Short & Long Term Disability Cases We’ve Won for Our Clients Against New York Life
Fields Law Firm successfully recovers millions of dollars each year for our disabled clients throughout the United States. Our Long Term Disability experience is matched by very few other law firms in the country and has earned us a national reputation.
Here are just a few examples of our Long Term Disability appeal case wins against New York Life.
Steve – Manufactouring Supervisor – Howell, Michigan
Bilateral Rotator Cuff Tears, Severe Arthritis and Degenerative Disc Disease, Degenerative Joint Disease in Right and Left Knee
A man from Michigan was originally taken off of work for his bilateral rotator cuff tears, severe arthritis and degenerative disc disease of the back, and degenerative joint disease in both right and left knee. He applied for Long Term Disability and began receiving monthly payments. He was also approved for Social Security Disability. However, four months before his policy’s definition of disability changed to “Any Occupation”, New York Life informed him that they determined he would not satisfy the changed definition of disability and it was therefore paying the remaining months prior to discontinuing benefits. He filed an appeal but unfortunately, New York Life upheld its decision.
He reached out to Fields Law for help with the final appeal available to him. The attorneys at Fields Law were able to build an appeal documenting New York Life’s numerous misstatements and mischaracterizations of relevant evidence. Further, we built significant support from our client’s treating doctors through narrative reports, asking narrowly tailored questions to New York Life’s doctors and outlining their true opinions in this case. After reviewing our appeal, New York Life reversed its decision, paid our client his back pay and monthly benefit payments.
Kimberly – Billing Administrator – Wilmington, Massachusetts
Schizophrenia, Low Back Pain, Degenerative Disc Disease
A Billing Administrator from Massachusetts suffered from Schizophrenia and Low Back Pain. Eventually, the combination of her conditions made work impossible. She applied for Long Term Disability through her employer’s insurance plan and received benefits for five years. New York Life stopped paying her after five years because they said she could return to work.
Worried about her lost income, she called Fields Law for help. Our team obtained the claim file from New York Life and found that the insurer overlooked key records about our client’s conditions. The Fields Law attorneys drafted a strong appeal to the insurance company based on the factual and legal errors from New York Life, as well as updated expert opinions. New York Life changed their mind and our client received a lump-sum payment for back-pay and ongoing monthly benefits. She is happy to be through worrying about her disability claim and is pleased to have hired Fields Law.
Brande – Field Tech – Lansing, Illinois
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, End Stage Renal Failure
A young woman from Illinois suffered from Lupus and also suffered from renal failure. As a result, she was unable to perform her job as a Field Tech for a communications company. Her Long Term Disability insurer initially accepted her claim and paid benefits for nearly five years. New York Life later denied her benefits claiming that her disability was not clinically supported.
Clearly unable to work and unsure of what to do, she reached out to Fields Law. Her attorneys at Fields Law began reviewing the entire file from New York Life. After completing this review, we updated medical records and obtained statements from multiple doctors that our client had treated with. With the updated records and reports, our attorneys drafted an appeal which outlined how our client’s condition prevented her from working and that New York Life had failed to show that her condition had improved at all. New York Life reversed its decision and reinstated our client’s monthly benefits. Our client was relieved to hear that she would be getting her benefits back.
