The Athlete's Lawyer

To those who say it is impossible to train while on vacation, I say “be creative” and “go with the flow !” Shown at left is my eldest daughter running at sunrise in he Galapagos Islands while on board the “Galapagos Explorer II.” This picture was taken while we were in vacation on the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador.

This family trip to South America allowed me to rest my weary wrists from all the internet posting I have done since starting our several newer educational and updated web sites (“LandauInjuryLaw” and “TheAthletesLawyer”). I also did no bicycling, tennis or gym workouts, but managed to go jogging with my kids, swim while snorkeling and do light calisthetics and stretching over the winter holidays. This “down time” helps me avoid sports injuries and recharges my batteries for a successful season of indoor track, road, cross country and multisport racing. Sports medicine specialists and exercise physiology researchers tell us that periodization in sports training is critically important for long term success and injury avoidance.

Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau was thrilled to be joined this year by his friend, and top New York City Trial Lawyer Stephen Peskin and his wife Victoria. The 102nd Annual Meet was notable for numerous false starts in the 60-yard dash and exciting races at the mile distance over the 11-lap, steeply banked wooden track. Landau first ran indoor track for Boston University on a similar wooden, banked track. In Meets at M.I.T., Harvard University and the University of Virginia, he raced in the 600, 800, 1500 and mile. The Herndon Reston area injury and disability lawyer hopes to race in the USAT&F‘s National Master’s Indoor Track and Field Championships in Landover Maryland in March.

Stephen Peskin, a past president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, has been featured in Who’s Who in American Law and is a senior member of the board of directors of the American Association for Justice. Landau has worked with Peskin and other New York City lawyers in his office on injury and accident cases. Peskin and Landau have also gone hiking together and their wives have shared adventures together as well. Steve is a partner at the Tolmage, Peskin, Harris, Falick law firm and his talented and beautiful bride, Victoria Bond, is an accomplished composer and conductor. From 1986-1995, Victoria was conductor of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Roanoke Music Director. Landau and Peskin compare notes and trial strategies at Virginia and American Trial lawyer meetings and conventions. Doug Landau makes the annual trip to New York for the Millrose Games, which are considered by many to be the premier indoor track and field meet in the world.

Shown here before a recent road race in Central Park, Herndon injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau is dropping off his warm up gear. Knowing where you can safely store supplies and post event needs can be important in trials and triathlons. Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau has gone to court with cases full of books and files, and, for other clients, little more than a computer, travel printer and a Bindertek notebook. But in every case, it is important to try to get a preview of the courtroom just as it is enormously helpful to view the race course before a major competition. That is why Doug Landau invites clients, prospective clients and their families and friends to see him and the ABRAMS LANDAU team “in action” both in court and at the races. Call our office and come see us at future cases and races.

With his own daughter watching her final two high school games from the sidelines this Fall, sport injury lawyer Doug Landau wondered about other student athletes who return to the playing field before medically stable or physiologically ready.  Too many kids may be returning to the playing field too soon after a concussion.  “How many? According to an alarming new study, from 2005 to 2008, 41% of concussed athletes in 100 high schools across the U.S. returned to play too soon, under guidelines set out by the American Academy of Neurology. The 11-year-old guidelines say, for example, that if an athlete’s concussion symptoms, such as dizziness or nausea, last longer than 15 minutes, he should be benched until he’s been symptom-free for a week. The most startling data point–uncovered by the same researchers who in 2007 brought to light the fact that girls have a higher incidence of concussion than boys–is that 16% of high school football players who lost consciousness during a concussion returned to the field the same day.”

Time Magazine goes on to report  “The consequences of going back early can be dire. Last September, a 16-year-old football player suffered a concussion during practice in Greenville, N.C. A certified athletic trainer educated in concussion management was  not present, and the school’s first responder who examined the teenager cleared him to play in a game two days later. During that game, the student athlete was tackled. Moments later, he collapsed on the sidelines. He died the next day. A medical examiner determined the boy died from what is called second-impact syndrome, noting that “neither impact would have been sufficient to cause death in the absence of the other impact.”  Reston  Virginia sports injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau cautions that because of the danger from “second impact syndrome” to the brain, it is imperative that special care be exercised when there is loss of consciousness, dizziness and nausea from head trauma in sports.

Coach Jim Norman and Senior Defenseman (and Captain) Andrew Norman have helped Herndon Hockey to achieve a winning season. The stormin’ Normans are exciting to watch on the ice. I have seen several of their games, and would go again in the future. As reported in the Washington Post High School Sports section, “Their success is all the more remarkable considering they were a provisional team the past three years, meaning they had to merge with other schools just to field a team. Last year, playing with Annandale, they finished 2-7-1.

The last time Herndon was on its own, for the 2004-05 season, it went 1-9. So how to explain the sudden turnaround? “I’d love to tell you it was brilliant coaching,” Hornets Coach Jim Norman said. “But the high school league is so much about the luck of the draw. Unlike the travel teams, where you get people competing for a spot, in the high school league, you get what you get. And unlike football, where you have 100 kids, you’re hoping you’ll have enough to put out a team.” The newspaper goes on to report, “The Hornets have 15 players this season, including two goalies, so they can use only two full lines. But they have more experienced talent than ever, including junior forwards Ville Rutanen (10 goals, 19 assists), Sam Stone (14 goals, six assists) and Max Kortegast (11 goals, nine assists), as well as senior defenseman Andrew Norman (five goals, 14 assists).  By Jeff Nelson, Special to The Washington Post, Thursday, January 22, 2009; E06

As Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau makes preparations to return to Colonial Williamsburg for the Annual VTLA Convention March 12-15th, 2009, he checks the Colonial Road Runners schedule to see what training runs and racing events may be available.

Shown here with Club President and frequent racer Rick Platt, Herndon Reston area sports injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau congratulates the Tidewater area runner on his team’s excellent performance. Rick is holding medals he and his teammates won at the National Cross Country Championships.  If they gave out medals for excellence in race management, calendaring and organization, he would win for those categories as well !  Landau and his wife have participated in other Williamsburg area road running events, as evidenced by some of the wonderful items decorating the Landau Law Shop.

Doug Landau welcomes drug testing at major sports competitions.  The upcoming National Championships that are coming to the D.C. Metropolitan area will be subject to the anti-doping rules.  Athletes who participate in this competition are subject to drug testing performed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in accordance with the USADA Protocol for Olympic Movement Testing.  The motto of the USAT&F in the area of drug testing is: “BE AWARE. BE INFORMED. BE ALERT. BE CLEAN. USADA is here to help you PASS WITH FLYING COLORS.”

Interestingly, the “BE CLEAN” section states, “Checking to see if the medication you take is allowed could be the difference between passing your test and serving a doping ban. A search on USADA’s easy-to-use Drug Reference Online™ ( or a quick call to USADA’s Drug Reference Line™ (1-800-233-0393) and following-up with any necessary forms is all it takes to pass with flying colors.”

While riding in the winter is always fraught with risks (temperature, road conditions, slowed reflexes due to numb fingers, etc.), conditions on the W&OD Trail with ice melting and refreezing, with tire tracks running through, poses increased risks.  My own tires got caught in tracks and fishtailing and loss of control were experienced.  When the path is wet, it takes longer to brake.  When there is ice, you may not be able to brake.  And, when there is “black ice,” you cannot see the hazard until the last moment.   I had difficulty riding with several friends; I had to walk my bike through several patches of melting snow and ice, even though 80-90% of the trail was clear and dry.  Under some overpasses, the ice did not melt, and there was run off, such that I could not immediately see whether there was just water or ice underneath.  And when you cannot see the danger, until it’s too late, it can result in smashed bike, an injury-causing crash, and possibly traumatic brain injury.

Bike crashes resulting in diffuse axonal brain injury, broken bones and death can be avoided by knowing the conditions; walking your bike when there is ice present; and, communicating with other riders and path users.  When crossing the roads on the path, remember that the cars can also encounter patches of “black ice.”  A car that hits a patch of black ice can slide off the road right into a bicyclist on the path, causing orthopedic and brain injury.  Safe winter cycling requires extra vigilance, reduced speed and greater communication.

DSCF 3759-81

To triathletes, “Athena” and “Clydesdale” have one meaning, but to those in the Masters Track circuit, the name “Athena Track Club” connotes running excellence, comraderie and wisdom.

The Athena Track Club is a nationwide masters women’s track team with several members living in the D.C. metropolitan area.  Shown here with Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau is accomplished Masters champion runner Julie Hayden  of the Athena Track Club.  Athena Track Club was established in 2006 to provide opportunities for like-minded elite female runners to compete as a team in Masters track, road racing and cross-country events. The club draws members from across the USA and is registered as a club with USATF Mid-Atlantic Region.

Triathletes may ask, why the name Athena, and what does the owl mean? The owl is a symbol of wisdom which is associated with the Goddess Athena, who was also known for her beauty. For a group of Masters-Age female athletes, wisdom, beauty and goddess-like powers is an obvious association we think !  For more about the Club’s success at last year’s nationals, go to the Athena web site.

Herndon Hockey – they do not have enough players from one school to field 3 lines, but they play well enough with 2 to fire up their fans !  The Washington Post Jeff Nelson’s article “Herndon Turns Things Around” tells the some of the story of this remarkable local team.

“Any program having a down season — or a down history, for that matter — can look to Herndon for proof that things can get better, no matter how bad they’ve been.  The Hornets did not finish above .500 in their eight previous seasons as members of the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League, but they are 6-1 and atop the North division entering tomorrow’s game against Loudoun Valley.

When it became apparent early in the season that the Hornets were good, the benefits of being competitive helped make them better. “Everyone tries a lot harder at practice because we know we’re not going to get slaughtered on Friday nights,” said Andrew Norman, the team captain and coach’s son. “We actually have something to play for.”  Even if the Hornets don’t win their division, they are in a position to secure one of the league’s eight wild-card berths.  “It’s definitely a lot more exciting,” Andrew Norman said. “We’ve got bigger crowds than ever and more fans throughout the school since we’re finally winning games this year.”

By Jeff Nelson, Special to The Washington Post, Thursday, January 22, 2009; E06