Miscellaneous

• Insurance Company Tricks

  Ben Glass | April 17, 2006 4:31 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Three recent encounters with potential new clients show that the automobile insurance companies are still up to their old tricks. While big business and many in government continually try to demonize trial lawyers the insurance companies will stop at nothing to rip people off. Make no mistake about it, big business and the giant insurance companies want to make sure that you go into the...

• Eliminating Disability Claim Mistake #7

  Ben Glass | March 31, 2006 6:07 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Every disability insurance policy contains a definition of disability. What many people don't realize is that these definitions can differ dramtically. This is not the first time that someone has been denied benefits under the definition contained in your plan.You should know how courts have interpreted the language in your policy. While you might able to do this (somewhat) by research on the...

• Elimiminating Disabilty Claim Mistake #6.

  Ben Glass | March 30, 2006 3:59 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  If your disability insurance claim has been terminated or denied, you must submit additional evidence to convince the insurance company that your claim is meritorious. Most people think that the additional evidence is limited to medical records. Not true:Here is a list of evidence that we have submitted in our disability insurance claims:1. Medical records.2. Detailed opinion letters from...

• Mandatory Insurance for Lawyers?

  Ben Glass | March 30, 2006 8:02 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  The Virginia Supreme Court has asked the Virginia General Assembly to study the issue of whether lawyers should be required to carry malpractice insurance. This comes on the heals of the shocking disclosure that 13% of Virginia lawyers carry no insurance whatsoever. Here's what I think about this.I've seen too many folks victimized twice. First by careless lawyering and then by the fact that the...

• Eliminating Disability Claim Mistake #5

  Ben Glass | March 29, 2006 6:53 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  With and employer sponsored disability policy governed by ERISA, you will likely never have a trial. In fact, a major mistake made by some claimants and (unfortunately many lawyers) is assuming that they can add evidence to the claim after the administrative appeal is completed.In most cases, you will not be allowed to add evidence after the administrive appeal is completed. This isn't very fair...

• Eliminating Disability Claim Mistake #4

  Ben Glass | March 28, 2006 6:48 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  If your employer sponsored disability benefits have been terminated or suspended, then your employer owes you documents as well. You should request the plan documents and summary plan description for the disability plan. Employers are required to provide you with the ERISA disability plan documents and the summary plan description (SPD) upon your written request. Employers face stiff daily...

• Eliminating Disability Claim Mistake #3

  Ben Glass | March 27, 2006 6:41 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  In most cases of civil litigation, you are not allowed access to your opponent's files and documents until litigation starts. Denial of employer sponsored disability claims are different, yet most claimants don't take full advantage of the law.If your disability benefits are denied, or benefits that are being paid are terminated, the very first thing you should do is to request your claim file....

• Eliminating Disability Claim Mistake #2

  Ben Glass | March 24, 2006 1:53 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Unlike most "breach of contract cases" there is almost always an internal appeals process that must be undertaken in an ERISA disability benefits case. The failure to utilize the appeal process is usually fatal to an ensuing lawsuit.Here's the real problem with the appeal process:You generally have only 180 days to appeal the claim. In Virginia, you would have five years to file a 'breach of...

• Eliminate Disability Claim Mistake #1

  Ben Glass | March 24, 2006 1:45 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  When employees become unable to work because of illness or injury, they are often covered under a disability insurance policy or plan. These plans are usually governed by ERISA. This federal law presents many opportunities for mistakes by claimants, their doctors or the helpful people at human resources. In this series I will review the most common mistakes made. These mistakes can give the...

• Lawyers to Surrender $20 Million

  Ben Glass | March 10, 2006 3:41 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  A Kentucky judge has ordered personal injury lawyers who represented fen-phen claimants to return $20 million after finding that they breached their duty to their clients when they paid themselves and others more than half of a $200 million settlement. The Nashville Courier-Journal has the full story. The judge's findings, according to the Kentucky paper, mirror those in a public reprimand...