Disability claim denied or benefits cut off?
Use your appeal time well.
We build the appeal your insurer has to answer and take your case to court.
We can help if you:
Had a short- or long-term disability claim denied.
Had benefits paid and then cut off when the plan’s definition of disability changed or a mental-health or self-reported-symptom limit kicked in.
Were cut off after a “paper review” by a doctor who never met you, or after surveillance.
Have been offered a lump-sum “buyout” of your claim.
Your appeal is your case.
Under ERISA the administrative appeal is usually your last chance to present evidence supporting your claim. When a federal judge later reviews the denial, they generally look only at the record as it stood when the insurer made its final decision. Updated records, treating-physician opinions, vocational evidence, and statements from the people who know you have to go in now. Most plans also require you to apply for Social Security Disability, and for Alaskans we handle that claim too. Haven’t applied for long-term disability yet? See our help with LTD applications.
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Responsiveness
We operate virtually and we’ll keep in touch by phone, text, email, videoconference, or through our web portal (whatever works best for you). You'll always be up to date on what's happening with your case and we'll be here to answer your questions.
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Experience
Our attorneys have 24 years of combined practice experience. We clerked in the federal courts that decide disability cases and we’ve represented disability claims administrators.
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Hustle
Disability claims should not take years. We will move your claim through the insurer’s process and, if it comes to that, the courts, so you see the benefits you’re owed as soon as possible. Your claim will never be waiting on us.
How it works
Free consultation and a deadline calendar. We confirm your appeal deadline and what the plan requires.
We demand the claim file and plan documents. You’re entitled to both, free of charge. The insurer’s file tells us why it denied the claim — and what it ignored.
We build the appeal. Targeted records, opinions from your treating providers, vocational or functional-capacity evidence where it helps, declarations, and a brief that holds the insurer to its plan language and to federal regulations.
Decision — or lawsuit. If the insurer reverses, benefits are reinstated with back pay. If it unjustly denies benefits, we can file suit in federal court, where the judge often decides your entitlement independently and can award attorney fees against the insurer if you win.
What it costs
We handle ERISA disability appeals on a contingent fee: 25% of the benefits we recover for you if the claim is resolved on administrative appeal, and 33% if we have to file suit, applicable to back benefits and 24 months of future benefits. There is no fee if there’s no recovery. Individual disability policies, government plans, and other claims outside ERISA are quoted after your consultation.
Full fee and cost terms will be set out in a written engagement letter, provided before you make any payment. See a sample engagement letter.
Common questions
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Federal regulations require the plan to give you at least 180 days from the denial letter. Some plans allow a second appeal; the letter will say. Don’t wait — the evidence takes time to gather.
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Often, yes. In federal court the insurer no longer grades its own work. Many plans in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington get no deference at all, so the judge decides fresh whether you’re disabled on the record we built.
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Sometimes. A buyout makes sense when the lump sum fairly reflects the benefits you’d likely receive, discounted for time and risk. We’ll run the numbers and negotiate — insurers rarely open with their best offer.
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Almost never. ERISA disability cases are decided on the written record and the lawyers’ briefs, not live testimony.
