Nationwide Disability Insurance Attorneys

Attorneys Dell & Schaefer

11900 Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90064
USA

(800) 682-8331

(800) 984-7757

www.diattorney.com

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The Law Firm of Dell & Schaefer is a dedicated disability law firm established in 1979. Our firm has represented thousands of clients with their claims against insurance companies. As long term disability attorneys, we represent individuals at all stages of a claim for disability income benefits, which includes the disability application process, denial of disability benefits, lawsuits to recover disability benefits and lump sum disability policy buyouts for individuals that are currently being paid disability income benefits. We only represent claimants and we never represent insurance companies.

Our law firm represents disability insurance claimants throughout the nation and we have handled cases in almost every state. Dell & Schaefer has earned the AV" professional peer review rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest qualification rating a law firm can receive. Attorney Gregory Dell is the author of a long-term disability insurance law book published by Thomson Reuters, which is a legal reference for long term disability lawyers and judges. We have handled numerous cases both in and out of court against every major disability insurance company and are familiar with all their tactics.

Through years of battling the disability insurance companies we have earned our reputation as aggressive and skilled attorneys that have the proven ability to prosecute a disability case from start to finish. Our job is to hold the disability insurance companies accountable for their actions and enforce the contractual rights of our clients. We understand that a significant portion of your financial future is dependent on our legal representation.

Practice Areas

Social Security Disability

Additional Practice Areas: Disability Application; Monthly Claim Handling; Individual Disability Claim Denial; Group/ERISA Claim Denial; Lump-Sum Policy Buyouts; Prudential Class Action; Residual Disability Analysis; Co-Counsel Nationwide.

Practice Areas Description

Our disability practice covers:

- Disability Insurance

Long term disability attorneys Dell & Schaefer have represented thousands of clients with their claims against insurance companies. Our law firm represents disability insurance claimants throughout the nation and we have handled cases in almost every state. We have earned the "AV" Professional Rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating a law firm can receive.

- Disability Application

Our law firm has counseled and guided hundreds of applicants throughout the disability application process and we know how to file for disability. We always recommend that a claimant speak to a disability benefits lawyer before they even notify the insurance company of a potential claim for disability. Anticipating all of the insurance company’s future actions before filing a disability claim will put a claimant in the best position to secure long-term disability benefits.

- Monthly Claim Handling

Attorneys Dell & Schaefer provide on-going legal representation for individuals that have been approved for long-term disability, in which we are the exclusive point of contact between the disability insurance carrier and our client. The carrier sends all written correspondence and any request for documentation to our office. It is our responsibility to make sure that all claim forms, attending physician statements; medical records, financial documents, or any other documents are provided in a timely manner to the insurance company, so as to protect our client’s disability benefits.

- Individual Disability Claim Denial

All of our litigation clients are represented on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not charge any attorney fees or cost unless we make a recovery for our clients. Disability income lawsuits are very heavily litigated and usually require hundreds of hours of time. Due to the complexity, risk and hours involved in litigating a disability benefits denial, we intentionally limit the number of cases we handle and are selective in the cases that we pursue for litigation. In a long term disability denial cases we realize that our client’s future source of income is at stake, and we are committed to quickly obtaining disability benefits that have been wrongfully denied by a disability insurance company.

- Group / ERISA Claim Denial

In order to present our client’s appeal in a light most favorable to the insured, Attorney’s Dell & Schaefer work very closely with our clients and their treating physicians, to ensure that the appeals are submitted with an overwhelming amount of information and detail. In most disability appeals, Attorney’s Dell & Schaefer will retain a vocational expert in order to determine what vocational skills a claimant can perform in light of the claimant’s medical restrictions and limitations. The vocational expert will also perform a labor market study in order to determine the availability of specific jobs in a particular market. In some cases, Attorneys Dell & Schaefer will retain a medical doctor to review all of our client’s medical records and make recommendations regarding additional evidence that would strengthen our client’s claim.

- Lump-Sum Policy Buyouts

Insurance companies sell disability insurance policies with the hope that they will never need to pay monthly benefits to an insured. Once an insurance company becomes obligated to pay an insured monthly disability benefits, the insurance company is losing money. In effort to cut their losses, most disability insurance companies are always interested in the opportunity to buy-out an insured’s disability policy for a one-time lump sum amount. We have represented hundreds of individuals in an effort to obtain the maximum lump-sum buyout possible. We work closely with actuaries, financial consultants and treating physicians in order to maximize a buy-out offer.

- Class Action Law Suit

A class action is a case brought against a company whose actions have damaged a group of people in a similar way. A single person who has been injured may bring a class action on behalf of everyone who has been harmed. It is common, however, after the action has been started for many other injured people to join the class action lawsuit and become class members. Several long-term disability class action lawsuits have been filed against Unum alleging the company has purposely denied disability benefits or terminated claims of disabled policyholders. Attorneys Dell & Schaefer is currently working on a class action lawsuit against one of the world’s largest disability insurance companies for their failure to comply with ERISA regulations.

- Prudential Class Action

On February 17, 2010, Attorneys Dell & Schaefer and lead attorney Gregory Dell filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against Prudential Insurance Company of America in the Eastern District of New York Federal Court. This lawsuit was filed to protect the potentially thousands of long-term disability claimants that filed a second/voluntary appeal after November 14, 2005 in which their second/voluntary appeal was denied by the same Prudential employee that denied the claimant’s first appeal. If you believe that you may have a potential claim against Prudential, we can help.

- Total vs. Residual Disability Analysis

You must understand the intricacies of your long-term disability income policy to know if you are totally or residually disabled in your occupation. Do not allow a disability insurance company to confuse or mislead you. Many long-terms disability income policies provide for both total and residual (partial) disability benefits. In such disability policies total disability is usually defined as the inability to perform the substantial and material duties of your occupation, or some variation thereof. Residual disability is often defined as the inability to perform one or more duties of your regular occupation, or the inability to perform these duties for as much time as before, and you have suffered a loss of at least 20% of your pre-disability income.

- Co-Counsel Nationwide

We are licensed to practice in Federal Court throughout the country and upon motion and approval by the local court; we will work as consulting trial counsel in any state or Federal court. Due to the diversity of citizenship and the amount in controversy, most cases are handled in federal court. Attorneys Dell & Schaefer welcome the opportunity to work with co-counsel and continue to protect the rights of insured’s that have been wrongfully denied disability insurance benefits.