Landau Injury Law

Doug Landau hates waste. Anyone who has seen him around the office knows that he enjoys “multi-tasking.” It makes the Herndon Reston brain injury lawyer nuts when clients waste their time, effort or money. However, there is one type of waste that it particularly grating.

As the former Chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America Disability, Social Security and Health Law Section, Landau compared notes with lawyers from all over the country. The ABRAMS LANDAU trial lawyer saw that the interplay of Social Security and Workers Comp laws resulted in permanently disabled and unemployed clients not getting back the money they had paid into the Federal system. In other words, when an injured client is eligible for BOTH State Workers Comp wage loss benefits AND the Federal Social Security Disability Income (”SSDI”) benefits, the Federal Government, like many private Long Term Disability Insurance plans, takes a “set off” for the comp money. For example, if a client (more…)

Doug Landau shown here at the hearing room where oral argument for Reviews (appeals) are heard by the Full Commission. After a workers comp claim is heard in Virginia by a Deputy Commissioner, BOTH sides have the right to ask for a “review.” A Review is an appeal to the Full Commission where 3 Commissioners review the case to see if the judge below made a mistake of law. Herndon Reston trial attorney Doug Landau regularly goes down to Richmond to review files, meet with VWCC staff, file exhibits and evidence, and investigate claims.

When a Hearing decision is received or a Settlement Order comes by Special Delivery, ABRAMS LANDAU staffers are often asked “When will I get the money ?”

The response is, “When the decision is final.”  That is because the staff at the Herndon and Reston area injury law firm knows that the insurance defense lawyers can appeal several weeks after the decision or Order are rendered.  In fact, they have additional time BEFORE late penalties are Awarded.  We are advised by the Commission that we must wait 34 days before they will entertain a request for 20% penalties to be assessed against the insurance company.  This is despite the “20 day” language in most contested Hearing decisions.  SO…save the envelope containing the checks, in order to prove late payment, BUT do not expect a check for 30 days or penalties to be assessed right away.

While the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission REQUIRES a valid address for injured workers in order to receive benefits, and failure to keep the Commission updated can lead to a termination of benefits, several clients each year fail to apprise the staff at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. of their new addresses, phone numbers or medical status, saving the insurance companies hundreds of thousands of dollars each year !  While the insurance companies certainly appreciate not sending these clients the money they have in reserves on their claims, in nearly every case, the injured worker and their family could use the funds.  Several clients have let the time limits run on their claims despite correspondence, phone calls and, where available, e-mails from ABRAMS LANDAU staff to advise them of their rights and responsibilities.  Do not let the time run on your claim.  Follow you counsel’s instructions and act responsibly and in a timely manner.  The time limits in the law are strict.  If you want to give the insurance company a “present,” send a card.  And remember, they are not going to do the same for you.

Under Virginia law, undocumented workers are eligible for most, but not all benefits. What are they eligible to receive under the law ?

Herndon/Reston Trial lawyer Doug Landau lists the following as some of the benefits such ABRAMS LANDAU clients are able to receive:

1. Temporary Total Disability (weekly wage loss)
2. Permanent Partial Disability (for a permanent partial disability % rating)
3. Medical Bill coverage (100%, with no deductible or limit) (more…)

This just in on the Trial lawyers listServ from our friend Dick Thomas, esteemed Roanoke Virginia Workers Comp lawyer:

We just got a review opinion , written by Commissioner Dudley, reversing the deputy commissioner and awarding benefits. Claimant had a series of injuries over the years, and had bilateral degenerative disease of the hips. In 2003, he fell on his left hip, and the deputy commissioner ruled that the fall aggravated his preexisting degenerative disease. He then developed increased symptoms in the right hip, which his treating orthopedist at the time attributed to overuse from favoring the left hip. He then had a left hip replacement, covered under his award. Further problems with the right hip ensued, resulting in right hip replacement by a different surgeon. The original doctor failed to relate the right hip problem, and the treating surgeon refused to give an opinion.

The Defense was “consequence of a consequence,” and therefore NOT compensable. In other words, the defense lawyer contended that causation was TOO REMOTE and that the employer/carrier should not be held responsible any more. The trial judge (more…)

Herndon Reston area Workers Comp injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that since the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (”VWC”) does not hold Hearings in Court houses as often as it did 20 years ago, it is important to know where you are going and that the place of your Hearing may not look like the local Court House.
If you can attend Hearings weeks before your own “day in court,” then you and your family and witnesses should absolutely do so.  Workers Comp Hearings are generally open to the public, and you will be far better prepared and less anxious.  Also look at your “Official Comp File” while you are there.  Call before you go to make sure they have your file is in Fairfax, as the headquarters is in Richmond, and that is where most VWC files are kept before and after Hearings.

Shown here is disability and workplace injury lawyer Doug Landau outside the Fairfax branch of the Northern Virginia Regional Office of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission.  The lower picture shows ABRAMS LANDAU’s Doug Landau in the reception area, where he often meets clients, their families and co-workers before and after their Hearings.  On this particular day,  he had met with a family as the result of a fatal truck crash injury.  Landau also reviewed the official files on other clients’ cases involving: paraplegia from a farm tractor rollover, brain injury, spinal cord surgery, permanent disability, head trauma, scarring and multiple fractures.

Instead of taking longer, some states are trying to reduce the number of workers compensation claims waiting for settlement. Herndon trial lawyer Doug Landau received a copy of the Star Ledger article stating that, “The backlog of injured New Jerseyans whose workers compensation insurance settlements are hung up in a government review process has dropped by more than 1,000 since October, state Labor Department officials announced, crediting changes in state and federal procedures.” Since October, when 3,686 workers compensation case settlements were suspended pending a review by the federal agency that oversees Medicare, the number of suspended settlements has plunged to 2,677 this month, according to the director and chief judge of the state’s Division of Workers Compensation.

Thousands of injured workers, generally those over age 65, have been forced to wait a year or more for their workers compensation insurance settlements because the federal government has demanded the right to review the pending settlements. The federal government’s goal is to ensure that the recipients had not billed Medicare for medical treatment that should have been covered by their workers comp insurance. In other words, according to Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., the “feds don’t want to be left holding the bag.” (more…)

After an on the job accident, traumatic brain injury or contracting an occupational disease, the anxiety and stress caused by a Workers Compensation Hearing can be terrible.  In order to lessen the stress felt by Abrams Landau clients, Virginia injury trial lawyer Doug Landau often meets people at the Courts and Hearing locations throughout the country.  Here are pictures of the exterior of the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (”VWC”) Hearing site in Manassas.  The 6th floor of the “Sudley Tower” is where the Deputy Commissioners hear on the job injury claims.

The VWC often rents space in office buildings, uses governmental spaces and has its own dedicated facilities in Richmond and SouthWest Virginia.  By showing clients where their cases will be heard and having them observe his hearings, Doug Landau wants his disabled clients and their families to learn what is required in these claims.  There are no movies or  television shows that lets people see what really happens in Workers Comp Hearings.  And reading a transcript or Hearing Officer’s opinion is not the same as actually being there.  Like a Sports Coach’s “scouting trip,” a visit to the Hearing site and observing several Hearings can prove to be the best thing you and your family can do to get ready for your “day in court.”  Plus, you will know where to park, sit and meet with counsel from the Landau Law Shop.  It is important to everyone at the Abrams Landau trial team that our clients familiarize themselves with the Court, the judge and the proceedings.  After all, “the best surprise is no surprise.”

Where do I go to meet my Abrams Landau team before and after my Hearing at the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission in Manassas ?

Since the judges do not like people talking while Hearings are going on, there are small conference rooms available where Herndon “Super Lawyer” Doug Landau can meet clients, witnesses, experts and review the VWC OFFICIAL FILES.  Very often, this is a good place to collect one’s thoughts before ntering the Hearing room and testifying in an injury or occupational disease claim.  These conference rooms are also where witnesses who have been asked to wait outside of the Hearing room can stay until they are summoned by the bailiff or clerk to testify under oath.  Shown here is one such room at the Manassas Hearing location, located to the left of the Clerk’s office.  These rooms are found at “Sudley Tower”, off Route 234, just South of Route I-66 in Manassas, where Doug Landau routinely tries spinal cord surgery, broken bone, deep wound, infection, joint replacement, brain trauma, amputation, burn, chemical injury, disease, concussion,and other permanently disabling condition cases.