Rare Virginia Permanent Total Disability Trial in Fairfax for Disabled Worker
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.