High Stick to the Heart

Doug Landau was inspired by watching his late father, Norman J. Landau, and other great lawyers, “in action” in court. This photo is from when Doug was trying cases for the Florida State Attorney’s Office, AND had a lot more hair! He believes in the importance of not only going to the schools and putting on mock trials, but also having young people attend real cases in court.

You can’t aspire to be what you can’t see,” said the coach of the  University of North Dakota women’s ice hockey coach in recent New York Times article on the ending of the school’s sports program. The January 12th piece discussed the budgetary reasons why the team was axed, despite the local female college hockey players being “rock stars” in the area. Local girls’ teams had regularly attended the U.N.D. games. It is an unfortunate move, and all too often women’s collegiate sports get the ax, despite studies showing how important team participation is to long-term success on and off the ice.

But it was Coach Idalski’s line about not being seen that struck Herndon trial lawyer and triathlete Doug Landau.  In addition to trying to educate clients, their families, friends and witnesses about the procedures involved in injury cases, workers compensation and Social Security disability, by having an “Open Book Policy,” and encouraging all to attend his hearings, trials and other events (“come see us ‘in action’!”), he also hopes to inspire others to choose a career in the law. That is one of the reasons that all of the staff at the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU attend court; so they can aspire to prepare the best cases for their injured and disabled clients. Lawyer Landau also hopes that he has inspired children of clients who have attended cases prior to their parents’ “day in court,” or actual trials, to pursue education in the law.  However, like the U.N.D. coach noted, “you cannot aspire to what you cannot see.” Television trials and movies do not show what really happens in the courts in the United States. That is why he encourages observers and spends time after every case to explain what happened and why. It takes extra time, effort (& money), but Landau believes it is important in the “big picture” for everyone to understand how cases and courts actually work in the real world.