The Athlete's Lawyer

Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau and 6 time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott

Even an experienced cyclist like Six time Ironman world champion Dave Scott can get struck by car while cycling.  While riding in his home town of Boulder, Colorado, Ironman Champion Dave Scott was hit by a car while on a training ride.  Witness at the scene of the accident report that Scott was conscious and talking after being struck, and that it looked to them like the car accident had potentially broken Scott’s collar bone or separated his shoulder with other multiple cuts on his legs and arms.  News reports indicate that the bike crash took place as he was riding down a hill and a car suddenly made a U-turn in his path.  The motorist was from out of town and was looking at real estate signs.

According to a biker who came on the scene shortly after the crash, the champion triathlete put two massive dents in the driver’s side door. he was taken to the hospital.  Witnesses at the scene also report that Scott was well taken care of by both emergency services and fellow cyclist.  Since 1999, Dave has served as head triathlon coach for Team In Training.  I have met and spoken to Scott at the Columbia and DC Nations Triathlons.  He is personable, with a ready sense of humor and an athlete who lives what he preaches.  I hope that he has a full and complete recovery from this bike crash.

While looking for a quiet nook to stretch while at the University of Virginia Law School this week, I came across this sign. While I have seen signs asking students to be “quiet” and not to smoke, I have never seen anything like this ! If it is not an “approved” study area, what IS IT APPROVED FOR ? Do UVa Law students study too much ? Do they study in every nook and cranny of their immaculate campus ? Do their study habits need to be curtailed ? Was it once an “approved” study area, that because it was too popular, had to be outlawed by the Law School Administration ? If anyone knows the answers to these questions, please let me know !

Coach Steve Shulman and Doug Landau after finishing the 2009 DC Nations Triathlon

Competition, exercise, sightseeing, andrenalin – these are reasons I race. But there is another reason for my frequent participation in athletic events – reunions with friends, family and clients. At the DC Nations Triathlon, I was able once again to meet up with Maccabiah Triathlon Teammate Steve Shulman, of Long Island, New York. Steve is also a husband, father, attorney and mensch. He became involved with Team in Training in 2000 when he joined the cycle team after reading about TNT in Runners World magazine. Having never cycled 100 miles before, he completed the Tahoe ride. The experience moved him so much Read the rest of this entry »

Landau & McKissick "chill" before the start of the DC Nations Triathlon

At this year’s Nations triathlon, there were thousands of athletes in the “holding pen” on Ohio Drive.  One in particular stood out.  Howard County, Maryland police officer John McKissick had thought ahead.  Unlike the rest of us who were nervously milling about, jogging in place, sweating in out wetsuits an hour before our heats, McKissick was relaxing in a chez lounge chair that he brought from home.  The “Cop in the Chair’ as he called himself, had worked the popular Columbia Triathlon and had a sense of what to expect.   As many an athlete burned up energy they would need later in the DC heat and humidity, McKissick watched and smiled.  If I return to the Nations  Triathlon next year, I’d like to be in one of the first heats, like Mayor Fenty, or be “chillin’ on the lounge” with the “Cop in the Chair.”

Registration volunteer Doug Landau and Worldgate Masters swimmer and Super Sprint Triathlon Champ Dave Rudorfer checking out the Reston Triathlon race belt "Shwag"

Another reason to volunteer at local races is to see friends and familiar faces.  I especially enjoy volunteering at the “always  sold out in a nanosecond” Reston Triathlon.  This is because I am always handing out some of the sweetest shwag (or “schwag”) that you will find at any race.  This year’s socks, race belts, shirts and vests made for a nifty ensemble.  Bunny, Donna and the rest of the Reston Triathlon Association leadership outdo themselves year in and year out.  While I did not participate the next day in this year’s Reston race because I had previously committed to the DC Nation’s event, my wife    was entered and finished in fine style.  Nevertheless, I have been wearing HER red vest to Madeira soccer matches, since it fits me better !

This is the saddest day of the year for our law office.  ABRAMS LANDAU successfully represented the family of one of the pilots of the jet that was crashed into the Pentagon, as well as the family of a senior flight attendant (whose husband was also a pilot), a passenger and a welder who died trying to fix the damage, and left behind an “after born” child.  For all my attempts at humor to make my clients smile and glibness, there is nothing that I can say to make the world right for these families.  So while all of them continue to collect compensation due to our pro bono efforts, today is a day where I take a moment of silence to remember a dark hour in our nation’s history.  If I and my staff are not our usual, cheerful selves today, now you will understand why.

Wear correctly sized, unbroken shin guards to every match

What Kind Of Injuries Does A Soccer Shin Guard Prevent?

This was a question posted on a soccer equipment website. The answer made us laugh out loud: I know that soccer shin guards can help prevent shin splints, but what other injuries can these shin guards prevent?

The official website of the ACC answers the question “What exactly is shin splints?”
Scott Spernoga, MEd, ATC, Assistant Athletic Trainer, Wake Forest University wrote:
The term “shin splints” is often incorrectly used to categorize a wide variety of lower leg conditions ranging from tendonitis to stress fractures. This term includes both bone and soft tissue problems. In the sports medicine setting, shin splints are better referred to as “Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome” (MTSS).

MTSS is defined as syndrome in which increased stress causes an injury to the medial or inside part of the lower leg. This overuse injury is frequently found in sports which involve repetitive running such as field hockey, soccer and cross country. Shin splints do not occur overnight, but over a period of time. Often this occurs in the initial 2-3 weeks of training.

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons more than 477,500 soccer-related injuries are treated in hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics, ambulatory surgery centers and hospital emergency rooms each year. Wearing shin guards can help protect your lower legs. Soccer tournament records have shown that most players who sustained lower leg injuries were not protected by adequate shin guards. So don’t go without them and don’t wear your little sister’s pair. I have had shin splints while pounding the boards of the indoor track at Boston University; they are painful and take a long time to heal.

In a case where a biker and a bus crashed, the jury found in favor of the cyclist and awarded damages. The New York jury awarded more than $9 million to the plaintiff bicycle rider who sustained severe injuries of her left arm when she collided with a bus. The award would have exceeded $15 million, but the jury assigned 40 percent of the fault to the bicyclist, thus reducing damages by 40 percent, to $9,078,184.09. The liability apportionment reflected the he-said, she-said nature of the trial, in which the bicyclist and the bus’s driver each claimed that the other wandered out of her lane and caused the collision.

The plaintiff sustained fractures and extensive degloving of her left arm. The injuries to the plaintiff in Radeva v. NYC Transit Authority necessitated four surgeries. As is the case in so many verdicts we are sent, this lawsuit would have likely resulted in a verdict in favor of the Bus and Transit Authority, as the injured plaintiff was 40% at fault. Under Virginia law, this fault on the part of the Plaintiff, if a cause of the bicycle and bus crash, would have likely caused a judge or jury to find against the cyclist, despite her permanent injuries and scarring.

Surveys show high school students are as likely to hit the road while high as they are while drunk. Experts say many teens never hear warnings about marijuana.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which keeps statistics on wrecks involving alcohol, does not have enough data to generate similar numbers for marijuana.  Heidi Coleman, chief of the safety administration’s impaired driving division, said many police officers likely never detect pot because they aren’t trained to read physical cues–such as pupil size, body temperature and heart rate–that suggest the drug’s presence.  “They may suspect that a driver is impaired, but if they don’t test positive for alcohol, [officers] may let them go,” she said.

Research into marijuana’s impact on driving is similarly limited, she said. While state law treats measurable levels of pot or other drugs as evidence of DUI (similar to a blood-alcohol reading of 0.08 percent or higher), science is more nebulous.  Some studies have linked marijuana to decreased attentiveness, slower reactions, diminished motor skills and a worsened ability to estimate distance, but there is no consensus about how severe the effects are or how long they last.  At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we have successfully prosecuted cases against drivers who have been high and caused crashes, injuries and even death.  If you or someone you know has been harmed by a drunk, high or stoned driver, please contact us at once (703-796-9555)

In a Connecticut case where the plaintiff alleged “Negligent Supervision,” the jury found in favor of the injured athlete. The former high school athlete who was paralyzed in a pole-vaulting accident during an unsupervised warmup on a shortened runway recovered $6.4 million. In 2002, the 18 year old vaulter ascended 10 to 12 feet into the air and was inverted, but then the young man stalled. Instead of landing in the soft “landing pit,” he fell backward and landed on his back on the ground. He claimed that there should have been a supervisor, who would have recognized that the runway was shortened by a batting cage at the starting point, making it unsafe to practice pole vaults.

There was only 105 feet of runway which violated the required length of 130 feet. The defense argued the pole vaulters were told not to practice until officials were present to supervise, and that the student athlete was to blame for disobeying an order. The jury found the pole vaulter 20 percent negligent and USA Track & Field Association/Connecticut 80 percent negligent, which reduced the $8 million award. In Virginia, under such facts, White v. USA Track & Field Inc. may have had a completely different outcome. There may have been a defense verdict, since contributory negligence and assumption of the risk are complete bars to recovery for such losses, even catastrophic paralyzing injuries.