Landau Injury Law

Iris Peace is the Clerk of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission. Her office is at the Commission’s headquarters building on DMV Drive in Richmond. Lawyers file claims with Ms. Peace and send appeals to he for the Full Commission to decide.

Herndon Reston injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau is shown here, at the Commission, with VWCC Clerk Iris Peace (on the far right) and Manassas lawyer Diane McNamara in the middle). Both McNamara and ABRAMS LANDAU attorney Doug Landau were in town to attend the VTLA Advanced Workers Compensation Retreat, and both had stopped by the Commission beforehand. Landau, as is his custom, reviewed the new case files that had come in to ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. since his last visit to Richmond, and he also found time to visit with VWCC staff, Deputy Commissioners and the Chief Deputy Commissioner as well.

Always willing to learn things he never knew before, Doug Landau was invited to the Virginia Trial Lawyers “Advanced Workers Compensation Retreat.” The Herndon Reston area injury and disability lawyer traveled to Richmond to attend this exclusive meeting of experienced lawyers from all over the state. Topics included:

• Cross Examining the Orthopedic Physician,
• Discovery Issues,
• Representing Undocumented Workers,
• Interpreting & Utilizing Functional Capacity Evaluation,
• Consequences Of A Consequence,
• Determining Statutes Of Limitations,
• Rebutting the Willful Misconduct Defense, and,
• Settling large and Complex Cases.

Photo: Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. and the 3 Full Commissioners of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission: William Dudley, Virginia Diamond and newest member Roger Williams during a break in the educational program.

Nothing is more gratifying for an injury and disability law firm than reversing a case that looks lost.   Several times we have taken a case that was “over” and turned it around for a deserving accident victim.  As Yogi Berra would say, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Recently, we were able to help a Pennsylvania client who had sustained a Low back injury, back sprain and neck sprain.  He later developed “Conus Medullaris Syndrome.”  He was paid all 500 weeks and received a letter from the workers compensation insurance company advising him that there would be no further weekly wage loss or permanency benefit payments.  What is worse, he had lost over $40,000 of his own money in an unsuccessful medical negligence claim that arose as the result of the injuries and treatment in this case.

And things were not going well with interaction with Commission Personnel and he was a “no show” at the Hearing scheduled with the Deputy Commissioner.  We dropped what we were working on, and reviewed his official file, got with all of his treating doctors and presented the case.  The claimant was prepared extensively, including attending other comp Hearings and our firm’s unique post-Hearing de-briefings that we utilize to assist disabled claimants to understand the Workers Compensation Commission procedures.   After a successful hearing in Fairfax, the claim was settled with the insurance company paying over $600,000, with over a third payable in a lump sum and the rest in a Medical Set Aside so that he could continue to receive his Social Security Disability Income benefits.  This was yet another successful Permanent Total Disability  case for the Herndon Reston area injury and disability firm of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.

First off, workers compensation does not compensate. It does not cover all of a workers losses. In fact, in many cases, it does not even come close. There is no compensation for:

• Pain,
• Suffering,
• Aggravation,
• Inconvenience,
• Emotional Distress,
• Family Disruption,
• Wage Loss above the statutory cap,
• Future raises, bonuses, and other financial losses.

So, when there is an injury due to an on the job accident with a forklift, at the Herndon Reston area injury firm of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we look to see if there are other causes of action that can be brought in order to recoup all of our clients’ losses. Virginia law allows an injured worker to sue a “third party.” A “third party” is a person who is not a co-worker or in the “same trade or occupation” as the injured employee. Doug Landau has successfully brought claims against “third parties” where clients have been injured by a “third party:”

1. in a car crash,
2. a defective product
3. by the negligence of someone who is not in the same company.

Where a warehouse worker is injured in a forklift injury, if the forklift is not owned or maintained by the worker’s employer, a third party case may be brought against the negligent driver, the defective forklift manufacturer or careless maintenance company. In such a negligence case, the worker can sue for all of those items listed above. Furthermore, if the Landau Law Shop recovers a money judgment or settlement for the worker, then the employer can also get paid back for workers comp benefits it (or its insurance company) had advanced. It can almost become a “win-win” situation.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases involve withholding pay, overtime and unfair wage practices. Examples include:

1. Store managers, assistant managers, and department managers are many times classified as Executive Exempt in order to keep from paying them overtime. They do not qualify for this exemption, because their primary duty is not management, but is more in line with the duties of hourly employees. The Legal Aid Justice Center would like to review the case of any employee who has been classified as any type of manager who is doing work more in line with hourly employees.

2. Companies classifying employees as independent contractors. Many companies try to completely avoid FLSA responsibility by claiming their workers are not employees at all, but are instead independent contractors. When classified as independent contractors, companies can avoid paying overtime, training pay, payroll taxes, workman’s comp premiums, unemployment insurance, etc.

These misclassifications of employees occur in many service related industries. The lawyers of the Legal Aid Justice Center have seen this in the construction industry, delivery services industry, stocking vendors, maintenance crews, food processing plants, dental assistants, waitresses, nail salons, nurses, secretaries, and landscaping crews, just to mention a few.

The Legal Aid Justice Center would like to review any case where a worker is classified as an independent contractor but has very little control over his or her work.

3. Legal Aid Justice Center is also interested in looking at cases dealing with hourly employees who are routinely required to work “off the clock”.

Having traveled to the Capitol of the Commonwealth several times for cases and seminars, Doug Landau returned to the Herndon home of Abrams Landau, Ltd. to find out that he had once again been named as one of “Virginia’s Top Lawyers.” Noting that many of the other lawyers that attended the VTLA Brain Injury Retreat were also listed by Richmond Magazine and the Washington Post, Landau said, “It is quite an honor to be one of the very few small law firms to be selected.” Abrams Landau, Ltd. was the only law firm in the Herndon-Reston area selected for the sub-speciality of Workers Compensation. Doug Landau and experienced legal assistant Dianna Meredith have built a record of successful cases before the state and Federal judges for clients who have sustained on the job injuries, occupational diseases and permanent disability work. Shown here are Mr. Landau and Ms. Meredith preparing another winning case.

At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. we see claims for workplace injury denied because of an alleged failure to wear company issued safety equipment.  If a worker is blinded because they were not wearing safety goggles, the case could be denied.  If an employee sustains a head or brain injury because they did not have their hard hat on, the workers compensation judge can rule in favor of the insurance company for the employer. The general rule is that the violation of a known and enforced safety rule that results in injury precludes the injured worker from receiving compensation benefits.  However, we have won cases where the rules were not publicized, enforced or relevant to how the accident even occurred.  If you or someone you know is injured or disabled due to something striking them in the eye, a brain injury or head trauma, and their claim is denied due to failure to have their hard hat, goggles or other safety equipment, has them contact us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.

While a number of recent posts have covered somber topics, at Abrams Landau, Ltd., we do also celebrate accomplishments, accolades and other milestones. This Fall, both Beatrice Vargas (on left) and Lauren Holtzman (center) celebrated birthdays with Melissa (bookkeeping, on right) and the rest of the Herndon Reston area injury law firm team. Here the two women are shown enjoying their birthday cake in the always bustling LandauLawShop kitchen. The counter island was built by one of our Workers Comp clients after we successfully won and then settled his claim. Attorney Holtzman was instrumental in the recent policy-limits settlement of a car crash case that occurred less than a mile from our office. Mrs. Vargas was critical to the winning court decision and ultimate settlement of a workers compensation fatality claim for a family that lives in Mexico and North Carolina. Congratulations to both women on their success and hard work.

Abrams Landau’s founding partner, Doug Landau received this missive in October:

Dear Douglas K. W. Landau, Esq:

I would like to congratulate you on having been selected by your peers for inclusion in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the specialty of Workers’ Compensation Law. For over a quarter of a century, Best Lawyers has been regarded – by both the profession and the public – as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States.

Selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 2.5 million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the country. Because no fee or purchase is required, being listed in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Our annual, advertisement-free publication has been described in The American Lawyer as “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

The Best Lawyers in America also reaches the largest and most targeted audience of any peer review publication in the legal profession. Best Lawyers is excerpted monthly in Corporate Counsel Magazine, reaching more than 44,000 general counsel. Excerpts also appear in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, and more than 50 other regional and city magazines, reaching more than 15 million influential readers. The Best Lawyers database is also now searchable on more than 260,000 Bloomberg Terminals™ worldwide.

Your legal specialty and contact information are visible to all subscribers of BestLawyers.com. More than 13,000 listed attorneys, representing more than 1,400 law firms, have linked their firm web pages or bios to BestLawyers.com, making them visible to all site visitors, not just to subscribers. In the past year, the site has received more than 6.4 million hits and responded to more than 4.6 million requests for lawyer searches.

Again, congratulations on being chosen by your fellow attorneys to be included in The Best Lawyers in America

As a member of the Florida Bar, I keep up with legal developments in the “Sunshine State.”  At Abrams Landau, Ltd., we have represented many clients who are residents of, or were injured in, Florida.  Tort Reform in 2003 limited the amounts that could be charged by the injured workers’ legal counsel.  However, this “Tort Deform” did not limit how much money the insurance companies and employers could pay their lawyers.  This 5-year-old law severely limits the abilities of plaintiff’s lawyers to recoup fees even for cases they win.  There are no limits to what defense lawyers can charge, and their fees are NOT contingent upon the outcome !

This law is currently being challenged by the case of Murray vs. Mariner Health.  The injured workers lawyer successfully won benefits previously denied his client, Emma Murray.  The injured worker was a nurse who was injured while lifting a patient.  Nurse Murray’s lawyer put in approximately 80 hours in order to win the case, yet his fees were limited to about $650.00.  The claimant’s lawyer took on the case, risked getting nothing if he lost, and, after winning, got paid about $8.00 an hour.  Do you think any defense lawyer would work on a contingent fee case for $8.00 an hour ?  The case is pending before the Florida Supreme Court.  Because the case involves a state administrative law system, it can likely not go up to the United States Supreme Court, of which I am also a member.  I hope for the Florida workers compensation claimants’ lawyers’ sake that the state Supreme Court changes this unjust law.