Austin Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Long Term Disability and Social Security Disability Law Go Hand In Hand

  

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One major advantage of having both a long term disability practice and a Social Security Disability practice is the synergy created between the two practices.  Many clients come to me, Lonnie Roach, to hire me for their Long Term Disability claims when they have been denied and I note they probably qualify for Social Security Disability as well.  Similarly, some clients hire us to represent them for their Social Security Disability claim when they have been denied, then find they need help with a long term disability claim under their private or ERISA LTD plan.  We have found that in many instances, representing a client for both claims helps achieve a better result than separate representations would have been likely to do.

Recently, one of our cases provided an example.  Our client came to us for help with a Long Term Disability claim that had been denied.  I noticed that the client likely qualified for Social Security Disability (SSDI) and put her in contact with my partner Greg Reed to help with that claim.  The Social Security claim ultimately went to an administrative hearing in which we prevailed.  In the meantime, my client’s Long Term Disability appeal had been denied and we were preparing to file a lawsuit.  After winning the SSDI claim, however, we changed course and filed another appeal of the Long Term Disability denial including our newly won, fully favorable decision from Social Security.  Even though the Long Term Disability appeal period had ended, the carrier reviewed the appeal again and granted it.  Our client now receives both the Social Security and Long Term Disability benefits she is entitled to and we did not have to file a lawsuit. Here at Bemis, Roach & Reed, we are always looking out for our clients best interest.