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.

As an example, a case involving the worsening of pre-existing scoliosis was brought on behalf of a 16-year-old female high school student. This innocent girl was driving home when her vehicle was hit head on by the defendant’s vehicle, which had traveled 495 feet through the median and then into oncoming traffic. The Defendant driver’s blood alcohol content was 0.32 per cent, and this was his third DUI. He had been drinking “Wild Irish Rose” all weekend. Defendant, after being asked by the trooper if he had anything to drink, responded “Oh, hell yeah,” in a lighthearted manner. Plaintiff had minimal medical bills ($764.98) but her chiropractor testified that her pre-existing scoliosis was made much worse and would require some $10,000 in future chiropractic care. There was also testimony from friends and family of the mental impact on plaintiff, including fear of driving at night and the impact on plaintiff’s ability to participate in cheerleading and track. The plaintiff’s last demand was $75,000, however, the insurance companies would only offer $55,000, so the case was tried. According to the Virginia Lawyers Weekly report, the jury returned with a verdict of $280,764.98.

Liability (fault) was admitted and defendant presented no expert witnesses. Defendant argued that plaintiff’s scoliosis would have gotten worse anyway and that defendant had already been punished adequately by the criminal justice system. Leesburg car crash and injury lawyer Landau noted that one case has absolutely nothing to do with the other. The criminal case is brought by the “Commonwealth of Virginia” against Defendant motorist. The civil action is brought by the injured victim in order to recover compensation for losses caused by the Defendant’s conduct. The award of punitive damages are not only meant to punish the Defendant drunk driver, but to deter future conduct by him and others, as well as to compensate for his willful, wanton and reckless misconduct. It is not easy to get a judge to permit a jury to award punitive damages in a personal injury case in Virginia. However, Landau adds, when the facts are egregious, the Courts of Virginia are empowered to let such questions go to the jury.

In addition to record-setting racer Ted Poulos, and DC Running Coach Michael Hamberger, 2:14 Kenyan marathoner Elisha Tanui, on his first day in Washington DC to run SunTrust National Marathon, jogged the race and then signed autographs. Hamberger (shown with The AthletesLawyer Landau, above left, & the Washington Monument) finished runner up in under 10 minutes. With such a stacked field, Landau was far back in the listings, making the top 3rd in 12:05.

However, “Half of winning is just showing up.” Landau won a case of XS Energy Drink in the post-race raffle. The Herndon Reston Virginia sports injury and accident lawyer is shown here on his tippy toes (L-R) with frequent Potomac Valley road racer and walker Peter Blank, Tanui and Julie Clark of Clark Health Zone.

Those who know the busy and energetic multi-state trial lawyer may question the wisdom of giving him anything caffeinated. Nevertheless, these pictures are evidence of the “you’ll never know unless you show” race and trial motto Landau and the ABRAMS LANDAU team espouse. Doug Landau hopes to see other friends, clients and their families at future trials and competitions.

Nearly 1,000 athletes – a record for the USA Masters Indoor Championships since the meet’s 1974 beginnings and the most for any masters indoor meet ever in North America – will compete. The MD-DC-VA area is home to an unusually large number of masters athletes, and the Herndon Reston Virginia area injury and disability lawyer Doug Landau ran as a long-time member of the D. C. Road Runners Club (DCRRC). Shown to the left are Julie Hayden from the Athena Track Club and D.C. area photographer and race correspondent George Banker.

For example, one of the great endurance athletes of all time, former Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, broke the U.S. women’s indoor 3,000-meter record for runners 50 and older on Friday according to the AP. Running in her first competitive track meet in six years, the 51-year-old clocked 10 minutes, 22.69 seconds on Friday at the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships. Benoit Samuelson said she didn’t prepare much for the race and might run more competitive events. The resident of Freeport, Maine, won the inaugural Olympic women’s marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The Herndon Reston injury and disability lawyer is pictured at the Jamestown High School track after the Colonial Road Runners Dismal Swamp 5km. The Colonial Runners do a splendid job and their events are challenging, held in unique locations and fun.

The Herndon Reston injury and disability lawyer leaves today to attend the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (“VTLA”) annual convention. In Williamsburg, Landau is scheduled to be a volunteer at the annual 5 km race Saturday morning. In the afternoon, the ABRAMS LANDAU lawyer will volunteer and direct the annual tennis tournament that he has sponsored and run for 20 years. His tennis tourney will take place at the same time as the annual VTLA golf tournament that pits lawyers, judges and other law office professionals in competition for the “Norman Landau Cup.” This prize is named after Doug Landau’s late father. The silver cup was generously given to VTLA by this year’s lifetime achievement award winner Robert Hall. Mr. Hall was Doug Landau’s first boss when the TriathlonTrialLawyer came to Virginia to practice law. Hall is still a mentor of Landau’s, and he practices with the Reston law firm Hall, Sickels, Frei & Mims.

USA Track & Field announced that the nation’s premier cross country event will feature $47,000 in prize money. The championships will be hosted by the Montgomery Country Road Runners Club at Agricultural History Farm Park. In addition to the national titles on the line in Derwood, open and junior men and women will qualify to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships March 28 in Amman, Jordan. Highlights of the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships will be televised on February 15 during ESPN coverage of the Tyson Invitational. The championships will consist of six cross country championship races for men’s and women’s categories with national titles on the line for junior, masters and open divisions.