Landau Injury Law

When there is inflation, and prices go up, what happens to my workers compensation payments ?  Does my comp check stay the same every year that I am out of work ?  NO.  Under Virginia law, if you are not receiving Social Security Disability Income payments (“SSDI”), then you may be qualified for Cost of Living Adjustment (“COLA”) to your weekly wag loss check from the workers Compensation insurance company.  Each year the COLA rate changes.  Recent COLA rates are set forth below:

YEAR        Cost of Living Adjustment Rate
2010            3.05%
2009            .25%
2005            3.35%

Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU points out that if an injured worker was getting $500 per week while totally disabled, that her comp check would increase to (more…)

If you enjoyed and learned from the free lectures open to the public this winter, the INOVA hospitals of Northern Virginia invite you more of their “Ask the Experts” programs. These sessions make top doctors available for questions and their audio-visual demonstrations help make clear complicated medical procedures and advances.  These sessions are an excellent way to learn from the surgeons who perform operations and incorporate the latest technologies in helping many clients from the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. Northern Virginia injury lawyer Doug Landau has enjoyed having this “Free Face Time” with orthopedic, neurological, chronic pain and other medical specialists at past programs.  It does not matter if you are a workers compensation claimant, the victim of a car accident or whether you suffer form an occupational disease, arthritis or other degenerative condition, you will leanr valuable information at these programs.  The following are some of the free presentations you and your family may want to attend to learn more about your health condition, future surgery and/or treatment of long term injuries.

• Options for Treating Back and Neck Pain – Westin Arlington Gateway     Wed, Mar 2, 2011     07:00pm
• Ankle Pain and Reconstruction – Inova Fair Oaks Hospital     Tue, Mar 8, 2011     07:00pm
• Minimally Invasive Joint Replacement – Inova Alexandria Hospital     Mon, Mar 14, 2011     07:00pm
• The Latest Options in Hip Replacement – Inova Fair Oaks Hospital     Mon, Mar 14, 2011     07:00pm
• Pelvic Floor Disorders – Inova Alexandria Hospital     Tue, Mar 15, 2011     07:00pm
• Leg Pain and the Plumbing of Your Legs – Inova Loudoun Hospital     Mon, Mar 21, 2011     06:30pm
• Robotic Assisted Knee Replacement: A New Solution – Inova Fair Oaks Hospital     Tue, Mar 22, 2011     07:00pm
• Surgical Management of Spine Disorders – Inova Loudoun Hospital     Thu, Mar 31, 2011     06:30pm
• Osteoarthritis and the Latest Advances in Joint Replacement     Wed, Apr 13, 2011     07:00pm
• Treatment Options for Joint Pain – Inova Loudoun Hospital     Thu, Apr 14, 2011     06:30pm

For more information, directions call 855-My-Inova (694-6682) or visit the INOVA Website to register for these FREE community programs.

After being disabled from an on the job shoulder injury, an ABRAMS LANDAU workers compensation client applied for Social Security Disability benefits.  This Winchester area worker had undergone several rotator cuff repair surgeries.  This, in and of itself, while limiting his return to the full range of duties required by his pre-injury job, would not qualify the worker for the Federal disability benefits.  However, this gentleman had gouty arthritis in both legs.  These impairments affected the claimant’s ability to lift, squat, bend, reach, sit, kneel and climb stairs.   The Clarke County Virginia man’s gout was unrelated to (more…)

Once a worker is injured at their place of employment, the trial team at the ABRAMS LANDAU Herndon law firm often sees subsequent complications, accidents because of their weakened condition and illness. There are cases where the on the job accident is just the first of several unfortunate events causing harm to an innocent worker.  Where the disabled employee suffers a subsequent accident aggravating the injuries suffered in the work accident or otherwise suffers a subsequent injury causally related to the work accident (e.g. medical malpractice in the treatment of the work related injury, compensable consequences to the non-injured limb from favoring the injured side, side effects from strong pain medications), the injuries from the second accident are often covered by Workers’ Compensation.  Accordingly, the employer, its insurance carrier or the third party administrator (“TPA”) have an interest in a recovery for the subsequent injury.

It does not matter if the original disabling condition is from an accident, occupational disease or other compensable cause.  This is important because settlement of this “second claim” without permission from the employer or their insurer may (more…)

Believe it or not, the rights many of us take for granted, such as the right to privacy, do not exist if we are hurt on the job.  In many states, the ability of insurance defense counsel to unilaterally talk to your doctors is virtually unfettered.  In other words, the workers comp insurance lawyers are allowed to have what is called “ex parte” contact with the claimant’s treating physicians behind the patient’s and their lawyer’s backs !  In order to help WILG (the Workers Injury Law& Advocacy Group) in its research concerning this problem and its widespread abuses, IF YOUR STATE IS NOT LISTED AND YOU KNOW THE ANSWER FOR YOUR STATE PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL ALONG WITH ANY STATUTE, CITATION, CASE LAW OR NEWS REPORT.  Thanks in advance, Doug Landau

States permitting unilateral contact: (or not prohibiting or significantly limiting insurance defense lawyers from having their way with the disabled workers’ treating physicians):

• Florida
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Maine
• Minnesota
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Virginia
• Wyoming

States which are believed to at least require notice to claimants and/or their legal counsel prior to contact with the treating doctors or which forbid contact outside of the patient or their counsel’s presence:

• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Wisconsin

After an on the job accident, disabled workers need to know what to expect when it is their turn to testify in Court

When it comes time for an injured worker’s day in court, preparation and credible testimony are critical elements for a favorable decision.  Watching poorly prepared witnesses and injured workers in court is one of Herndon Virginia workers comp lawyer Doug Landau’s least favorite activities.  The attorneys who meet with their clients moments before going before the workers comp judges and who have never met with witnesses should be sent to mandatory Continuing Legal Education courses before they are allowed to try another case unprepared.

Everyone knows that you must tell the truth in court.  But to see some of the people who come to court with lawyers who have not prepared is painful.  The judges have often told me of their “pet peeves.”  These include: (more…)

Virginia disability Lawyer Doug Landau and Social Security claims assistant Dianna Meredith pose before a picture of William Abrams, Doug's grandfather, for whom the Herndon law firm is named (along with his father, Norman Landau)

Yesterday I gave my own personal example of finding out that my Social Security earnings record was wrong, and the only one to blame was myself !  Today we will look at the time limits and what you can do about correcting errors in your records.  The Social Security Act defines the basic statute of limitations beyond which earnings ordinarily may not be corrected: 3 years, 3 months, and 15 days after the close of the taxable year in which wages are paid. However, the law also defines exceptions to protect Social Security contributors from unfair treatment because of any delay on the part of the Social Security Administration in processing earnings. The exceptions permit us to correct errors after the statute has expired and include authority for us to:

• Confirm records with tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service;
• Correct errors due to employee omissions from processed employer reports or missing reports;
• Correct errors “on the face of the record,” that is, errors we can find by examining our records of processed reports; and
• Include wages reported by an employer as paid to an individual but not shown in our records.

If you or someone you know has become disabled and is seeking Social Security benefits, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once, as there are strict time deadlines with such important claims.

One major question that courts look at in determining whether to make social network information discoverable to the insurance defense lawyers is the inured victim website user’s expectation of privacy when that information was posted. Any “public” information that is accessible to any person who happens to click on your profile will almost certainly not be subject to any expectation of privacy, and will likely be discoverable. Even information that is only viewable by the users’ preselected “friends” can potentially lose this valuable expectation of privacy. Therefore, it would be wise for any injured car crash victim using these sites to maximize the privacy settings available to them.

If your social networking pages contain questionable comments, wall posts or photos, you should consider making your profile private to ALL viewers to minimize the risk that this information could be used against you in your injury, workplace accident or disability case.

Furthermore, you should NEVER put anything on these sites that discusses your lawsuit or any injuries (more…)

It might.  Not only is “Big Brother” watching, but the car accident and liability claims insurance companies are as well.  Online social networking websites, such as MySpace and Facebook, have grown exponentially over the last few years.  Facebook, in fact, has recently reported that over 500 million people use their service.  This phenomenon is certainly understandable.  These sites provide a great way to stay in touch with friends, meet new people, and share information with whole communities.  For someone who is involved in a lawsuit, however, there is a potentially catastrophic side to these sites that can quickly unravel even meritorious cases

A recent trend in many courts across the United States involves treating the information posted on these sites as discoverable material.  What this means, is that injured victims who are forced to file lawsuits seeking reimbursements for the harms and losses caused by the defendants’ negligence may be faced with a Court order forcing (more…)

For injured workers in Virginia, “marketing” is the defense that trips up many claimants’ otherwise meritorious claims every year. In many states, the injured worker must present evidence that they have taken reasonable steps to market their residual physical capacities and abilities to return to light duty work. The kinds of evidence permitted can take many forms. The judge will want to see consistent, reasonable and documented attempts to return to work that is consistent with the treating doctor’s light work restrictions and limitations as well as the injured worker’s education, training, transferrable skills and employment experience. Abrams Landau clients have succeeded in meeting this burden of proof in Virginia, Maryland and DC comp claims with the following evidence:

• Virginia Employment Commission cards showing “weekly contacts”
• Day planners with weekly entries

(more…)