentiary standpoint, the injured victim will usually need an expert unless in pre-trial investigation or during discovery it came out that the dog had several prior attacks on humans.  There is no question that there are good dog owners that can train a Pit Bull to be well behaved and others who can cause an otherwise docile breed of canine to be vicious and dangerous.  See tomorrow’s post for a friend’s use of a trainer to prove negligence in a pit bull dog attack case where there were no “prior bites” or other attacks.

If you or someone you know has been injured by a dog or other animal caused by someone else’s negligence or fault, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.

Mold and sick building claims require substantial time and expense.  Firms with which we have worked invest heavily in building mold claims.  We have seen first-hand that they are very complicated and difficult to prosecute successfully. They almost always require multiple scientific and medical experts to establish what kind of mold you’re dealing with, causation and the extent of any injury (with inevitable wide disparity in the opinions of knowledgeable experts). There are very few generally accepted, objective criteria by which even honest experts can evaluate claims and almost every day sees another scientific paper published either supporting or denying the possibility of serious permanent injury from exposure to mold.

Basically, a victim with pretty severe symptoms (typically, someone with a pre-existing, compromised immune system or hypersensitivity to mold) who has been exposed to a large quantity of “bad mold” (like stachybotros) over a sufficiently long period of time that they have suffered some type(s) of permanent injury (i.e., it won’t get better simply by eradicating the mold or removing the victim from the moldy environment) may have a chance of getting fair restitution and payment for what has been taken from them and their families.  If you or your family or friends have questions about mold or sick building illness, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).

Many lawyers who do not regularly practice before the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (”VWC”) do not realize that there are several specific requirements for the approval of a compromise settlement.  In addition to the Petition and Order, a notarized Affidavit is required.  Furthermore, a Deputy Commissioner from the Northern Virginia Regional Office sent out a Memorandum indicating that “Any settlement submitted for approval must contain a cover letter from claimant’s attorney stating

• a description for the procedural history of the case,
• the current posture (including issues in dispute and the strengths and weaknesses of the claim and anticipated defenses),
• personal information about the claimant (age, family, status, number of dependents, current working situation, income),
• the attorney’s belief whether the claimant is competent to enter into the settlement and understands the terms,
• current medical condition and treatment of the claimant,
• anticipated future medical expenses including whether the claimant has other medical insurance, and a statement of claimant’s intended use of the settlement (amount of debt payment, investment).

In addition, every settlement must contain a separate statement from the attorney identifying the fee requested and the basis for the fee signed by the claimant reflecting agreement or disagreement, along with a notarized affidavit by the claimant.”  The settlement of a permanent injury or disability case should not be done without experienced legal counsel.  Consultation with a Virginia Trial Lawyer who regularly practices before the VWC and who also helps families with their Social Security Disability and other accidental injury cases wold be in a good position to help before papers are signed and it’s too late.  If you or someone you know has been in an on the job accident and sustained permanent injury or long term disability, please e-mail or call us (703-796-9555) at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., before signing any settlement papers.  We may be able to help you to understand the terms and keep you from losing other benefits to which you might otherwise be entitled.

While Interstate car and truck crash injury lawyer Doug Landau would have guessed that there would be fewer crashes from “hands free” cell phone operation, the numbers his mother sent him from New Jersey suggest that may not necessarily be so.  Landau grew up in Bergan County and has tried cases in Hudson County, so the interstate personal injury lawyer has travelled up and down the New Jersey Turnpike and I-95 hundreds of times.  Jersey lawyer Landau was surprised by these numbers:

Total crashes related to hand-held cell phone use:

2006        2007    2008

Bergan        164            177        149
Hudson        105            133        102
Passaic        125            110        84
New Jersey    1,854        1,866    1,821

Total crashes related to hands-free cell phone use:

Bergan        121            104        159
Hudson        214            221        310
Passaic        188            86        104
New Jersey    1,726        1,421    1,383

Bottom line: Using cell phones with or without the “hands free” option is dangerous.  If you must make an important call, pull over to the side of the road or, better yet, park the car and talk, take notes and concentrate on the conversation.  Multi-tasking behind the wheel may not be efficient if you or someone else winds up getting hurt.  When driving, focus on the road and the conditions around you, and driver defensively.   If you or someone you know has been injured due to a distracted driver, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555)

Doug Landau has seen police on the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate I-95 step up enforcement of the ban on hand held cell phones and texting while driving by "distracted drivers" of cars and trucks

The ban on texting or talking on a handheld cellphone have resulted in tickets being issued, according to Interstate 95 car crash lawyer Doug Landau.  Having seen drivers pulled over and ticketed on I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike for talking on their cell phone, Landau is curious to see if this enforcement leads to a reduction in accidents caused by “distracted driving.”

According to North Jersey news reports, Jersey police have racked up 224,725 citations for violating the law in the 23 months since the law has been in effect. That’s about 4 percent of nearly 5.4 million total moving violations — not counting drunken driving offenses — in roughly the same time period, according to state judiciary statistics.

Although residents complain police aren’t enforcing the law, state Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer said the numbers show otherwise.  “They’re doing everything they can,” she said. “The problem is, we have far more violators than we have police.”  Cranford Police Chief Eric Mason, first vice president for the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, said the law, which includes a $100 fine, has been a deterrence.  Since 2008, handheld cellphone use was involved in 3,610 crashes and 13 deaths, compared with 3,129 crashes and six deaths where a hands-free device was being used.  The Landau Law Shop has assisted injured drivers, bikers and pedestrians who have been struck by motorists operating cell phones.  If you or someone you know has been injured due to the fault of a “distracted driver,” please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU(703-796-9555)

Having helped disabled workers who have also given birth to and raised their children, Herndon Reston and Leesburg Social Security lawyer Doug Landau has seen how having a family can penalize women when it comes to their Federal Disability benefits.  In fact, what mothers don’t know about Social Security can hurt them.  Business Week reported how women earn less and working mother earn less still.

However, when women leave the workforce to have and raise children, the ability to receive Social Security disability benefits often suffer.  This is so even though child rearing is extremely important and society should reward those who work hard at raising a family.  Few mothers take the time to look at how their caregiving responsibilities impact their Social Security eligibility and benefits.

When you work and are paid, you generally earn Social Security “credits” for each quarter of a year that you work.  If you earn enough of quarters of credits, you will be eligible for various parts of the program including retirement and disability income benefits. Once you are eligible for retirement benefits, the amounts are then calculated using earnings over your lifetime.  If you do not have the required number of credits or earn less than your spouse, you can also choose to take half of your spouse’s benefit at retirement.  For more on this, go to the Mothers Movement site.

At ABRAMS LANDAU, we encourage every client to get a copy of their Social Security printout so that they can see how many quarters of credits they have, what their benefit amounts will be at retirement and if the become disabled.  Anyone of working age generally  needs 40 credits to be eligible for retirement benefits based on their own earnings rather than her spouse’s. That usually means working full-time for 10 years. Check your Social Security statement. You should receive an annual statement around your birthday or you can request one at www.ssa.gov or by calling 1-800-772-1213.  Do you have the 40 credits you need for retirement benefits on your own work record ?  Do you have enough credits in the system to be eligible for disability income ?  If you or your family or friends have questions about Social Security Disability please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).

Doug Landau and his assistants know that it can take a very long time for a Social Security Disability case

Social Security Disability lawyer Doug Landau is often asked, “How long will it take for my disability case to get to court ?”  In prior posts this week the Herndon, Franklin Farms and Reston area lawyer examined denial and allowance rates as well as the number of claims heard by area Social Security offices.  The “National Ranking Report” published in the Social Security Forum this spring shows the processing times for offices throughout the United States for the month ending in March of 2010:

Rank    Hearing            Processing Time

1        Middlesboro        252 days
16        Charlottesville    336
25        Richmond        354
77        Baltimore        444
80        Greensboro        453
90        Tampa            463
118        Newark            514
135        Miami            556
139        Charleston        568
144        Anchorage, AK    642

If you or someone you know is permanently disabled, please e-mail or call us at (703-796-9555)  there is also additional information at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.

Herndon and Loudoun disability lawyer Doug Landau is often asked, “How many cases does Social Security actually approve at the first 2 levels before I have to go before an Administrative Law Judge ?”  “What are the National, Regional and Middle Atlantic States’ averages ?”  “Doesn’t the Federal Government just deny every case ?” “Must you have a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury in order to win a Social Security case ?”

The Virginia disability lawyer notes that not every single claim is denied by the Federal Government at the initial and reconsideration levels.  While it is true that most claims are denied at the initial level, and the percentage of claims allowed at the reconsideration level is only about 14% nationally, there are a number of claimants who receive benefits at these levels.  According to the “Social Security Forum,” the Social Security Disability & Supplemental Security Income (”SSI”) Disability Claims Allowance Rates for the fiscal year 2009 for our area were as follows:

Initial Level        Reconsideration Level

• NATION                36.9%        13.8%
• REGION (Philadelphia)     36.4        13.9
• STATE:
• Delaware            42.9        10.1
• Washington, D.C.        40.5        17.0
• Maryland            38.7        18.9
• Pennsylvania            35.3
• Virginia                40.4        14.3
• West Virginia            26.4        8.2

It has become apparent to the ABRAMS LANDAU disability team that a claimant’s best chance of getting their full Federal Disability Income benefits is at the Administrative Law Judge (”ALJ”) level.   That is why it is important to get an experienced Social Security lawyer involved EARLY in the process.  Federal Disability forms filled out late or incorrectly can be fatal to a case.  If you or someone you know is permanently disabled, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555)