Landau Injury Law

Herndon Virginia car crash lawyer Doug Landau, seen here after another successful DC case for a disabled client, hopes that the ignition interlock for convicted drunk drivers will prevent needless harm and heartache

Having seen the devastation and death caused by those who choose to drive under the influence, Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau is always looking for solutions to this behavior.  Roadblocks, “Designated Drivers,” bar breath testers and dram shop actions are some of the tools used to reduce and eliminate needless harm.  The ignition interlock system for convicted drunk drivers in Virginia is an idea whose time has come. While some contend that it is simply a windfall (more…)

It seems so simple. I was hit in a car crash, my bumper was smashed, the fender dented and then I started noticing aches and pains that I did not have before. It makes sense that I was injured in the crash—even my doctor says so—that’s enough to prove the case, right?

Even if your car is smashed across the street from the Landau Law Shop, on the corner of Station Street & Center Street, and the Herndon Virginia Police charge the other driver, you still have to prove legal causation of your subsequent disability and pain in order to be reimbursed !

This is a common—and completely logical—perception of many accident victims. And then the attorney starts talking and things suddenly do not seem so straight-forward anymore. Suddenly the issues isn’t “I was fine before the accident and now I’m not” and instead the issue is “legal proof” or “legal cause” or “proximate cause”. So, what is all of this about?  What’s the difference ?  If I hurt or am disabled after a crash, then the accident must be the cause.  How can we de-mystify all of this lawyer-speak?

If you are the victim of a car wreck, bike crash, dog bite attack or some other type of personal injury, then the topic of “causation” is certain (more…)

What costs or fees are routinely allowed a prevailing Plaintiff in Virginia Circuit Court case ?

Herndon Virginia injury lawyer Doug Landau frequently advises clients as to, "How long, how hard and how much" in their accident and disability cases

Under the American justice system, the losing side generally does not pay the attorney fees of the winner.  In other posts, Herndon Virginia injury lawyer Doug Landau has discussed the payment of per-judgment and post-judgment interest.  Other costs and fees a losing Defendant may have to pay are  very limited.  They are generally limited to just filing fees (required to start a lawsuit in the County or City Circuit Court), writ tax, and service of process (the cost to have a Sheriff “serve” or give the papers to the Defendants). Jury costs are generally taxed against the losing party, but that is paid to the court, not the winner. A winning Plaintiff (more…)

The founder of the “Anne Arundel County (MD) Breaking News and Events” FaceBook page was killed in a car accident this weekend, according to police and news reports. Two teens received minor injuries in this car crash.  David McDermott, of Pasadena Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene. McDermott was one of the founders of the Maryland news site that featured traffic and accident updates as well as other community news and information.  According to police, excessive speed may have been a factor.  All of us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. are saddened by this news, and hope that this popular Maryland news and information site will continue to inform and educate.

Sometimes lawyers take on cases that they are not equipped, staffed or experienced to take.  We represent a cyclist who was struck by a car.  He originally retained a Loudoun County lawyer for his personal injury case.  That lawyer, David Young of the Leesburg law firm Ault & Young, was given records, bills, exhibits and other evidence in order to submit the claim and settle the crash injury claim with the defendant driver’s car insurance company.  However, as we see all too often, the Leesburg lawyer did not have the ability to properly bring the case forward; he and his staff did not return the injured cyclist’s telephone calls, and the two year time limit for such a personal injury case in Virginia was soon to run.

The cyclist called our Herndon Virginia law firm, and we tried to call, e-mail, write and fax this lawyer and law firm.  As we tell all similar callers, we told the injured victim we could not represent him while already had counsel for the case.  Yet with the time limit (“statute of limitations”) running and no word or proof of any work or investment by the so-called Loudoun County personal injury lawyer, the cyclist fired his original counsel and cyclist lawyer Doug Landau stepped in, filed the lawsuit to save (more…)

Whyen an injured worker can collect Virginia Workers Compensation benefits AND bring a "third party claim" against an unsafe truck driver, then counsel can make for a "win-win" situation where the disabled workers is able to get "full compensation" AND their employer gets paid back on their "Comp lien" - a fact well-known to Loudoun County lawyer Doug Banks and Melissa Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. in Herndon, VA

At the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU we are often asked by perplexed personal injury lawyers and disabled workers to decipher the Virginia Workers Compensation Act to determine when an on the job accident is “compensable.”  An employee can be injured in a Virginia workplace mishap but be “barred” by what is know as “the Workers Compensation bar.”  This is not a place where you belly up for a tiff one of an association of occupational injury lawyers, but rather the operation of the Comp laws that prevent an injured victim from bringing a negligence or “third party liability case.”

Under Virginia comp law, an employee accidentally injured by a co-worker or a boss cannot sue for damages in court if the incident is covered by the employer’s workers compensation insurance.  Likewise, a disabled worker cannot sue another who is in “the same trade or occupation” as their employer, even if (more…)

When the Loudoun Times-Mirror reported December 28, 2011 that a dangerous driver plead guilty to DUI and involuntary manslaughter in Loudoun County Circuit Court and that it was his “third DUI charge in five years,” car crash lawyer Doug Landau wondered how this man even had a license to drive BEFORE the fatal crash that killed his stepfather. Usually a Virginia driver will be assessed points as the result of a moving violation, in addition to a fine, court costs, and, in the case of drunk driving, ASAP (Alcohol Safety Action Program) attendance. Too many points, and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) will (more…)

Underage drinking and driving has caused harm to Herndon lawyer Doug Landau's injured clients These innocent victims are sometimes frustrated by the fact that evidence of alcohol impairment is not allowed to go to the jury by a Virginia judge

How we talk at a barber shop and how we are allowed to talk in court are, at times, completely different.  When we argue with friends, almost anything can come in to the discussion.  However, in court, there are rules that control what evidence is allowed and what information is not permitted.  Sometimes negligence law—the law that typically applies when you sue someone after a car crash—can seem a bit unfair. Take, for example, the case of someone who was hit by a driver under the age of 21 who had been drinking. Even the police accident report includes details about the under-age drinker’s admissions about having a beer. Maybe they had more than one or two, but there was no breathalyzer, blood or field sobriety testing because the victim’s massive injuries required all of the law enforcement personnel’s attention.  But now you are at trial and the judge will not let those facts into evidence. Why not??

There are actually two reasons, and they are related to one another.

First, when you sue someone (more…)

With our last several cases involving unsafe drivers with limited insurance and assets, I am reaching out to all of our clients to review their personal insurance coverages and to make sure that they, and their loved ones, are protected this holiday season.  In several cases, the harms were many hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the cases had to settle for $50-100,000, because that’s all the insurance available, an there was no ability to collect any additional money to pay for the losses caused by the unsafe drivers.  And it’s not just car crash cases.  In slip and fall, dog bite, bicycle accident and animal attack cases has all resulted in reduced compensation because the Defendants (and sometimes the innocent victims themselves) have minimal insurance coverage.  Unlike shopping for presents, shopping for and purchasing insurance can be a daunting task. Insurance by its very definition is intended to provide you security when the unknown and unexpected happens. So when you are purchasing insurance, it is often very difficult to know what type of coverage, and how much coverage you need. In the midst of the confusion surround insurance, one type of insurance that often gets thrown around is “umbrella insurance”. What exactly is it? And who needs it?

Umbrella insurance is (more…)

Pay for plenty of parking BEFORE going upstairs to your Social Security Disability Hearing in Washington, D.C. advises Herndon disability lawyer Doug Landau. You can do this online or at the underground lot to the right

Injured, disabled, rejected by the Federal Government – these conditions do not make for a happy person.  An unhappy client is not a good thing.  So, when a woman disabled by spinal stenosis after a terrible car crash came to the Landau Law Shop to help with her Social Security Disability claim, we had our work cut out for us.

This widowed mother of 2 was unhappy because the lawyer she had hoped would help her with her car crash case settled the case for an amount that did not come close to compensating her for all the harms and losses she sustained.  This lawyer, who advertises heavily, did not take the case to trial, (more…)