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Short Term Disability

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED. CHICAGO STRONG. LONG TERM DISABILITY FIRM

Bartolic Law handles Long Term Disability cases at all stages, from filing a claim to lawsuits under ERISA § 502(a). We are who the most discerning clients hire when an insurer denies their claim, and the one they wish they had when another firm loses their appeal and abandons the case. We are Innovative, Authentic, Compassionate, Transparent and Chicago strong. Bartolic Law is nationally renowned for our Innovative work:

Short Term Disability

The Firm handles claims for short term disability benefits under employer provided disability plans and programs in the Chicago area and in the rest of Illinois. Employer provided short term disability plans may or may not be governed by ERISA, often depending on the method of funding. Whether or not the plan is covered by ERISA dramatically alters the process by which you claim the benefits and appeal any denial. Under ERISA, the plan adheres to complex regulations regarding the claim and appeal process, dictating how the plan notifies you of a claim denial, strict time frames in which the plan must issue that notification, and how long you have to administratively appeal such a denial before your right to litigate the claim has been forfeited.

Many claims for short term disability will eventually lead to reviews of claims for benefits under a long term disability plan. Often employers self fund short term disability benefits, but utilize the insurer from whom it purchases long term disability insurance to review claims for short term disability. This can result in two recurring problems. The insurer may readily approve your claim for short term disability, while the employer is paying the benefit, and then turn around and deny your claim for long term disability benefits, which are paid by the insurer. Alternatively, the insurer may recognize your claim as one likely to lead to long term disability and promptly deny it at the short term disability stage. Either one often has a single objective in mind: to avoid paying you long term disability.

SUCCESSES

Get a Short Term Disability Lawyer With the Right Experience

Increasingly, employers have been inserting forum selection clauses in these disability plans, which purport to require any lawsuit you file against the plan for the disability benefits be filed in one particular judicial district, most often someplace far from where you live. Many courts have held these restrictions enforceable, employing a contract law analysis. But recently, Michael Bartolic persuaded a court in Chicago that under ERISA, these clauses are not enforceable. Coleman v. Supervalu, Inc. Short Term Disability Program, 920 F. Supp. 2d 901 (N.D. Ill. 2013). When your claim is denied, do not waste any time in contacting us.

Our Areas Of Practice

We Turn Denials Into Payments

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