New York Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Turley, Redmond & Rosasco : Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, Staten Island

That's the rumor in the latest business press.  Having just digested the giant Travelers Insurance, MetLife is apparently on the prowl for its next corporate meal, and Unum Group might be ripe for swallowing.   But what impact would such a acquisition have on individuals claiming long term disability benefits from the "new undisputed disability insurance king"?  Probably not much.

As it stands now, neither MetLife nor Unum Group are great claims payers.  In the last month, I've had employees of these companies come to my office for representation because their own employers unfairly denied their ERISA disability claims.  If this is how MetLife treats its own employees, can you imagine how you will be treated. These two titans are motivated primarily by shareholder profits, not policyholders interests.  From a long term disability lawyer's perspective, it would be a perfect marriage in which both naysayers deserved each other.    But then again, it might be a good stock?!

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Patricia Kitchen of Newsday did a nice article on business professionals who blog in the cover story to the Money and Careers section of last Sunday's paper.  My good friend and fellow attorney Diane Pfadenhauer, who writes the Strategic HR Lawyer Blog, was featured along with my blog on long term disability claims.  We both have Kevin O'Keefe at Lexblog to thank for hosting and designing our blogs and keeping them easy to navigate for our readers.

The article stressed the roles our blogs play in providing useful information on specific topics to the public while also allowing us to express our professional "spin" on the issues.  Of course, I have suffered some ribbing from fellow attorneys since publication - mostly along the lines of "what is a blog?"  The print edition unmercifully had my mug shot front and center, and one good "friend" informed me that he stuck it on the refrigerator door right next to the plumber's magnet!   

I have since spoken to Steve Levy, a professional recruiter who was also profiled in the article and discussed employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.  We will talk again. I haven't spoken to career strategy coach Deb Dib yet who was also profiled, but am sure we will have similar synergies.  See you in the blogosphere! 

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As an Air Force veteran myself, I have always had a soft spot for my disabled veteran clients who have put their life on the line to protect our country and our freedoms.  However, the United States Veterans' Administration has done an awful job over the years by denying legitimate VA Disability claims and allowing the system to have a now 400,000 case backlog.  This is is not the 'thank you" our young men and women returning from Iraq deserve if they are missing limbs.

Thankfully, help is on the way for disabled veterans fighting the daunting Veterans' Disability Claim process from us "controversial  lawyers".  A new law, originally sponsored by Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho),  will finally allow disabled veterans to hire attorneys to fight their unfair claim denials or disability ratings.  The new law, effective June 20, 2007,  allows lawyers to enter the administrative disability determination process at the most critical stage - when evidence is being obtained to support the claim.  If they aren't running into a filing deadline, some disabled veterans are waiting until after this June 20th to file their appeals so they can do so with lawyers.

The system is so backward now that our law firm has been representing one New York disabled veteran in his claim for over seven years without a final resolution.  This case illustrates the old adage  "justice delayed is justice denied".  Under the old law, the disabled vet was on his own (he could not by law hire a lawyer) during the initial claim processing and the first appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals.  The Veterans' Administration only allowed attorneys to enter the process at the US Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims, where the evidentiary record had already been closed.  This prevented the attorney from introducing any new evidence the veteran representing himself may have not known to submit.

Even the DAV (Disabled American Veterans), a formerly staunch opponent of the right to attorney representation due to  its desire to "protect the turf " of its own Veterans' Service Officers, seems to  now support attorneys in the process based on a recent Newsday article on VA disability claims .  The American Legion has always supported the right of the disabled American veteran to retain counsel or a law firm. 

Turley, Redmond & Rosasco attorneys have been practicing before the US Court of Veterans' Claims for over ten years.  Whether injured recently in Iraq or still suffering PTSD from Vietnam, do not hesitate to call our partner, David Tobias, Esq., in our Veterans' Disability Department toll free at 1- 877-NY-DBLAW.

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I was reading the magazine section of my Sunday paper this weekend and ran across a great article on online support groups by Peter Waite, the founder of HealingWell.com, a website devoted to online discussion groups for individuals with chronic illnesses.  I have always been a big fan of support groups for those with particular medical conditions, whether they be cancer, diabetes heart disease or some less common but equally disabling conditions.  However, I have always been dubious of recommending specific online disease forums due to the proliferation of bad medical information and questionable "lurkers".  Up until now, about the only Internet medical site I have recommended is MedlinePlus, sponsored by the National Institute of Health.  MedlinePlus is the starting place for my medical research.

Mr. Waite makes an excellent suggestion that anyone considering participation in an online support group first check out who sponsors the site (is it a drug company that wants to sell you its latest multiple sclerosis medication?) and if the site is accredited by the Health on the Net Foundation.  He also discussed proper online etiquette and the always sound mantra to check everything with your doctor.

My curiosity piqued, I got out of the recliner, sat down at my computer, and went to the HealingWell.com website.  It is well organize and has a user friendly interface.   More importantly, it has well attended discussion forums on diseases such as fibromyalgia, chronic pain, lupus, depression, arthritis, Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, to name a few.  For those of you who are fighting a Social Security Disability claim or ERISA long term disability claim, this helpful site may give you some much needed support in the interim.  

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