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

Happy New Year to all the readers of the New York Disability Law Blog!  Over the course of 2007, we are pleased to report that our firm has once again helped thousands of injured and disabled claimants successfully win the benefits they deserve.

Our blog has  tried to provide timely and helpful information to all those struggling with a variety of disability claims, including long term disability insurance claims, Social Security disability claims,  workers' compensation claims and VA disability claims.  Since its inception in March 2005, our blog's readership has steadily grown and we have become a frequent resource to reporters and other media professionals on disability claim matters. 

We look forward to another year of fighting the good fight for our clients and friends. We wish you and your families a healthy and happy 2008!

• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

"This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy..."  - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843).

At this festive time of year, when so many of us have more worldly goods than we truly need, let us not forget those among us who are not working due to accidents or disease.  The attorneys at Turley, Redmond & Rosasco have dedicated our professional lives to to lifting up and providing for injured and disabled claimants with ERISA and private long term disability claims, Social Security disability claims and workers' compensation claims.  May the year 2008 bring happier and healthier days to the clients we serve.  Merry Christmas!

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

As an Air Force veteran myself, it was reassuring to know that so many talented veteran disability claim lawyers were in attendance at the National Organization of  Veterans' Attorneys (NOVA) conference last week in Washington, DC.  My partner David Tobias and I attended, and as always, there was much to learn.  

If there was one thing that stood out in my mind from this conference, it would be the realization of the staggering numbers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) service connected disability claims that we will all be seeing come out of the current Iraq war.  Formerly called "Soldiers Heart" and "Shell Shock" in prior conflicts, untreated PTSD can wreck families and lead to violence, criminality,  alcoholism, drug abuse and homelessness. 

I handled my first Vietnam Veteran PTSD disability claim about 15 years ago.  My client had already been through at least six 30-day alcohol rehabs at the VA Hospital in Northport, Long Island (New York).  When he would get out, his way of staying sober was to camp in the desolate woods of northern Maine for months at a time. 

Many would have considered him unlikable at best,  an angry  violent criminal at worst.  Despite his untrusting nature, he allowed me to get to know him.  Bottom Line- prior to his Army service in Vietnam, he was a good kid just out of high school.  I never asked what he saw in Vietnam which caused him such obvious anguish and pain now, but his eyes told you "don't go there".

At the time he came to me through a fellow Vet trying to help, he could not cope with regular society while sober.  The Northport VA Hospital did not (or could not) provide any long term effective treatment  for his underlying psychiatric condition which was the root cause of his alcoholism.  He was using alcohol to "self-medicate". 

Thankfully, despite some delays caused by his unpredictable absences, I was able to get him full disability benefits.  His checks were sent to his mother's house for his benefit.  I never heard from this vet again after we won his case, which I did not think was unusual given his disability.  However, his grateful elderly Mom did stay in touch, which was nice.

One of the best parts of the conference was our Friday luncheon speaker, the feisty "VA Watchdog" Larry Scott.  He told us about the VA's new "3 week cure " for PTSD!  Of course, we all know that the VA has been on the cutting edge of medical break-throughs for some time now ... but a 3 week cure?! 

Sounds like the one night "stop smoking hypnosis seminar"  I once took, or the 4 hour "rapid heroin detox", which I didn't!  Only the VA would come up with such an absurd treatment plan. 

Thank you, Larry, for exposing the real motivations of the VA.  After all, if the Iraq vet is now "cured", they don't have to pay the service connected disability pension.  Despite the veteran's honorable service in a mistake strewn war, its all about the money. 

We will just have to beat the VA, one disability claim at a time.  Remember, thanks to the new law, after June 20, 2007 you can  hire a lawyer to help you sooner than before.  You don't have go it alone.   

• Print
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks

Did you know that over 60% of all initial Social Security Disability claims filed without a lawyer are denied? Did you know that the Social Security Disability appeals process can now take up to two years?  In New York, the current backlog of disability cases awaiting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge is over 52,000 - one of the worst in the nation! 

However, there are several things you can do to avoid this intimidating bottleneck:

• Have a heart-to-heart talk with your treating doctor.  Ask him directly if he is willing to support your disability claim in writing. Without the proper medical evidence, no Social Security Disability lawyer can win your claim.  Some physicians simply don't want to be bothered with Social Security paperwork.  A few others have a "God complex" along the lines of "if I did surgery on you, you can't be disabled!".  If your doctor is unwilling to support your case but you still believe you cannot work, ask you lawyer for the name of a credible doctor who can give you a second opinion.   It could make the difference between bankruptcy or a steady stream of income for the rest of your life;
• Unfortunately, Social Security does not grant great weight to the reports of chiropractors for spinal disorders or social workers for mental disorders. If you are treating with these professionals, you may have to supplement your medical records with reports from orthopedists or neurologists for back and neck problems, or psychiatrists or psychologists for depression and other mental disorders.  Speak to an experienced Social Security disability attorney who can help you select a doctor who understands the written proof necessary in disability claims;
• Don't minimize the actual physical demands of your job.  If you are a secretary, but your job also requires you to lift boxes of copy paper to load the copy machine, you must write this in the "work history" portion of the application.  Otherwise, the Administrative Law Judge who will hear your case might think that you lift nothing more than a telephone receiver all day.  Failure to accurately describe the physical and mental demands of your occupation could be fatal to your case;
• Hire an experienced Social Security Disability attorney at the initial application stage.  It does not cost any extra money to hire a lawyer early in the process!  If you also have a long term disability claim, don't let the insurance company dictate who your Social Security representative will be.  These "advocates" or "representatives" work for the insurance company, not you.  And to boot, they charge the same fees as lawyers who are ethically bound to protect only your interests.
• Many believe wrongly that filing for Social Security is a simple process requiring the completion of a few forms.  In reality, it is a confusing, long process governed by strict government regulations as the above statistics show.  What you write in your initial application can come back to hurt you later at the almost inevitable hearing before a Judge.  An experienced attorney who knows the local judges, unlike faceless representatives at large advocacy groups like Allsup or Advantage 2000 who work for long term disability insurance companies, can personally meet with you to map out a winning strategy;

Since most initial applications are denied, you will want to have an attorney by your side when you appear at a Hearing Before an Administrative Law Judge.  At this hearing, your sworn testimony under oath will be tape recorded for potential review in a federal court.  Remember - your Social Security claim is governed by federal case law and regulations. The lawyer you choose can make all the difference!

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Congratulations to my friend and fellow long term disability attorney Eve-Lynn Gisonni on her significant victory at the New York State Court of Appeals in Benesowitz v. MetLife.  This decision is a great victory for long term disability claimants who are denied benefits due to a "pre-existing condition clause" in their employer's LTD Summary Plan Description.  Credit is also due to Eric Dinallo, Governor Spitzer's new Superintendent of Insurance, who supported Eve-Lynn's position in an Amicus brief to the Court.

In Benesowitz, the Court ruled that claimants who apply for long term disability benefits in part due to a preexisting condition which was present at the time disability coverage began only have to wait 12 months before they can collect disability benefits.  Up until now, many disability insurance companies, including Unum, MetLife and Cigna , used preexisting condition clauses to unfairly deny claims forever.  Now, the Court has ruled that claimants in these fairly common situations will have a 12 month "waiting or elimination period" before being able to collect benefits.  For a 30 year old with a pre-existing history of cancer which reoccurs and causes permanent disability for the rest of her life, this will be an economic life saver if she is claiming long term disability benefits. 

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

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! 

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

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.

• Print
• Comments (6)
• Trackbacks (1)