Landau Injury Law

In 2007, Doug Landau and the trial team at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. declined several dog attack cases. Examples of such cases include:

Example A: A child was bitten on the cheek by a dog in the Roanoke Valley. The homeowners had specifically signed an insurance policy that forbade (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…)

The Herndon, Virginia law firm Abrams Landau, Ltd., currently has pending dog attack cases involving children and adults in Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. Doug Landau and the Trial Team were successful in 2007 in resolving cases for clients and families from Virginia, New Jersey and California. If you or someone you know has been the victim of an animal attack, please contact us at once. Delay in the investigation of these claims can be fatal to the case. On a recent “road trip” from Pennsylvania, Virginia Trial Lawyer Doug Landau took pictures and investigated several dog attack cases in the Middle Atlantic States.  [Shown here is the Hudson County Courthouse in New Jersey, where Doug Landau successfully advocates on behalf of clients attacked by dogs while in the course of their work for the Post Office and Police Department.]

The Postal Employee’s action for damages arose out of a dog attack that occurred as our client was in the course and scope of his employment for the U.S. Postal Service. Mr. Landau’s client was placing mail in the mailboxes, when he saw a woman approaching with a dog on a leash. It appeared that the woman wanted access to the mailboxes, where the mailman was working. He moved toward the street, to avoid the woman and her dog. At this point, the woman approached his direction. When the woman and the dog were approximately (5) five feet away, the dog, unprovoked in any way by this uniformed Postal Employee, lunged at his face.

Mr. Landau’s client raised his arm to protect his face. The dog bit the man’s arm, through his winter jacket. At the time, this hard working man did not realize that he been bitten. The woman apologized and left the scene. Later that day, and while still working his route, this postal worker felt pain and saw blood dripping from his arm. He took off his jacket and was surprised to find (more…)

When a mail carrier was attacked while delivering the mail in a Kearney New Jersey neighborhood, he had no idea that he was not the first, or even the second person attacked and bitten by this large dog. He was the third !

This injured mail carrier, like the police officer attacked by the dog on the very same street, also contacted Herndon, Virginia injury lawyer Doug Landau of Abrams Landau, Ltd. to prosecute his personal injury claim against the Defendant dog owners and their Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Insurance Company. This Herndon law firm has experience helping people attacked and bitten by dogs throughout the East Coast. The trial team at Abrams Landau, Ltd. has successfully settled cases against the insurance company that issued the policy of insurance on the home where the dangerous dog is kept. In most cases, the insurance covering the owners of the dog (more…)

A recent caller to ABRAMS LANDAU asked, ” Are attorney’s fees in workers comp claim 1/3 like in car accident and bike crash cases ?”
The short answer is, “No” according to experienced Herndon workers compensation lawyer Doug Landau

So, what are attorney fees in Virginia workers comp claims ?

At Abrams Landau, Ltd., we have contingent contracts with our clients for (more…)