http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/ Published by Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, P.C. en-us 2012-02-06T09:01:47-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2012/02/surveillance_and_the_ltd_insur.html Long Term Disability Insurers love to use surveillance to find a way to terminate benefits. Think about it it from a business perspective. They can hire a private investigator and pay them $500 or a $1000 dollars to follow a... Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2012-02-06T09:01:47-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2012/02/smda_obtains_favorable_presuit.html Mr. Z was employed by the public works department of a local municipality. Initially, his LTD insurer approved and paid his claim for LTD insurance benefits finding he was Totally Disabled. After paying benefits for 24 months, the Insurance... LTD Case Examples Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2012-02-01T08:17:20-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2012/01/smda_partner_attends_aci_ltd_i_1.html SMDA partner Patrick Derkacz recently attended the America Conference Institute's Long Term Disability Insurance Seminar in New York City. The two day conference was attended by some of the top practitioners in the Long Term Disability Insurance Arena. The conference... Other Stuff Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2012-01-31T08:44:51-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/12/when_is_a_door_not_a_door_ask_1.html Four Michigan Supreme Court Justices (Young, Markman, Kelly and Zahra) issued a decision changing 30 years of No-Fault Insurance law finding that automobile insurance companies no longer need pay No-Fault benefits to a person who is injured while closing their... Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-12-27T09:55:14-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/11/smda_convinces_ltd_insurer_to.html Our client last worked as a RN at a local hospital when she developed significant orthopedic problems following hip replacement surgery. She filed a claim for LTD benefits with the insurance company who provided group disability insurance through her employer,... Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-11-10T08:17:56-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/09/long_term_disability_claimsthe.html According to a CDA press release disability companies paid out more than 8 billion dollars in disability insurance payments in 2010. This included more than 139,000 new disability claim approvals, a small increase over the previous year's numbers. Diseases of... Other Stuff Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-09-23T09:13:36-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/08/smda_wins_another_erisa_admini.html We recently received notice that another administrative appeal of the denial of a client's LTD claim has been successful. When a claim for LTD benefits is denied, pursuant to the ERISA regulations the claimant must file an administrative appeal of... ERISA Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-08-17T08:35:54-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/05/long_term_disability_insurance_1.html SMDA had the opportunity to represent a registered nurse who stopped working in the Emergency Department after two level cervical disc fusion surgery. Several months after the surgery the LTD insurer terminated her benefits when it determined “that the medical... ERISA Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-05-18T08:58:35-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/02/while_i_was_awaypip_um_and_tri_1.html It has been quite awhile since I last posted a blog. I have not had the time to post because while I was away I tried several cases. In addition to handling Long Term Disability cases our firm also handles... Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-02-24T08:01:12-05:00 http://www.michiganlongtermdisabilityinsurancelawyer.com/2011/02/michigan_lawyers_weekly_publis.html Michigan Lawyers Weekly recently published an article "Long term Disability Insurance and ERISA" written by SMDA Partner, Patrick Derkacz. Following is an excerpt from the article. THE SET-UP So your client got sick or hurt and hasn’t been able to... Other Stuff Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz 2011-02-24T07:50:43-05:00