Rohrstaff Law Firm will charge no fee to represent children younger than 12 years who have been injured in a motor vehicle accident in Northern Virginia.

No Fee For Kids

Kids are special, and they ought to be treated specially. The Rohrstaff Law Firm announces its special no-fee program for injured children.

When vehicles collide and there are injured passengers, the only injured passengers who are truly not at fault are the young children. Typically, lawyers who represent children in motor vehicle injury cases charge a fee of 33.3% (or more) of the total recovery, even when the case settles with the insurance company before a lawsuit is filed. But we are taking a different approach.

Here is how the special no-fee program for injured children works:

1. We will evaluate the merits of the child's case just as we always do.
2. Children who are twelve years old or younger when they are injured are eligible.
3. The injury must have happened in Northern Virginia.
4. If the case can be settled without our having to file a lawsuit, no attorney fee will be charged. That is, we will do everything we would ordinarily do for the child's case to get it resolved - except charge no fee.
5. Our actual costs of getting medical records, doctor reports, etc. will be charged (just as they are in every case.)

If your child was injured, was 12 or under, and injured in Northern Virginia, call us at 703-260-6070, email us at Janelle@RohrstaffLaw.com, or contact us through the website using the form at right,

AT THE ROHRSTAFF LAW FIRM . . .

We represent real people with very serious real problems - people who have been injured through someone else's fault.

If you have been injured, the insurance company for the person who caused your injury will tell you things that sound appealing - but are they right? Insurance companies have all kinds of resources on their side, and they're very experienced in dealing with injured people. It's probably the first time you've ever had to cope with a serious injury, so you may not know the law, and you may be unfamiliar with the system you've been thrown into.

We don't think that's fair. Our goal is to give you access to the same kind of assistance, information, and resources the insurance companies have so you can have a fighting chance to get fair compensation for your injuries.

There are plenty of lawyers in Virginia. You see them listed in the Yellow Pages, you see them on TV, hear them on the radio and maybe you see their pictures on billboards when you travel out of town. Lots of lawyers want your business, and lots of lawyers have lots and lots of clients. If that's what you want, then you will easily find those lawyers.

But that's not the way we practice law. We want to get to know you so we can give your case the attention it deserves. You are a unique person, with your own unique case. Some lawyers treat everyone with a personal injury case the same way. We don't believe that's right.

When you come to our Alexandria law firm, your case will receive individual attention. We want to know what your concerns are, what you are afraid of, what your goals are, and how you want us to help you through the legal process.

Part of our job is to learn the facts of your case and to teach you how the law applies to your case. Another part is to advise you about whether to proceed with a claim. Unfortunately, the law doesn't have a remedy for every wrong. I wish it did, but it doesn't. We only accept cases where we think we can help make a difference in someone's life. We don't believe people are benefited when a lawyer takes a case just to make money, with no regard for whether it makes sense for the family to go through the difficult litigation process.

Ultimately, though, you're the boss. If you hire us, then we're working for you, on your case. We think it's important for our clients to know what is going on, so we promise to keep you informed of any developments in your case. Chances are you've never been seriously injured and gone to a lawyer before, so when we meet, it'll be the first time you've ever consulted a trial lawyer. You will have so many questions you won't even know where to begin. You'll leave our office well-informed, and with the assurance that you can call and ask us if you still have questions later on.

We help people all over Northern Virginia who have been injured through the fault of another. If you or someone in your family has been injured by someone else, you may not need a lawyer, but you should speak to someone to find out. We don't represent people who have certain kinds of claims-workers' compensation, maritime, or employment, for example-but we know many good lawyers who do, and we are happy to refer you to them. You can find a directory of lawyers LINK who help people with those kinds of claims elsewhere on our Web site.

Regardless of how someone is hurt, we help people whose injuries are life changing, who will need long-term care, and who will be forced to make significant alterations to their lifestyles.

Injuries to Children

Childhood should be a time of innocence. Do you remember your own childhood? Do you remember your child's early years? Carefree days of playing outdoors, building snowmen in the winters, and spending summers at the beach. Days of baking and decorating cookies in the kitchen. Unfortunately, that is not the story that some children and their parents get to remember. Some children who have been severely injured live unimaginably painful lives. A happy childhood can be stolen in many ways: car accidents, injuries caused by inattentive or abusive adults, burns from unsafe products, dog bites, unfenced pools, pools with unsafe drains, pools with inattentive lifeguards, windows with screens that give way, unsafe toys, unsafe cribs, unsafe car seats. These dangers can cause brain injury, disfigurement, disability and even death.

Without a doubt, the most tragic, heart-wrenching cases I have tried in Virginia involve children. No parent wants to see any child suffer, particularly from a preventable injury.
Usually my opponent is a powerful insurance company that is willing to bankroll an aggressive and time-consuming defense (even when the case involves a seriously injured child). When a child has been seriously injured, the parents are often angry and sad, sometimes filled with guilt, and overwhelmed by the legal process. A lawyer who is experienced in child-injury cases can help. I see many different types of cases involving injuries to children. These include:

    * Car, truck, motorcycle crashes
    * Pedestrian and motor vehicle back-over events
    * Boating injuries
    * Bicycle, scooter, and skateboard injuries
    * Animal and dog bites
    * Injuries related to riding and getting on and off school buses
    * Playground and amusement park injuries
    * Injuries that happen in stores and other places of business
    * Swimming pool accidents
    * Burns
    * Summer camp injuries
    * School or day-care injuries
    * Birth injuries
    * Window-fall injuries
    * Injuries caused by defective or dangerous toys and other products
    * Injuries caused by medical malpractice
    * Sports injuries

Each of these types of injuries and events has its own set of rules and applicable laws and requires its own approach. If a child is injured by a drain at the bottom of a swimming pool, who is responsible? The manufacturer of the drain? The installer of the drain? The lifeguard who was not paying attention? The owner of the pool who did not fix the malfunctioning drain? All of them?

Children who have suffered serious injuries need experienced legal assistance so they can have their lifelong financial needs taken care of. If you are a parent, friend, guardian, guardian ad litem, judge, or health-care provider, or if you or someone you know is responsible for an injured or deceased child, call
the Rohrstaff Law Firm.

Elder Neglect

Just as children need strong supporters, so too do the elderly. When an aging loved one needs care that he or she cannot get at home, a family may decide to place their loved one in a nursing home or assisted-living facility where they can get the attention and care they need. One's later years should be filled with comfort, and one's health during these years should be tended to carefully. Unfortunately, the truth for some of our elderly is different. Many of our elderly who live in inadequately staffed nursing homes or assisted-living facilities suffer severe injuries and death caused by neglect that results in malnutrition, dehydration, pressure sores, falls, or medication errors, all of which could have and should have been prevented. If you are a family member, friend, guardian, guardian ad litem, judge, or health-care provider, or if you or someone you know is responsible for an elderly person living in a nursing home or assisted-living facility who has been injured or who has died, call the Rohrstaff Law Firm.

Injuries and Wrongful Death

Wrongful Death

A "wrongful death" is a death caused by the wrongdoing of another person. In the practice of law, the phrase "wrongful death" refers to the result of someone's carelessness rather than to the carelessness itself.

The wrongdoer can be a drunk driver, the owner of a hauling company who has not made sure the brakes on the dump truck work, a speeding driver who is text messaging while driving down the highway, or the owner of a business that stacks its product so high that it falls on someone walking by. Any death caused by this kind of careless behavior is a wrongful death.

Wrongful death can happen to children, to the elderly, and to anyone in between. It can be caused by the actions of doctors, drivers, governments, manufacturers, and property owners.

Lawyers who represent families whose loved ones have died due to the carelessness of another person must know and understand the special laws that apply to wrongful death cases.