Landau Injury Law

            Even if the claimant’s doctor has not released him/her to go back to work, Doug Landau counsels his clients to put effort into job searching that may fit their current restrictions.   If they do not find employment, there is at least a written record of their efforts as evidence that the injured worker is not malingering, but would seriously like to work.  Waiting for the employer to accept the claimant back to work is not necessarily the best result for the claimant.  ABRAMS LANDAU clients who have sustained permanent arm, leg or head injuries may not ever be able to go back to their old jobs.  BUT, there are other, easier, “light duty jobs,” that they can do.  The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission sometimes calls these jobs “selective duty positions.”  Whether the injured worker has had a broken leg or a brain injury, the Commission will often look to see what efforts they have made to look for light work that they CAN do.  Failure to even look can serve as the basis for an insurance company terminating benefits.

            The recent case of  John Quinn Inc. v. Barry   is an example of what is expected and the law in Virginia.  At the time of his accident, an injured employee was working two jobs, one of which was a part-time job at Home Depot.   The claimant could not return to his pre-injury work with his primary employer or any with any manufacturing or construction position.  The claimant accepted a full-time position with Home Depot where his work activities were limited as a result of his injury.  The Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the Commission Award of TPD because the Court was not convinced that the claimant’s acceptance of the full-time position with Home Depot constituted adequate marketing of his residual capacity.  The Court determined that the claimant failed to meet his burden of proof. 

See: John Quinn Inc. v. Barry (Frank, J.)Virginia Court of Appeals No. 2229-07-2, July 15, 2008, Virginia Lawyers Weekly 008-7-333(UP),9pp 

Yes, possibly.  The first step in any workers compensation claim is to determine if you were injured “in the course and scope of employment.”  If you were injured on the job, the next step is to figure out how much your employer paid you every week.  Because many undocumented workers are paid “under the table,” or on a cash basis, proving how much your employer paid you every week may be difficult.  This is important because many of your compensation benefits depend on how much you were making before you got injured.   Your “average weekly wage” rate affects how much you get for lost wages, permanent injury to your body and the size of your settlement or Court Award.

Proving what your employer paid you in cash might be a difficult task, but with the help of the ABRAMS LANDAU team, the process can be smoother.  In order to prove how much employers have paid undocumented workers in the past, the ABRAMS LANDAU law firm in Herndon, Virginia has used a variety of successful techniques like examining bank deposit statements, receipts from remittances, eye witness accounts, and receipts from other money transfer services.  It is best to have is a “paper trail” of the payments you received.    

Additionally, the ABRAMS LANDAU team will help you factor whether you were provided uniforms, meals, lodging or transportation.  This usually increases the amount of money Herndon attorney Doug Landau gets for his clients.  Proving exactly how much the employer paid you every week will determine how much money you receive while you are not working-money that will help you and your family survive while you are recovering from your injuries.  

The Herndon - Reston of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. has successfully settled another workers comp suicide case for a Florida family.  Using favorable Virginia case law and Doug Landau’s own winning decision in the Elliott case, this Bulgarian family was able to at last get some compensation for their tragic loss. 

In a similar ruling, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that the families of workers who commit suicide following an industrial accident can recover workers compensation benefits. The justices held that benefits may be payable if an on-the-job injury led to the rational impairment that resulted in suicide. The ruling revives a workers compensation claim filed by the widow of a man who shot himself after suffering a severe back injury at work.  AP, Las Vegas Review Journal  07/25/2008

Yes, possibly.  Although some day laborers may be unauthorized to work in the United States, in the event of a work related accident “arising out of and in the course and scope of employment,” an undocumented day laborer may collect workers’ compensation benefits.  In other words, the fact that the worker is in the United States illegally does not prevent him from seeking and collecting workers’ compensation benefits.  The workers’ compensation benefits may include payment of reasonable and related medical bills and two-thirds of the workers average weekly wage as well as payment for any permanent partial disability. 

            The team at ABRAMS LANDAU represents undocumented day laborers and helps them obtain the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve. Doug Landau represented Daniel Lopez, an undocumented day laborer picked up at a 7-11 store to do some carpentry work.  After being ordered to clean an aluminum gutter used to empty the cement from a cement truck, Daniel slipped and fell.  A chute fell on his right hand, breaking his finger

            The insurance company denied Daniel’s workers’ compensation claim.  They said he was not an employee.  The also said he was not legal and that he was not entitled to any benefits.  The ABRAMS LANDAU team fought to help him and took the case to court.  Even after the employer highlighted Daniel’s undocumented status at the Virginia Workers’ Compensation hearing, Doug Landau won Sr. Lopez’s claim.  The Workers Compensation judge awarded the injured worker his total wage loss benefits, his medical bills and certain out of pocket expenses.

            Although this case occurred in Virginia, undocumented day laborers in DC, MD and Virginia are protected by their state’s workers’ compensation laws.  If you are an undocumented day laborer and have a work related accident contact the ABRAMS LANDAU team  at 703-796-9555 (www.LandauInjuryLaw.com) to help you get your workers compensation benefits.    

Here are pictures of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission’s Fairfax Office.  Summer Intern Shiri Ahronovich, a rising William & Mary Senior, is shown here in the Hearing room where testimony is taken.  

 Note the microphones and that there are two chairs at counsel table so that Doug Landau’s clients can sit next to him when they are not actually testifying.  Ms. Ahronovich is also shown in the “witness conference room,” where Mr. Landau meets with clients before the Hearing begins, as well as the vestibule.  In the “witness conference room,” copies of important documents from our clients’ OFFICIAL FILES are made, so that they can see what evidence the judge will be looking at in their cases.  

  We publish these pictures so that clients, their families and potential clients can see where to observe us “in action !”

Injured clients ask why there are microphones at comp hearings.  The rooms are generally small, and everyone can hear each other just fine.  The mikes are not to amplify the voices.  Rather, the microphones are for recording the trial so that if later one party or the other wants to appeal, they can have a transcript typed up so that the Commission (and perhaps the VIrginia Court of Appeals or even the Supreme Court of Virginia) can see what everybody said on the record.  There are no “live” court reporters at Virginia comp hearings, like there are at jury trials Doug Landau has presented.  However, recent cases involving fractured legs, arms, hands, concussions and brain injury that we have won for injured workers have been appealed, and that means that the Full Commission must have the tape recorded proceedings typed up and each side must pay for a copy.   Shown here is a witness about to testify in front of the microphone at a Virginia Workers Compensation Commission hearing that arose as the result of a traffic accident fatality in Fairfax County.

In an earlier entry, I wrote about how we settled a case for a Radford area client after filing suit in his premises liability case in the Loudoun Circuit Court.   In this entry, you’re never going to believe it, but I brought a check for over $25,000 to the workers comp defense counsel. That’s right, in a workers comp claim where there is a third party negligence case, the employer’s insurance company has an “IOU” against any settlement, verdict or other monetary recovery.  In other words, if you are hurt on the job, and you sue someone who DOES NOT WORK FOR YOUR EMPLOYER for their negligence, or because of a defective product, or because their premises was dangerous, or their dog attacked you, the insurance company for your employer will look to get their money back.  Sometimes, BOTH cases can be settled at the same time. (more…)

The law firm of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. has been apprised of another instance of an insurance defense lawyer misidentifying himself to a client’s treating doctor in order to get information that may be confidential, private and/or irrelevant to the case.   While there are ethical rules governing lawyer conduct, Doug Landau has seen the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission’s reluctance to take forceful action in the face of dishonorable conduct.  In a recent case, a doctor advised our office that a lawyer identified himself as being the “lawyer for the case,” and the lawyer for the injured worker.   Both of these assertions were false.  After the doctor mentioned some things and answered questions, the other lawyer lowered the boom.  We have even seen insurance defense lawyers cross state boundaries in order to interrogate the claimant and their spouse’s family doctor by this same stratagem.

So, be forewarned.  Tell your doctor WHO YOUR LAWYER IS, and that they do NOT have your permission to talk with anyone else.  If the insurance company, their nurse, lawyer, case manager, adjuster, etc., have questions, they can put them in writing, so that everyone can see.  Doing things “behind closed doors,” or “behind everyone’s backs,” (especially the patient’s), does no good for the medical care or the case.  If you are a client of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., PLEASE TELL YOUR DOCTOR TODAY.  They do not have to speak to anyone from the other side outside of your presence, and you should not give them permission to do so.  If you have questions on how to deal with the sharp practices of insurance defense counsel, the carrier’s nurses or TPA’s claims adjusters, please call us at ABRAMS LANDAU today.

Despite the workers comp insurance company’s delay, Doug Landau was able to successfully settle a Radford area client’s slip and fall case for $117,300 after filing suit in the Loudoun County Circuit Court.

FACTS: The Plaintiff had finished his morning’s work. He headed to the men’s bathroom before going on to lunch. He had no warning that the floor was wet, and, as he stepped into the bathroom he slipped and crashed down onto the wet floor, twisting his right knee and causing a contusion to his right shoulder.

There was a cautionary “Wet Floor“ sign (more…)

Doug Landau hates waste. Anyone who has seen him around the office knows that he enjoys “multi-tasking.” It makes the Herndon Reston brain injury lawyer nuts when clients waste their time, effort or money. However, there is one type of waste that it particularly grating.

As the former Chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America Disability, Social Security and Health Law Section, Landau compared notes with lawyers from all over the country. The ABRAMS LANDAU trial lawyer saw that the interplay of Social Security and Workers Comp laws resulted in permanently disabled and unemployed clients not getting back the money they had paid into the Federal system. In other words, when an injured client is eligible for BOTH State Workers Comp wage loss benefits AND the Federal Social Security Disability Income (”SSDI”) benefits, the Federal Government, like many private Long Term Disability Insurance plans, takes a “set off” for the comp money. For example, if a client (more…)