By Darren K. Legato, Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, PC Michigan Courts have spent an exorbitant amount of time discussing the issue of “Domicile” versus “Residency,” though it seems almost all of it recently has centered around claims for Personal Protection Insurance (“PIP”) benefits and the order of priority for payment…
In compliance with the governor’s order regarding shelter in place and stay safe at home policies, the firm has implemented the following policies consistent with Executive Order 2020-21. Pursuant to Section 4 paragraph (b) the firm has identified its essential employees necessary to conduct minimal business transactions, like banking, payroll…
SMDA was hired by a Michigan family to compel an insurance company to pay Long Term Care benefits for their elderly mother who had been receiving care at a Long Term Care facility. The family had purchased an insurance policy to help defray the cost of care for their mother…
While this blog is normally devoted to all things Long Term Disability, I wanted to give a shout out to my legal partner, Phil Serafini who obtained an outstanding result in a automobile no-fault case. SMDA was contacted by the mother of a minor who was involved in a serious…
While this Blog is usually devoted to issues involving LTD claims and cases, I felt I needed to go off topic for a minute. The Michigan Supreme Court issued a decision this past week in a case where a disabled young man drowned in a public swimming pool. Investigation revealed…
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services released its list of complaint ratios for 2013 recently. Leading the pack by a wide margin, with 101 complaints, State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company had more than twice the volume of complaints than its nearest competitor. Although, to be fair, if…
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 agenda included many cutting edge topics including: Discovery Scope &…
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 the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue–such as arthritis, spine disorders…
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 work for months. They applied for LTD benefits when their…
Justice Robert Young is up for re-election in November. Each and every worker in the State of Michigan should remember his decision in the recent Alderman v. J.C. Development Communities case. On October 9, 2006, Randy Alderman was part of a crew of six men working on a homesite in…