Landau Injury Law

As driving a school bus is NOT in Virginia accident lawyer Doug Landau’s job description, he would not be covered by the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU’s workers’ comp insurance coverage.

Would you be eligible for Workers’ Comp if you were injured at work while performing a task that is outside of your normal job description?

For example, suppose your boss tells you to climb a ladder to re- stock an item, even though stocking merchandise is not part of your regular job, and you fall off the ladder, injuring your back.

In another, more dramatic example, Herndon Virginia Workers’ Compensation lawyer Doug Landau of Abrams Landau, Ltd. once had a client who was a lumber yard forklift operator.  This worker – whose job was defined as forklift operation -  lost his arm when he was told by his boss to (more…)

The best Virginia Workers Comp lawyers do not sit on claims; they file as soon as possible, according to Herndon workplace injury lawyer Doug Landau. There are important time deadlines, that if missed, are fatal to the case.

The Virginia Workers’ Compensation (WC) Act allows an injured Virginia employee to file a WC claim with two years of a sudden on-the-job accident.  This time limit is known as the “Statute of Limitations”.

Sometimes, however, the WC insurance company may require notice within 30 days of an accident.  Without notification within 30 days, the insurer may defend the claim by alleging that it did not have prompt notice and was (more…)

Because Virginia Workers Compensation wage loss benefits do not usually last more than 500 weeks, Herndon Reston workplace accident lawyer Doug Landau notes that very young workers who become disabled run the risk of being cut off 10 years post injury and having no income.

Anyone who has been injured on the job and is collecting workers’ compensation (WC) benefits, sooner or later, will ask the question — how long can I stay on workers’ comp?

In Virginia, weekly wage loss benefits can last up to 500 weeks — just shy of 10 years.  In fatal accident cases, the deceased worker’s dependents can get comp checks for just under 10 years.

But under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act, authorized, reasonable and referred medical benefits, travel reimbursement, cost of living adjustments (COLA), medication, vocational rehabilitation, durable medical equipment and prosthetic replacement/repair benefits can last (more…)

“Cowardly hit-and-run car crashes with catastrophic injuries need to be prosecuted to the full extend of the law,” according to Virginia lawyer Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.

This morning’s shocking news of a young Williamsburg couple that was killed in a hit-and-run crash was tragic enough, but to hear that their baby later died when it was delivered prematurely simply adds to the sadness of the situation.  Since the pair did not own a car, and the woman, 7 months pregnant with her first child, was not feeling well, they called for a taxi. The pair of newlyweds were killed after a BMW slammed into their livery cab Saturday in a hit-and-run accident. The couple’s newborn baby boy died after being delivered by emergency cesarean section, according to news reports. The infant only weighed about four pounds when he was delivered early Sunday morning.

Police were searching for the driver of a BMW and a passenger who fled after crashing into the cab in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn where the couple was headed to a hospital. As a victim of a high-speed hit-and-run, with my own son in the back seat of our Volvo, I remember the surprise, terror, physical pain and then anger we experienced when we were struck on Route 50 in Chantilly by a driver who had been drinking, and then (more…)

Why is it important to understand your own auto insurance policy and the types and limits of coverage you have?

Because there are so many uninsured and underinsured drivers on the roads around the DC Beltway area, Herndon car crash lawyer Doug Landau suggests that Loudoun and Fairfax County drivers carry more than the minimum limits for liability coverage to protect their loved ones

It is important because you never know when you will need to rely upon it.   Suppose you are driving home from work one day and are injured after being rear-ended while stopped at a light.  The other driver takes full responsibility for the crash and provides her insurance information.  Lucky, you think, because the other driver’s insurance will cover the damage and your medical expenses.

Not so fast.

When you call the other driver’s insurance company, you learn that, in fact, the policy was (more…)

The details in this case are hard to believe.  It would stand to reason that if a person is legally blind, a claim for Social Security disability benefits would be a slam dunk. But in this case, that is not what happened.

Instead, in the case of this 59-year old, wage earning Georgia woman whose own doctor diagnosed her as legally blind, her benefits were turned down – not only at the initial level, but also then again on the “Reconsideration level.”  It was only when Herndon Disability Attorney Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU Ltd. took her case to court in Washington, D.C. that she finally (more…)

Workers’ Compensation Attorney Doug Landau is used to dealing with Workers’ Compensation cases.  But, an injured worker may not understand that there are certain requirements that must be met in order to collect state Workers’ Comp (WC) benefits.

An injured worker seeking WC benefits must make an effort — and show evidence of such effort — to find reasonable work once he or she is released to return to work.  This is known as “marketing”.

In simplistic terms, in Virginia, good faith marketing is 5 job searches per week.

But the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWC) has clear-cut guidelines for injured workers to follow:

Good faith search for work – An employee who is partially disabled – ie., unable to perform his or her regular job, but able to perform light duty work – must seek light duty work in good faith in order to receive disability benefits if he or she is not on an open award.

Factors the Commission considers – In deciding whether a partially disabled employee has made a reasonable effort to find suitable light duty employment the Commission considers such factors as :

1. the nature and extent of the disability;
2. the employee’s training, age, experience and education;
3. the nature and extent of the job search;
4. the availability of jobs in the area suitable for the employee considering his disability;
5. any other matter affecting the employee’s capacity to find suitable employment.

Evidence of reasonable effort – The VWC presumes that an injured worker is making a reasonable effort to find residual work (meaning work that can be done even with the current disability)  if the worker has

1. registered with the Virginia Employment Commission within a reasonable time after being released to return to work; and
2. directly contacted at least five (5) potential employers per week where the employee has a reasonable basis to believe that there might be a job available that he or she might be able to perform¹ and
3. if appropriate, contacted the pre-injury employer for light duty work.

Keep a job search record – Injured workers must keep detailed written records about the job contacts he or she has made:

1. names of the employers contacted
2. where the employers are located
3. the date(s) the contact was made
4. whether the contact was in person, by phone or via internet
5. and the result of the contact

Pre-injury skills or experience -If an injured worker has particular job skills or training, the job search may focus on jobs in that field – but only if there are actually  jobs in that field that the employee can reasonably perform.

If, within a reasonable amount of time searching in that field, the search is not successful, then the employee must broaden the search beyond that field.

Method of Contacting Employers – Injured workers must contact potential employers in a manner reasonably suited to the position sought, which in some cases may be personal visits. In other cases, contacts may be by phone, internet, mail, or through employment agents such as union hiring halls.

Attempt to maximize earnings – If the employee finds and takes a job that pays substantially less than his or her pre-injury job, the employee should continue looking for a higher paying job.

¹ It is not necessary to prescreen or know for certain of the availability of a suitable job.

If you or someone you know has been injured on the job, and there are questions as to what laws apply, email or call ABRAMS LANDAU at once (703-796-9555).

The Landau family, shown here in Canada at the American Association for Justice annual convention (where Norman Landau was inducted posthumously into the Trial Lawyers of America Hall of Fame) tries to always travel safely. Preparing ahead of time can save a lot of time, headaches and money.

This is no joke!  As we approach the busy holiday season when people do a lot of traveling, Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. provides important tips that could save us all a lot of heartache.    Read them, make a copy for your files, pass them along to your friends and relatives.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put ‘PHOTO ID REQUIRED.’

2. When writing checks to pay your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete (more…)

Walking down this ramp to the Washington DC Social Security Hearing Office for her SSDI case, Doug Landau’s client came back up victorious

It is not unthinkable for injuries sustained in a car crash to cause problems for the victim many years later.  In a recent case handled by ABRAMS LANDAU Disability Lawyer Doug Landau, that is just what happened.

In this interesting case, the client, a 47-year-old female, was forced to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (“SSDI”) 10 years after a car wreck.  Why a decade later ? She had been kicked in the neck by a horse!  This woman was involved in a car wreck in 2000, which caused low back and hip pain.  She was then kicked in the neck by a horse in 2008.  After this animal injury, this former accountant had a number of impairments, which taken together, left her unable to (more…)