The Athlete's Lawyer

After being a volunteer in the rain Saturday at the 25th Annual Reston Triathlon packet pick up, Doug Landau raced Sunday against many of the area’s top multisport athletes, including the Mayor of D.C. ! Shown here are “TriathlonTrialLawyer” Doug Landau, Rip Tide Swim & Sport’s Shandra Richardson, who was female runner up, and Mayor Adrian Fenty. Because of the Hurricane storms, the swim was eliminated and the event changed to a duathlon (Run 2.5 miles, Bike 22.5 miles and then run 6.2 miles). Landau managed to best the Mayor at last year’s Nations Triathlon, on Fenty’s “Home Course,” while the “DC Fleet Feet” representative and his brother beat Landau in his “backyard.” The “tie-breaker” will be this Sunday at the Nations Triathlon, which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Stay tuned !

A spectacular day for racing greeted those who showed up at South Lakes High School. After monsoon like rains, triathletes were greeted with near picture perfect conditions.  Two of Doug Landau’s clients had great races and one bicycle crash victim even copped an age group award !  This Arlington gentleman was finishing a training ride when he was struck by a minivan while riding his bike in the dedicated bicycle lane.  He has clearly made a spectacular recovery and everyone at Abrams Landau, Ltd. hopes that he wins his category in the Virginia Triathlon Series this year.

Shown here is Doug Landau inspecting a bicycle helmet of one of the competitors in the Reston Triathlon.  In order to compete, every racer must bring their helmet to preregistration for inspection.  The helmets are checked for cracks, evidence of bike crashes, trauma, and potential injury causing sharp pieces or frayed straps that would not protect the wearer’s head from head injury or traumatic brain injury.  The bike helmets are then specially marked for use the next day in this immensely popular D. C,. area multisport event.  If your helmet has been involved in a crash or other accident causing impact, remember: most helmets are only designed to absorb one impact.  So have your helmet checked if it has been damaged or involved in an accident.  Otherwise you are risking more serious head injury or brain trauma if you are unlucky enough to be involved in a subsequent accident.

Melissa thrilled friends and fans alike with a blistering kick at the Reston Triathlon. Normally known for her incredible endurance and powerful cycling, this fit mother of 4 managed to hold off late race challengers and churn around the South Lakes High School track with speed not often seen. A big favorite with the medical tent, Melissa told Doctors Fleeter and Sager that she was not about to let some guy pass her with only 300 meters to go to the finish line. She brings this competitive spirit to her work as well ! Go Melissa !

Doug Landau soaks in an ice bath while reading the paper after an intense multisport workout. The Triathlon TrialLawyer got this whirlpool from the Herndon High School after its jets gave out. Landau explained to the AD that he only needed it for soaking so as to cool the muscles and reduce the inflammation response from intense exercise. Landau studied sports medicine in graduate school and has long known that cold water can reduce swelling and delayed onset muscle soreness (“DOMS”). While sitting in such cold water is not fun, it definitely helps the Herndon Reston area injury “Super Lawyer” to recover from intense workouts and race successfully in national and international competitions.

Assumption of the Risk is a defense that can often lead to the dismissal (or Summary Judgment) of a plaintiff’s otherwise serious baseball head or facial injury case. Assumption of the Risk, according to the Athletes Lawyer Doug Landau of Herndon, Virginia, is “the voluntary undertaking of a known and understood danger that results in injury.” In Virginia, if the injured plaintiff has assumed the risk of harm, she generally cannot recover for ANY of her injuries, no matter how serious or permanent.

In the case of Murphy v. Polytechnic U., 850 N.Y.S.2d 339 (N.Y. Sup. 2007), the New York Superior (trial) Court found that a school softball team member does not assume the risk where her coach hit her in the face with a bat during practice. Here, Murphy was a member of her university softball team. During practice, the team coach hit her in the face with a bat while demonstrating a batting technique. Murphy sued the coach and the university for the injuries she sustained Read the rest of this entry »

While many of us have heard of swimming pool accidents involving diving boards, falls, and drowning, the drains in many pools present an unreasonable risk of harm to children. In December of 2007, Congress passed the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act to provide basic safety standards for the nation’s public pools. That was good news, but now a recent survey by ABC News has found that the drains of almost 75% of the public pools throughout the country are still not safe. The new law requires all public pools to install the mandated safety devices by December 20th of this year or face fines up to $1.3 million. The safety devices – safety drain covers and shut-off valves – are designed to prevent children from being trapped underwater by the powerful suction of pool filter systems. Herndon Reston area attorney and “Triathlon Trial Lawyer” Doug Landau suggests that whenever good design or engineering standards can eliminate or greatly reduce the likelihood of permanent injury or death, then failure to adopt or adhere to such standards presents an unreasonable and unacceptable risk of harm.

These devices were available long before the new legislation was passed, but the industry didn’t see fit to install them. In fact, the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals even fought the legislation in Congress. Since it appears from the survey that the industry isn’t taking steps to implement the provisions of the Act, the safety problems will remain at a tremendous number of public pools and spas. Paul Pennington, who is with the Pool Safety Consortium, says that many of the drain covers currently in use are “death traps.” The CPSC should get involved and make sure the existing hazards are cured. Pool safety has to be a top priority for all concerned. Source: ABC News

People seeking my assistance with their accident and injury cases often have significant pain and disability, but little in the way of “objective” evidence to go with their “subjective complaints of pain and discomfort. In a court of law, the “objective proof” is often critical to the members of the jury who are familiar with x-rays of broken bones, scars, bleeding and other reproduceable signs and symptoms of serious and permanent physical injury.

DMX or Digital Motion X-Ray (DMX) technology may be helpful in these cases, as it was in one of our workers compensation fatality claims. DMX is a fluoroscopic x-ray that combines digital and optic technology with well known x-ray and motion x-ray technology. The combination of technologies enables the physician to produce and record real-time images of the patient’s joint function as they move. This produces a highly useable digital image of skeletal activity, which, in turn, enables the health care provider to more accurately pinpoint the problem and then outline a treatment plan.

According to the Loudoun Spine & Sports Care (www.getoutofpain.com/ imaging_dmx.php) website: “Patients are relieved to literally see why they are in pain. DMX studies may be most helpful in discovering undetected injuries when routine x-rays are found to be normal.”

“Digital Motion X-Ray technology improves the quality and usability of traditional X-Ray technology. X-ray has been in existence for over 100 years and is the oldest accepted diagnostic tool used by physicians and other healthcare practitioners.”

“DMX records at a rate of 30 frames per second. A typical cervical spine study will provide 2700 images while only exposing the patient to the same amount of radiation as 5-6 static x-rays. Each study is recorded on CD or DVD and can be played back in real time, slow motion or freeze frame. With Picture-in-Picture technology, the patient can be seen externally while viewing his/her skeletal function.”

Being fat and physically inactive has a name–Sedentary Death Syndrome or “SeDS.”

Approximately 2.5 million Americans will die prematurely in the next ten years due to SeDS, a number greater than all alcohol, guns, motor vehicles, illicit drug use and sexual behavior related deaths combined. Research has identified SeDS as the second largest threat to public health (heart disease remains the number one cause of death for Americans) and is expected to add as much as $3 trillion to healthcare costs over ten years, more than twice the tax cut recently passed by the US Senate. Frank W. Booth, a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia invented the term SeDS and local “dynamic duo” Allen and Mary Delaney of “Rehab to Racing” (See their listing on the “FACES” page) are combating this killer combination of morbid obesity and inactivity.

The Delaneys recently met with senior citizens who not only suffered from morbid obesity and inactivity, but also related health problems and pharmacological regimens. One senior had lost nearly all the muscle tone in his legs, shuffled instead of walked, and could not arise from a seated position or walk steps. After Dr. Allen Delaney did a thorough examination, he and Mary, a physical therapist, showed the atrophied individual and his wife how to do exercises an stretches that would combat the continuing loss of function. Mary also talked with the couple about the importance of a healthy diet and walking not only in the pool, but on dry land in order to stimulate bone density and muscle growth. To date, the couple has lost over 20 pounds, walks regularly, and are more active in only a few weeks. And, the wife reports, “my husband’s backside has gone from mush to tush thanks to the Delaneys !” You do not have to be a competitive triathlete in order to enjoy good health. But you do have to do something, every day, in order to ensure that your body remains functional and healthy for the long run.