Herndon-Reston Virginia injury lawyer Doug Landau attended (and sponsored) the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s (VTLA) 49th Annual Convention and Continuing Legal Education (”CLE”) program. While
Dear Readers: This wonderful (and true !) piece was originally Posted on: Friday, June 10, 2005, 09:00 CDT www.redorbit.com/news/health/155160/
tennis_phenom_jj_larson_does_things_just_like_everyone_else/
J.J. Larson doesn’t understand all the attention, feels uncomfortable when people see her as inspiration. Ask her to describe herself, and she’ll say she’s your average college freshman finance major from Orchard Park who is taking summer classes and trying to find her way through life.
“I’m just normal,” she said, “just like everyone else.”
OK, she’s normal.
She’s your ordinary 19-year-old who was born without her left hand, who once was the nation’s top-ranked tennis player in her age group, one who nearly burned out and came to despise the sport, who befriended tennis legend Stan Smith. She earned a full scholarship to Virginia Tech and was whipping elite doubles teams in her first season until her partner blew out her knee and Larson was run over by a pickup truck. Read the rest of this entry »
“Road Trip” to Tech nets exciting tennis !
Can both sides of a single bike crash win jury verdicts in Virginia ?
The answer is “yes.”
With the recent verdict in a fatal bike crash case in Montgomery County, Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau points out that we can see that not only can both sides of a crash case lose, due to contributory negligence and assumption of the risk, but both sides can also win when there are negligent third parties involved.
In the Blacksburg Triathlon case, the bicyclist who died from injuries sustained in the June 2000 race won a verdict against the race sponsor and director. More recently, the driver he smashed into won a jury verdict when she was able to show that these same Defendants were negligent. For the complete discussion on this unusual outcome, go to “both sides of crash win verdicts” at www.LandauInjuryLaw.com.
The recent verdict from Montgomery County, Virginia underscores what Herndon lawyer Doug Landau has been emphasizing for years: that contrary to what many injured athletes think, the amount of medical bills and lost wages are not subject to some “formula” to calculate settlement or likely verdict outcomes.
In the Blacksburg Virginia Triathlon case, a bicyclist crashed into a car when it ran the stop sign Read the rest of this entry »
The deadly accident during the 2000 Blacksburg triathlon results in a second jury verdict.
A woman has won a lawsuit against the town of Blacksburg over a deadly triathlon accident back in 2000. Gary Wayne Taylor died when his bicycle hit a car at an unpatrolled intersection. The driver of the car, Sharon Knight, sued the town of Blacksburg and the race director. A fortnight ago, a Montgomery County, Virginia jury found her in favor, awarding her $350,000. Read the rest of this entry »
So what happened to the young triathlete who was in the crash within sight of the Eagleman Triathlon finish line ?
Like many fit multisport athletes, he healed quickly, and returned to training and competition the next season. The Plaintiff is a friend, teammate and training partner of Mr. Landau has since the case settled, relocated from Sterling to California, in order to attend law school ! Because he was able to produce documentation as to the cost of his racing bike, he was reimbursed in the property damage claim fairly soon. However, the injuries to his body took longer to heal and the bodily injury claim settled after he had surgery and physical therapy. Representing injured athletes poses special challenges and rewards for The Athletes Lawyer, Doug Landau. One of the hard parts of these cases is keeping the IMpatient client “on the sidelines” so that he does not undo the good work that has already been done by the treating doctors and therapists. Mr. Landau’s client in this Maryland bike crash case was treated by the excellent doctors and sports medicine specialists of Town Center Orthopedics in Reston, Virginia (www.towncenterorthopaedics.com). Drs. Thal, Fleeter, Kartalian, et al., volunteer their time and services at the Reston Triathlon every year, and are also a sponsor of this event.
Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau was able to negotiate a settlement of the bodily injury case with USAA, the negligent Defendant’s automobile insurance company. The Abrams Landau client had wage loss from his job, permanency to the left shoulder post anterior capsulorrhaphy surgery (for the large flap labral tear, glenohumeral capsular tear and rotator cuff tendonitis); as well as other items of loss such as medications, travel expenses for medical treatment, etc. Because of his aggressive post-operative therapy and exercise regiment, and in no small part due to his excellent physical shape pre-crash, the Plaintiff had only a 5% permanency rating to the shoulder according to Dr. Thal. This board certified orthopedic surgeon has operated successfully on other Landau Law Shop clients, including other multi-sport athletes and cyclists. Dr. Thal is also seen on television when he and Dr. Kartalian are on the sidelines as the Washingtion Redskins team physicians.
As he approached the end of the Eagleman Half Ironman Triathlon bike course, with the finish line in sight, our client was struck broad side by a motorist who just could not wait…
The Eagleman Half Iron Man Triathlon has competitors from all over the world and is one of the top races in the country. The race sells out almost as soon as registration opens, and many athletes plan their season around this popular and challenging event. There were ample volunteers, and the Columbia Triathlon Association (CTA) does a wonderful job of More…marshalling its courses and putting on safe races. [For CTA events and information, go to www.tricolumbia.org]
Doug Landau has participated in shorter CTA races such as the Blackwater Duathlon (run-bike-run). The Triathlon Trial Lawyer intends to again compete in the ultra-competitive Columbia (MD) Olympic Distance Triathlon on May 18, 2008. Race Director Bob Vigorito is nationally known for putting on world class events and giving back to the triathlon and multisport community. He is generous with his time and resources but even the most prescient RD cannot prevent every mishap, injury or intentional recklessness.
SO, no matter how fantastic the race and its reputation, race volunteers on foot are no match for inconsiderate and negligent drivers. It is incumbent upon every competitor to use ALL THEIR SENSES so that accidents can be avoided and injuries prevented. Continued tomorrow…
In order to put to rest the Defendant’s claims, The Athletes Lawyer Doug Landau visited and canvassed the accident scene. The Triathlon injury lawyer arranged at great expense, to have a court reporter and videographer accompany him to question the Defendant under oath for use at trial. Taking the deposition of the young cyclist AT THE SCENE of her crime, Landau discerned that she was in a hurry to get back from her overnight stay at her boyfriend’s house before her own family awoke !
Likewise, when the Defendant driver testified, under oath, that she had not made contact with any of the bikers, Triathlon Lawyer Landau produced her side mirror ! Furthermore, in a strategy only a few seasoned trial lawyers will spend the time, money and effort to utilize, the Triathlon Trial Lawyer held the investigating police officer’s deposition AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD where the impact took place. The police officer showed Doug Landau, on videotape, the location of the bodies, bicycles and debris field ! Faced with the evidence compiled by the Abrams Landau trial team, the case settled shortly before trial. Herndon Lawyer Doug Landau is pleased to report that the cyclists have returned to riding together. The Atheletes Lawyer is also proud to note that his client has since completed several International Triathlons and Centuries.
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