The Athlete's Lawyer

In yesterday’s post, Herndon Reston area car crash injury lawyer Doug Landau looked at “speeding a little bit over the limit.”  USA Today reported this phenomenon, and as cities and states scramble to fill budget gaps with revenue from traffic citations, “not only are the (speeding) tolerances much lower, but the frequency of a warning instead of a ticket is way down,” says James Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, a drivers’ rights group that helps its members fight speeding tickets.  “Most people, if they’re stopped now, are getting a ticket even if it’s only a minor violation of a few miles per hour,” Baxter says. He cites anecdotal evidence of drivers being pulled over at slower speeds.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices, issued a report in 2005 stating that police in 42 states routinely let drivers exceed speed limits. GHSA said the practice hampered efforts to reduce speeding.  A study published last year in the Journal of Law and Economics found that police issue more traffic citations during recessions. From 1990 to 2003, counties in North Carolina issued significantly more tickets in the year following a decline in general tax revenue.  Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock found that a 10% decrease in revenue growth caused a 6.4% increase the following year in the growth rate of traffic tickets.  Car crash safety lawyer Doug Landau advises driver to set cruise controls to the speed limit, not 10 MPH above.  If you try to go over the line, you may wind up with an expensive ticket.

Casey Jonese out there - you'd better watch your speed !

Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William County car crash lawyer Doug Landau has become aware of a trend that has reappeared in light of local government budget shortfalls – more tickets and stricter enforcement by the police.  Prior to the current recession, Landau did not observe law enforcement ticketing motorists for drivers speeding less than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.  Now, the 5-10-mph “cushion” police and state troopers across the United States have routinely given motorists exceeding the speed limit may not longer be observed.  Ticketing drivers going 70 MPH in 65 MPH zones may become more frequent occurrences according to a recent USA TODAY report, “Speeding ‘cushion’ may dwindle due to recession”

More on this situation in tomorrow’s post…

New Grand Master Duathlete Doug Landau wins a decoy duck at the Virginia Duathlon in Surry

Even though he’s only 49, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau got to race in the 50-54 year old division at the 9th annual Virginia Duathlon at the historic and scenic Chippokes Plantation Park Sunday.  Billed as “the best duathlon course in the state” with a great catered post race BBQ and party, Landau capped a weekend of sports volunteer work and legal education  in Williamsburg with a race of his own.  On Saturday, he began his morning as a course marshall for the annual VTLA Fun Run, in which his wife was a participant.  In the afternoon, he was the director of the annual VTLA Tennis Tournament, which the ABRAMS LANDAU law firm has sponsored for many years.  Landau then cheered the golfers competing for the “Norman Landau Cup.”  In between these events there were meetings with the judges, Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) programming, and legislative updates.

Early Sunday morning the Landaus left Williamsburg and took the ferry to Surry in order to compete in the Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William County injury lawyer’s first multi-sport competition of the year.  The Herndon Reston area injury lawyer managed to cover the run course that took advantage of the scenic and hilly college run trail in the park at a 7 minutes per mile pace for the first 5km.  After running along the James River under the tall pines and soaring osprey,  he jumped on his bike for a 23 mile course through the rolling rural countryside of Surry County.  Lawyer Landau then bolted off the bike, removed his bike helmet and shoes in order to run another 5km at 7:15/mile pace to finish 3rd in his age group and in the top 30 over all.  Mrs. Landau served as a volunteer out on the bike course, and was thus able to enjoy the famous post-race BBQ.  Landau took his prize duck to New jersey, where it was a centerpiece on his mother’s dinner table.  It now sits proudly on her fireplace mantle with several other ducks, mallards and puffins.

Participants in the Annual VTLA Tennis Tournament held in Colonial Williamsburg and sponsored by Abrams Landau, Ltd.

Tennis outdoors in the sunshine ?!!?  For the first time in many years, the Annual VTLA Tennis Tournament sponsored by ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., was held outside, in the sunshine, without participants suffering from hyperthermia !  Tournament director Doug Landau oversaw a very close competition amongst the female participants, with a three-way tie for first settled by a championship match on the Williamsburg center court.  Leesburg attorney Morgan Whitlock emerged as the women’s champ, along with men’s champion Ben whose lovely bride Emily Van De Ven was a top woman player and EPS structured settlements professional.  Other players included: The Honorable James Almand, Richmond’s Sara Allen, VCU Assistant General Counsel and perennial top finisher Susan Ferguson, Falls Church attorney David Falcon, Arlington medical malpractice lawyer and Maccabiah Games gold medalist Bill Artz.

Runners after the Annual VTLA Fun Run in Williamsburg

Resisting the temptation to jump in the race, Doug Landau again served as a course marshall at the Annual VTLA Fun Run.  In the lead group, Delegate “Chap” Peterson and Joe Trapeni battled for first place.  Mrs. Landau was also a top finisher in the race that took participants on a frigid Saturday morning around Colonial Williamsburg.  Sponsored by the Landaus’ friend Steve Garver of Reston, Virginia, the event is one of several sporting events that enable lawyers from all over the Commonwealth to compete with each other outside of the courtroom.  In addition to the running race, there is a golf tournament, skeet shooting and the tennis tournament sponsored by ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd.  While lawyer Landau hags been known to race twice in one week, one weekend and even in one day, he resisted foxing so today in order to save his lungs and legs for tomorrow’s Virginia Duathlon.  The Herndon Virginia trial lawyer has a long streak of winning awards at competitive races not associated with the law conventions and meetings he attends all over the United States and Canada.  Just as with your injury trials, Landau notes that “you have to pick your battles and not waste precious resources.”  Stay tuned to Monday’s post to see if Landau “saving strategy” pays off !

This morning I was passed on the right hand shoulder. not by a police car or emergency vehicle, but by an aggressive, dangerous motorist.  Police in Fairfax County say as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, they often see an increase in complaints about drivers getting more aggressive behind the wheel.  News reports police in Fairfax’s Reston district are in the midst of a two-week aggressive driving patrol. They’re focused on catching drivers cutting other cars off, blocking intersections, and of course, speeding.  Bicyclists are particularly at risk when drivers pass illegally or engage in “gridlock.”  Reston Herndon bike accident lawyer Doug Landau advises early season cyclists and pelotons to be extra vigilant during early season rides.

Officer Jeff Neach pulled over five drivers before 8 a.m. Wednesday morning: one was cited for passing in the shoulder lane on Route 7. Neach says aggressive driving is when one driver puts others in danger just so he or she can get where they’re going faster.  “Maybe they’re used to being first or getting their way, and they’re out here jockeying for positions on the roadway and don’t realize what they’re doing can be wrong,” he says.  Police here have issued more than 270 tickets since March 15th.

While football players certainly “assume the risk of harm” in their sport, such as would prevent any lawsuits, the workers comp “no fault” system may provide for medical care and partial wage replacement for those ex-footballers with head injuries, multiple concussion and traumatic brain injury.  In one case, an NFL lineman, his doctor and lawyers claim that his dementia relates to his football employment.  This represents a significant shift, as brain injuries are only recently being addressed by the leagues, team doctors, trainers and sports medicine research.  California workers comp practitioners have estimated the case’s potential value at more than $1 million if it reaches its conclusion, probably in two or three years.

Most claims are paid by teams or insurance carriers; if the responsible insurance company is out of business, which is not uncommon with retired-athlete claims, a state-operated fund pays them. But that fund is underwritten by businesses already paying workers’ compensation insurance, not by taxpayers, and football cases do not present significant cost to the state, according to the executive director of the California Insurance Guarantee Association.

Here is a follow up article on the legal status of the claims in California {“Teams Dispute Workers’ Comp Rights“)

In this day and age of multimillion dollar pro athletes, little thought is given to workers compensation benefits for injuries sustained by lesser paid sportsmen and sportswomen.  Having represented professional athletes, both Doug Landau and his father Norman Landau have seen what sports injuries can to to promising athletic careers.

Sports injury lawyer Doug Landau recently came across interesting news stories on workers’ compensation for football players filing claims in California.  The reason the disabled players filed on the West Coast is that California has a very long time limit to bring such claims, unlike many states on the East Coast.  Under a provision of the California Workers’ Compensation Law there is an unusually long statute of limitations and a broad jurisdictional basis that will allow a claim to go forward even if only one game was played in a California for an entire career.

About 700 former N.F.L. players are pursuing cases in California with most of them in line to receive routine lump-sum settlements of about $100,000 to $200,000. These claims have focused on primarily orthopedic injuries, with torn shoulders and ravaged knees obvious casualties of the players’ former workplace.  In tomorrow’s post, we will look at how the nature of these comp claims are changing in light of evidence of brain injury and head trauma in the NFL.

Located a drive and a seven wood from the Herndon Golf Course, the Landau Law Shop is acutely aware of the limitations and safety concerns associated with golf carts.  ABRAMS LANDAU has represented a local Fairfax County golf professional whose arm was broken on a Maryland Golf Course when he was ejected from a golf cart.  In another case a young girl fell out of a golf cart and sustained a traumatic brain injury resulting in frontal lobe syndrome.  In that case, the Defendant’s experts confirmed that golf cars were designed for use on golf courses and not on public roads.  Nonetheless, the Defendant knew its golf cars were being used on public roads and, actually, marketed them for use on public roads. But, the Defendant golf cart supplier did nothing to make the golf car safe for use on public roads. Defendants in golf cart litigation have admitted that:

•             the inclusion of seat belts was feasible.
•             they knew that golf carts were being used off the course.
•             golf carts were being used by unlicensed drivers.
•             golf cars were being used as transportation in retirement communities.
•             golf carts were marketed for use in non-golf course environments.
•             golf carts were likely being used for travel within mobile home parks.
•             golf carts were being used on public streets.
•             golf cart drivers may have to make sudden stops.
•             golf cart operators may have to make sudden turns.
•             people who have fallen out of golf carts, because there was no seat belt, have been injured.
•             the secondary market for used golf cars is the general public.

Loudoun and Fairfax County golf course injury lawyer Doug Landau believes golf carts should not ever be operated on a public roadway where cars and trucks are also present.  A private road in a gated community may be a different situation according to the Herndon Reston area sports injury lawyer, but safety precautions like safety belts should be available.  If you or someone you know has been injured by or while riding in a golf cart, whether on or off the course, please call us at ABRAMS LANDAU (703-796-9555) or e-mail us today, as there are time limits for cases involving defective and dangerous sports products.

We recently received word of a case involving a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (“TBI”) of a passenger in a golf cart.  The golf cart did not have seat belts and the passenger was ejected.  While most golf carts that Herndon and Sterling brain injury lawyer Doug Landau has seen at golf courses did not have “golf cart seat belts,” they apparently exist and are a smart safety accessory, especially for those golf carts that are used off the course and on the streets and roads in many warm weather and resort communities.

When an innocent passenger suffers a brain injury or broken bones because they are thrown from a golf cart that has no safety belts, evidence tends to suggest that the manufacturer and supplier should be held liable for this foreseeable risk of harm.  In other words, according to golf cart injury lawyer Landau, it was foreseeable that golf carts are used on public roads and that people can easily fall out.  Furthermore, golf cart makers and sellers market them for use on public roads, local streets and resorts communities.  On one vacation the Landau family took, golf carts were the predominant mode of transportation on the island.  They are legal on certain roads (i.e., Palm Springs), used extensively in golf course communities (i.e., Boca Raton, Florida), and even some RV Parks have them for staff an guest use on the premises.  Safety is not an option and seat belts prevent innocent riders from falling out.  Landau believes that golf cart safety belts should be available (if someone wants to use them).

See tomorrow’s post, as what the makers, sellers and suppliers of these carts knew or should have known may surprise you !