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What Types Of Long Term Disability Cases Do You Handle?

We handle 2 types of long term disability or LTD cases: (1) LTD cases governed by ERISA (where the disability insurance policy was bought through the employer) and (2) non-ERISA LTD cases (where the disability insurance policy was bought directly by the claimant such that the claim proceeds as a private disability claim governed by state breach of contract law). We also help people pursue life insurance or health insurance benefits. We litigate disability, life and health insurance claims on behalf of individuals who have been wrongfully denied their benefits. We sue insurance companies like Unum, Hartford, Prudential, Standard, Guardian/Berkshire, CIGNA, MetLife, Aetna, Liberty Mutual, Mass Mutual, and others that have denied individuals their insurance benefits.  We handle these claims on a nation-wide basis. Our track record here is superb and we obtain excellent results for our clients. We are one of only a handful of law firms across the U.S. that practices heavily in these areas. It is important to know that ERISA claims live a strange legal world where there is no right to a jury trial, punitive damages are prohibited, discovery is limited to issues of conflict of interest and bias, and evidence that was not considered or at least made available to the claim decision-maker during the claim process is not likely to be admitted by the court. Indeed, the court's review is limited to the “ERISA administrative record.” This means that, under ERISA's unfair rules, courts only review whether an ERISA insurance company's decision was reasonable based on the evidence in the file. Consequently, an insurance company can win a case even if its decision was wrong because under ERISA a plaintiff has to prove that the insurance company's decision was both wrong and unreasonable. Insurance companies try to take full advantage of this situation and mistreat claimants and wrongfully deny benefits.  However, we know how to stop this from happening. Our firm is built on the principle of aggressively pursuing full and complete compensation for all our clients and we take great pleasure in helping as many clients as we can by forcing insurance companies to stop their mistreatment of people. We know how to do this even in the strange and unfair legal world of ERISA.

Excellence

Seth has always been compelled to excel, whether it meant earning his Eagle Scout as a teenager, participating in theater, debate and varsity football in high school, his Rhodes Scholar candidacy in college, or opening his own law firm. He also perseveres in situations others might shy away from, whether it involves sky-diving, rappelling down a mountain, white-water rafting, participating in marathons and triathlons, writing a novel, or lecturing nationally to large audiences about the vagaries of ERISA.

Committed

Seth is committed to serving disabled individuals. He is proud of his work in prominent organizations such as the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) and Hospice. Seth is past-Chair of both AAJ's & TBA's Disability Law Sections, past-President of the Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association, a 2-time recipient of the Pro Bono Excellence Award, and a 7 year member of the Board of Directors for Hospice of Chattanooga.