Our client was a 40 year old undocumented alien who worked evenings cleaning office buildings in Northern Virginia. At the time of the accident, our client had an average weekly wage of $323, and therefore qualified for a $215 compensation rate. On July 19, 2007, our client was on a stepladder changing a light bulb when he fell and struck his head. As a result of the fall the claimant suffered a subdural hematoma, a skull fracture and a traumatic brain injury. Our client suffered a serious frontal lobe injury that continues to impact his daily life.

Our client received extensive rehabilitation at Learning Services in North Carolina and was recently discharged to return to his native El Salvador, where he now lives with his family. The terms of his settlement included $432,810 in cash up front, and $2,067,189 to purchase an annuity that has a guaranteed payout of over $3,100,000.

The impact between the car and the motorcycle was severe. Our client was an expert motorcycle mechanic, and had customized his bike to a large degree. Unfortunately, the motorcycle was totaled. Worse was the fact that despite wearing all the required safety equipment available, our client broke his forearm and required surgery. The surgery entailed a metal plate and screws to hold together the unstable fracture. After a number of months the plate and screws were removed, and our client after months of therapy, and two surgeries had finally reached maximum medical improvement. The treating orthopedic surgeon provided our client a 5% permanent partial disability rating. With approximately $23,000 in medical expenses, a 5% permanent partial disability, and approximately $10,000 in lost wages we were able to settle this matter to the satisfaction of our client.

The main issue in this case was the apparent inability of the defendant to appreciate the fact that there was motorcycle approaching him. This is one of the largest factors contributing to motorcycle accidents. Unless people begin to recognize that we share the road with motorcycles, there will undoubtedly be a continued increase in motorcycle accidents in Virginia.

This case was Fairfax County motorcycle accident, where our client, the driver of the motorcycle, was rear ended while stopped in his lane waiting for traffic that had stopped fro the light. The driver behind the motorcycle just didn’t take notice that there was a motorcycle stopped on the roadway, and hit the bike at about 25 miles per hour. This motorcycle accident happened on Route 1 in Fairfax County, in the middle of traffic. The force of the impact sent our client into the air, and he landed on the hood of the car that hit him. The motorcycle was a total loss.

Our client suffered back and neck injuries in the accident, and after a period of treatment recovered from his injuries. To our client’s satisfaction we were able to settle this case for $35,000.

Many times we are limited in what we can obtain for our clients in terms of their permanent partial disability as it is in large part determined by the client’s average weekly wage. In Virignia, workers who earn more will qualify for a more in terms of permament partial disabilty as their compensation rate is higher. It can be argued that this system is unfair to lower paid workers, the Workers’ Compensation system in Virginia allows for large variability in terms of settlements as the employee’s compensation rate alwys plays a large role in any offer.  The Workers’ Compensation Act in Maryland provides for uniform awards for permenent partial disability, however the awards are ususally less than what is obtained in Virginia.