Landau Injury Law

Businesses could save between $114,000 and $670,000 per claim by settling lawsuits early rather than mounting an extensive defense, a study of personal injury settlements has found. According to the study, which analyzed court settlements of personal injury and defective product injury cases against companies between 1988 and 2004 in Texas and Florida, early settlement offers reduce legal fees and non-economic damages. Doug Landau resolved several Florida cases for clients in the last year, and notes that there is a trend toward defense lawyers billing for depositions, written discovery, protracted motions and expert retention before there is any serious discussion of settlement.  Especially with the downturn in the economy, the insurance carriers are holding on to their reserves until the last possible moment. The of business cost savings study was published in the Columbia Business Law Review.  Sheri Qualters  06/09/2008. Read Article: Law.com    

The Herndon - Reston law firm of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. has successfully settled another workers comp suicide case for a Florida family.  Using favorable Virginia case law and Doug Landau’s own winning decision in the Elliott case, this Bulgarian family was able to at last get some compensation for their tragic loss.  In a similar ruling, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that the families of workers who commit suicide following an industrial accident can recover workers compensation benefits. The justices held that benefits may be payable if an on-the-job injury led to the rational impairment that resulted in suicide. The ruling revives a workers compensation claim filed by the widow of a man who shot himself after suffering a severe back injury at work.  AP, Las Vegas Review Journal  07/25/2008

Often clients will down several pints of coffee, get up at the crack of dawn, and then eat a huge breakfast before heading to court with their family.  They then arrive needing to use the facilities, tired and bloated.  Often, you see litigants falling asleep by three O’clock in the afternoon.  NOTHING NEW/UNTESTED – DO NOT try something new at trial !  Stick to your usual diet, medications and sleep habits.  DO not try new foods, drugs, diets, drinks, medications, etc., advises Super Lawyer Doug Landau.  Whether you’re from small town Herndon or you’re one of “The Best Lawyers in America,” do not do something untried and untested during your “day in Court.”  f you have any questions about your daily regiment, call Doug Landau to discuss them BEFORE you leave for the Courthouse.  You’ll be glad you did.

Yes, possibly.  The first step in any workers compensation claim is to determine if you were injured “in the course and scope of employment.”  If you were injured on the job, the next step is to figure out how much your employer paid you every week.  Because many undocumented workers are paid “under the table,” or on a cash basis, proving how much your employer paid you every week may be difficult.  This is important because many of your compensation benefits depend on how much you were making before you got injured.   Your “average weekly wage” rate affects how much you get for lost wages, permanent injury to your body and the size of your settlement or Court Award.

Proving what your employer paid you in cash might be a difficult task, but with the help of the ABRAMS LANDAU team, the process can be smoother.  In order to prove how much employers have paid undocumented workers in the past, the ABRAMS LANDAU law firm in Herndon, Virginia has used a variety of successful techniques like examining bank deposit statements, receipts from remittances, eye witness accounts, and receipts from other money transfer services.  It is best to have is a “paper trail” of the payments you received.    

Additionally, the ABRAMS LANDAU team will help you factor whether you were provided uniforms, meals, lodging or transportation.  This usually increases the amount of money Herndon attorney Doug Landau gets for his clients.  Proving exactly how much the employer paid you every week will determine how much money you receive while you are not working-money that will help you and your family survive while you are recovering from your injuries.  

Doug Landau, shown here with long-time Reston Triathlon Board Member Chuck James, volunteered at the 2nd annual Reston Sprint Triathlon at Lake Newport Pool.  The Herndon Reston area injury lawyer helped get athletes registered on Saturday.  Raising thousands of dollars for Reston Interfaith made the effort rewarding on many levels.  Doug will be racing tomorrow in this event which sold out in one day !  Multisport events are popular in Northern Virginia, and the race will be staffed by the wonderful people at Set Up Events.  The race is also part of the Virginia Triathlon Series (”VTS”), where racers get points that are tallied at the end of the season to determine overall winners.  Last year, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau and 2 of his training buddies each won their age group at this race, and went on to win prizes in the overall series.  Doug races in the competitive 45-49 group, and winning the series last year gives him no guarantees going into his first VTS race of 2008.

On the evening of December 4, 2006, after working overtime, our client pulled into the dimly lit parking lot of the Defendant’s grocery store in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. A pothole (at least a foot-and-a-half wide) was between the space in which she parked and the handicap parking space next to it, near the sidewalk at front of the store. Hidden in the darkness, it caught her foot and threw her into the car parked next to her.  Herndon - Reston area injury lawyer Doug Landau took pictures and measurements with the claimant and co-counsel Tom Curcio of Alexandria shortly after this accident occurred. [Shown here: ABRAMS LANDAU’s Lauren Holtzman & Beatriz Vargas with a gift basket from the happy client.]

Early investigation is critical to building the liability case. There were no signs or warnings to alert customers of this latent hazard. Most importantly, the pothole was located (more…)

This important concept explains both short and long term neurologic deficits in patients whose trauma did not produce either contusions, hemorrhages or lacerations sufficient to account for the deficits. Frequently, the latter lesions are minimal but the deficit is severe. Sometimes, notes Herndon Reston brain injury lawyer Doug Landau, there is a minimal laceration (cut) or not cut at all, but the neurological damage is significant. This is often harder on the innocent crash victim because they have no “Red Badge of Courage” to display to friends, family or their physicians to buttress their claims of disability, deficit and suffering. This, in turn can cause anxiety, depression and fear, especially in cases in the long and trying litigation process adds Landau.

How does Diffuse Axonal Injury occur ? What has happened is that rotational and other movements of the brain during trauma has resulted in injury to numerous axons in both cerebrum and brain stem. Brain injury trial attorney Doug Landau explains that this can happen as the result of a sharp, fast back-and-forth movement of the skull, or a rapid twisting of the head from an impact, or a high-velocity combination of (more…)

When an injured victim of a crash is brought into an emergency room, x-rays are often ordered. However, Herndon Reston area brain injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that while such diagnostic testing, while good for showing broken bones and fractures, does not show many kinds of brain injury. For example, a cyclist or motorist injured in a crash may have a subdural hematoma (sometimes spelled, “haematoma”) which may not show up in the Hospital immediately on a post-accident x-ray.
A Subdural Hematoma is a collection of blood that pools under the dura. Because x-rays do not “see” blood as easily as hard, boney structures, Doug Landau advises that these are sometimes missed. The dura is a relatively tough connective tissue (collagenous) membrane, about the thickness of parchment paper. It is firmly attached to the under surface of the skull, and in the spinal canal, it is separated from the bony structure (more…)

In the previous posting, brain injury lawyer Doug Landau listed Direct Effects of head trauma and brain injuries.  In addition to those sometimes permanently disabling effects of an impact or blow involving the skull and brain, the Herndon Reston trial attorney notes that there are “Secondary Effect” which can also be quite devastating to the innocent victim of a bike or car crash.  Listed below are Secondary Effects of brain injury and head trauma:

B. SECONDARY EFFECTS OF BRAIN INJURY AND HEAD TRAUMA:

1. Cerebral edema or swelling

2. Herniations of brain tissue

3. Infection

4. As a result of traumatic brain damage, there may be permanent localizing neurologic defects or post-traumatic epilepsy.

See, www.pathology.vcu.edu/trauma.html

Traumatic lesions, whether they are the product of closed or penetrating injuries, and whether they are coup or contra-coup, may be said to have direct effects, and secondary effects.  Brain injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that it is important to have an experienced specialist examine and test for the subtle effects of a closed head injury and brain trauma.  Direct Effects of head trauma and brain injury, whether from bike crashes, falls, motor vehicle accidents, falling merchandise, or sudden acceleration/deceleration events, are listed below:

A. DIRECT EFFECTS

1. Skull fracture

2. Hemorrhages–epidural, subdural, subarachnoid or parenchymal

3. Lesions to brain–contusion, laceration [ the most minor “lesion” has no identifiable gross or microscopic counterpart in human material and is the concussion which produces unconsciousness].

4. Diffuse axonal injury [DAI]

(In the next post, Doug Landau will cover Secondary Effects of head trauma and brain injury.)