Our client was a successful, independent financial advisor who owned her own business. On December 21, 2008, while stopped at a red light, her car was struck from the rear by a cement mixer. Within days of the accident she was beginning to experience pain in her neck and lower back. MRI reports indicated multiple herniations of her cervical and lumbar spine. Unable to return to her office for little more than an hour at a time, her fear of losing all she had worked for became an unfortunate reality. Due to her inability to continue working, she decided to make a claim for disability benefits under her long term disability policy. Three months after her accident, she contacted Dell and Schaefer to assist her in the preparation of her claim for long-term disability benefits.

→ Click here to continue reading Lincoln National approves long-term disability benefits for financial advisor injured in car accident

Attorneys Dell and Gavidia filed suit against Federal Express (“FedEx”) on behalf of their client, Richard Bilheimer, in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, alleging that their client’s former employer Federal Express had breached the terms and conditions of the Federal Express Short-term Disability Plan by denying Mr. Bilheimer’s claim for disability benefits. Moreover, FedEx prevented Mr. Bilheimer from applying for long-term disability benefits as a result of denying his claim for short term disability benefits. 

→ Click here to continue reading Federal Express ("FEDEX") Thought Their Disability Insurance Plan Was Governed By ERISA, But Attorneys Dell & Schaefer And The US Southern District Court of Florida Disagree

Prior to September 11, 2001 our client, Mr. B, was a government securities repo trader. His office was located on the 26th Floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Mr. B reported to work at his brokerage firm and started his day buying and selling government securities for his commercial clients, institutions such as Bank of Tokyo and Lehman Brothers. At around 8:45 a.m., Mr. B and his co-workers heard a loud explosion and felt the building shake, ceiling tiles began falling in Mr. B’s office and thick smoke filled the hallways and stairwells. Fifty minutes later, after descending 26 floors of smoke, heat, and chaos, Mr. B was out of Tower 1. Mr. B’s life was forever changed that day and nightmares of his escape would haunt him for years.

→ Click here to continue reading Former Government Bond Trader And 9-11 Survivor Receives More Than One Million Dollars In Long-Term Disability Benefits

Our client, who suffers from Parkinson’s, was a highly skilled engineer and operations manager for an international corporation before his illness rendered him unable to perform the duties of his occupation. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s years before filing for long term disability benefits under his company’s disability plan, he did everything in his power to work at a job he enjoyed and excelled at. However, the nature of his illness began to take a heavy toll, as symptoms relating to his cognitive functioning began to worsen. Left with little choice, he applied for disability benefits under his company’s short term disability policy in March of 2008. He was approved for short term benefits under the disability policy. However, in October of 2008, when the short term disability benefits were exhausted, MetLife denied his claim for long term disability benefits.

→ Click here to continue reading Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Win Long Term Disability Insurance Appeal Against MetLife On Behalf Of Engineer Suffering From Parkinson’s

The recently decided case of Barteau v. Prudential, 2009 WL 1505193 (C.D. Cal.) is a reminder of what ends Prudential will go to in denying a claim for benefits. Carl Barteau was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at DeVry Institute of technology for almost eight years before becoming disabled. Mr. Barteau had suffered problems with his right eye since childhood. In 2002 he underwent surgery for glaucoma, which was complicated by a scratched cornea. As a result of the scratched cornea he was instructed to wear a replaceable contact lens and was reassured the eye would heal on its own. Soon after he began experiencing excruciating pain, and on January 7, 2003 he began treatment at UCLA. Biopsies of the eye were taken and showed evidence of eye fungus. On January 17, 2003, he became hospitalized and underwent surgery to remove a large part of the infection from his right eye. On February 22, 2003, he underwent a second surgery on his right eye. Following the second surgery he began to experience a lack of vision in his right eye and disabling light sensitivity in both eyes.

→ Click here to continue reading Prudential Denies Long-Term Disability Benefits To A College Professor, But The California District Court Reverses the Claim Denial

Attorneys Dell & Schaefer successfully resolved a long-term disability claim for a former floor trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (“CBOE”). In July 1998, Mr. T underwent bilateral eye surgery to correct vision loss which was preventing Mr. T from accurately reading the monitors in his trading pit, a necessary skill in Mr. T’s profession. Despite undergoing corrective eye surgery and hoping to return to his occupation as a floor trader, Mr. T continued to suffer from visual difficulties as result of dry eyes, halos and glare.

In December 1998, further corrective surgery was attempted; however, it failed to correct his vision to the extent that he could return to trading on the floor of the CBOE. Mr. T realized that he had no further option but to file a claim for disability benefits under his individual long-term disability insurance policy.

→ Click here to continue reading Former Options Trader Receives Confidential Long-Term Disability Settlement 10 Years After His Original Claim Was Denied

Since late 2004, our client, Sumiko Besser has been battling Prudential Insurance Company in an effort to secure her long-term disability benefits. Prudential currently owes her in excess of $900,000 in unpaid long-term disability benefits. Our client became disabled on May 10, 2004, as a result of chronic neck pain caused by multi-level degenerative disk disease. Attorneys Dell & Schaefer submitted two administrative appeals to Prudential and in early 2008 filed a lawsuit in United States District Court of Hawaii. On May 19, 2009, Attorneys Gregory Dell and Leonard Feuer presented our client’s case at trial and we are currently waiting for a verdict from the court.

→ Click here to continue reading Attorneys Dell & Schaefer’s Client Takes Her Case To Trial Against Prudential In Hawaii District Court

The case of Mary Midgett v. Washington Group International Long Term Disability Plan, 561 F.3d 887 (8th Cir. 2009) is a reminder that there are discrepancies in how Federal courts apply the law with regard to the weight of credibility to give to an insured’s treating physicians versus the opinions of doctors hired by the insurance carrier to conduct reviews of medical records only.

Mary Midgett was a contract manager for Washington Group International, and was insured under Washington’s group short term and long term disability policies. The policies were originally administered by Broadspire, and then by Aetna. Ms. Midgett filed for benefits under Washington’s short term disability policy due to a myriad of conditions including degenerative arthritis, fibromyalgia and cervical degenerative disc disease, and osteoporosis.

→ Click here to continue reading Broadspire And Aetna Deny Long-Term Disability Benefits To Manager Suffering From Fibromyalgia, Arthritis And Cervical Disc Disease

Robert Stanford was a nurse anesthetist in a hospital in South Carolina. In his position, he was exposed to and responsible for administering anesthesia and narcotics to surgical and obstetric patients. Shortly after starting work, he began taking Fentanyl, a powerful narcotic. By September of 2003 he had become addicted to the drug, and entered rehabilitation the following month.

After release from rehabilitation, but before returning to work, Stanford relapsed, and returned to rehabilitation, where he stayed for 3 months this time. While in rehabilitation, he applied for long-term disability benefits with Continental Casualty, which provided benefits through his employer. While in rehab, his benefits were approved.

→ Click here to continue reading Nurse Anesthetist Denied Long-Term Disability Benefits For Drug Addiction By Continental Casualty Loses At Trial And On Appeal

In, Lona v. Prudential, 2009 WL 801868 (S.D. Cal)., the Court determined that the opinions of three doctors hired by the insurance carrier to review the insured’s medical records did not carry as much weight as the opinions of three other doctors that physically examined the insured. This case shows that Prudential will continue to hire doctors to review a claimant’s disability file, until they have found the right doctor to provide the opinion they are looking for.

→ Click here to continue reading Judge Orders Prudential To Pay Account Manager $90,416 In Long-Term Disability Benefits