Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”

[Source: “ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN” by Robert Fulghum.

The statistics as to how many cases each judge will approve and deny is now available on the internet.  And with listServs and other electronic fora to share information, the representatives for disabled claimants are able to share notes and find pout which judges are not able to treat people fairly.  While most Social Security judges Doug Landau has appeared before are wonderfully prepared, civil and fair, there are a few “bad apples” who are known to be ill-suited for their important judicial role.  While Herndon Social Security Lawyer Doug Landau understands that some lawyers were abusing the system by “forum shopping” in order to file cases before more favorable judges, not identifying the decision maker in a disabled worker’s all important lifetime benefits case is simply cowardly.  This new policy is tacit admission by Social Security that there are some judges who are not in touch with reality and who have such difficulty at Hearings that experienced lawyers and claimants try to avoid them like the plague !  Everyone at ABRAMS LANDAU believes that ALJs should be identified BEFORE the Hearing, and that secrecy in this case has nothing to do with security and everything to do with hiding problem judges that need to be re-assigned, re-trained or simply “RIF’d”.

                 Always call the day before you come to see us in action !  

Cases set on a court’s schedule can be cancelled (like when the storms struck in September !), continued, postponed, settled, re-scheduled for mediation or arbitration.  So, always call our office the day before you want to come and watch to make sure the insurance company has not paid for the losses caused by the negligent defendant or unsafe employer at “the 24th hour.”  Your time is valuable.  We do not want any client, family member, friend or neighbor to make a wasted trip.  Doug Landau has even encouraged people to observe other cases that are not from the Herndon Reston law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., when there is little time before a client’s own Hearing or trial. To that end, here are some upcoming dates:

Date               Place    Case, Race &/or Program

2/2/2012 Social Security Disability Hearing, Richmond office of Hearings and Appeals, VA

2/9-15/2012    American Association for Justice, (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) Winter Convention, Phoenix, AZ

2/12/2012 “Double Down” races for Downs Syndrome, Phoenix, AZ

2/23/2012 Social Security Disability Income Administrative Law Judge Hearing, Washington D.C.

2/24/2012 Prince William County Circuit court, Manassas, VA Motion to Compel Discovery in a fast food slip and fall case

2/26/2012 Jack Corkey Memorial Aquathon at the Herndon Virginia Community Center, sponsored by ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.

2/27/2012 Hanover, VA – Hanover Junior Idol Competition (spectator, not as a competitor !)

2/27-3/1/2012 Depositions in Jacksonville, FL and Atlanta, GA for an disabled trucker’s Fulton County, GA injury case

2/28/2012 Annual Science Fair (Judge), The Madeira School, McLean, VA

3/9/2012 Social Security Disability Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, Washington, D.C.

3/13/2012 Social Security Disability Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, Washington, D.C.

3/30-4/2/2012    Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

4/12/2012 Virginia Workers Compensation Hearing, Northern Virginia Regional Office (Employers Application cutting worker off)

4/16/2012  Spotsylvania, Virginia Hearing before senior Deputy Commissioner (RSD or CRPS as a “compensable consequence”)

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 to come up at some point. “Causation” is one of the elements of a negligence lawsuit and it exists to make sure that the person you are suing actually caused your injury. Makes sense so far. But, the law says that there are two parts to this causation question: “cause in fact” and “proximate cause”.

The first one—cause in fact—is easy. It’s the conclusion that every plaintiff comes to: I was fine before the accident and now I’m not, therefore the defendant must be responsible. Or you can think about it the way it’s taught to first-year law students: but for the defendant’s actions, I wouldn’t be injured today. This is where the doctor’s opinion is helpful because it establishes a link between the accident and the injury.

But cause in fact is only part of the analysis. The other part of proving causation is called “proximate cause” and here’s where what we know about cause and effect doesn’t really matter anymore. Instead, the question becomes: when the defendant behaved irresponsibly, was it foreseeable that I would be injured? The best way to understand this is to understand that one of the goals of negligence law is to allow plaintiffs to recover for injuries or accidents that the defendant could have predicted and then prevented.

That is what “legal cause” or “proximate cause” is all about and its why at some point so many negligence cases start becoming more complex.   At the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, experienced Virginia car crash lawyer Doug Landau is often asked why injuries that appear after an accident are not always the responsibility of the unsafe driver’s automobile insurance company.  If you or someone you know or care for has been injured as the result of a car, truck, bicycle or motorcycle crash and there are questions about causation, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).

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 may be able to get an award of costs for a transcript of a deposition used in lieu of live testimony.

Generally, unless otherwise specified by statute, a trial court’s discretion to award costs under the Virginia Code is limited.  The Virginia Supreme Court stated in the case of Advance Marine v. PRC, Inc. (1998), the Circuit Court’s “discretion to award costs…is limited only to those costs essential for prosecution of the suit, such as filing fees or charges for service of process.”   If you or someone you know or care for has been injured as the result of a car, truck, bicycle or motorcycle crash and there are questions about what laws apply, what the costs of a lawsuit may be or how long cases take in the Circuit Courts of Virginia, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).

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 the case from being dismissed, and eventually settled with the insurance company.  However, because of the Leesburg injury lawyer’s failure to act in a timely fashion, the costs to the case were unnecessarily increased, records had to be re-requested and the injured victim was forced to wait a lot longer for a conclusion, losing the time value of the money and enduring needless emotional distress.

In a very rare move, the ABRAMS LANDAU law firm is now pursuing a claim on behalf of the cyclist against the former lawyer.  It turns out the former lawyer had lost his license to practice law.  However, he had not notified his client of that critical fact.  The former lawyer also failed to turn over the file right away.  In fact, he has never turned it over or returned to the client his original file, papers and exhibits.  This is a very serious error, as the Ethics Rules mandate that a lawyer turn over the client when a change in counsel is requested and that the former lawyer may not do anything that may prejudice or delay the client’s case.  The lawyer in question never had the courage or good sense to just return Doug Landau’s calls when the cyclist first started calling.  Mr. Young is now hiding behind bankruptcy protection to stall the cyclist’s claims against the lawyer and his law firm’s professional liability insurance.  Mr. Young’s partner Mr. Spencer Ault has also lost his license to practice law in Virginia and the law firm no longer exists, though both men have been seen in and around Leesburg.  If you are aware of other litigation involving these former Leesburg lawyers or have information that can help this injured victim, please e-mail us or call us at once at 703-796-9555.  Lawyers who take cases they cannot handle, especially personal injury cases, often cause double harm needlessly.

Virginia workers compensation lawyer Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., after a recent permanent total disability ("PTD") court hearing in Fairfax

Rarely do disabled Virginia Workers get more than 500 weeks of wage loss compensation.  Even in fatal accident cases, the families of the deceased workers do not even get 10 years of benefits.  However, in very limited cases, where the injured worker has lost BOTH arms, legs, eyes, hands or feet, they can apply for “Permanent Total Disability” (“PTD”) benefits.

Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU has tried “Permanent Total” cases for disabled worker who “have lost the use of their arms or legs in employment.”  Workplace injury lawyer Landau has even won a case for a client who had lost the use of one arm and one leg on the same side of his body due to a condition known as “hemiplegia.”

Virginia Workers Comp law requires that the injured worker has healed as much as they are likely to do so, reaching what is called “Maximum Medical Improvement” or “MMI” for short.  The disabled employee also needs permanency ratings to the affected body parts, per AMA Guidelines, and these numbers cannot be to the back, neck, spine or body as a whole.  Landau suggests that a treating doctor’s note stating that the affected arms or legs cannot be used in gainful employment add to the proof of permanent total disability status.  When these case are won, the weekly wage loss benefits can last for life, though the Herndon trial lawyer notes that most of these cases settle since the exposure to the insurance company.

This week’s Hearing involved a construction worker who fell from a scaffold onto his leg and back.  The worker’s prior lawyers had been to court at several prior Hearings, where he had won benefits for his left leg and low back (lumbar spine) but had lost on the issues of his right leg, depression and medications.  This presented Landau with a difficult case since one leg’s orthopedic symptoms had already been excluded by a workers comp judge.  However, by looking at the injured worker’s problems from a neurological standpoint, the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team was able to get support from both authorized treating doctors.  The testimony and records submitted supported a PTD claim, and now counsel and client are waiting for a judge’s decision.   If you or someone you know or care for has been injured at work and has questions about Permanent Total Disability, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.

The “bottom line” according to Ashburn, Ashburton and Broadlands area workers comp lawyer Doug Landau is “to keep detailed records of calls, interviews, online forms, in-persons meetings, resumes sent, newspaper “Want Ads” reviewed, correspondence received.  In short, be ready to show evidence of weekly marketing evidence, with actual documents, at a Hearing or face the prospect of having your weekly wage loss compensation cut off by a Virginia Workers Comp judge.”

Injured workers need to be ready to "show" and not just "tell" a Virginia Workers Compensation judge what they have done to look for light work that they CAN do

It’s gotten harder, but the short answer, according to Herndon Reston workplace injury lawyer Doug Landau is “yes.”  Two 2010 cases made it look like a partial disabled worker would always lose on the issue of marketing unless they were “pounding pavement” every single day.

In the 2010 Ruffin case, the Full Virginia Workers Comp Commission (“VWC”) affirmed the trial judge’s denial of benefits on the basis that she had not adequately marketed her remaining physical abilities in order to find light duty work that she could actually do.  The injured worker’s evidence included 97 job searches, the vast majority of which were online.  Even though she also had taken classes at the local library in her desire to be taught a new skill for employment, the VWC found the disabled worker’s computer searches over an 10 month period were not adequate marketing.  Likewise, the same year in the Simon vs. Kmart case, the injured worker was seeking continued wage loss (indemnity) benefits and had contacted 15 potential employers through online resources over a 2 month period.  He did not register with the Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) or directly contact any employer in person or by telephone.  In denying the disabled claimant workers comp benefits, the court found that the evidence as a whole did not substantiate a “reasonable, bonified effort to locate suitable employment.”  So what kind of effort WILL satisfy the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission ?  In tomorrow’s post we will look at a winning decision and the evidence required under the evolving standards in light of the increasing use of the internet.