Testimonials

SH

JD

My life changed when I began working with ERISA Law Center. To be transparent, I was a wreck by the time I found ELC. From the first time I spoke to Mr. Rosati I felt that the trajectory of my existence would take a significant and profound turn. Not only was my health deteriorating but the whole process of finding a law firm which truly understood ERISA Law was overwhelming. When Mr. Rosati called me for the consult, I distinctly remember where I was sitting in my home and that it occurred over a weekend. In my experience, no attorney has ever taken the time to call on a weekend. That’s how significant the memory is because of how the conversation made me feel. It was a memorable discussion which made me realize that I had to be represented by this firm. Our consult flowed smoothly, and I realized I finally found the experts in the land of ERISA. I was on the verge of losing my benefits and their turn around was expeditious, professional and masterfully done. This firm knows what they are doing! Prior to finding ELC, I worked with two different law firms in my local area. That was the most stress I have ever experienced in my life. My health declined significantly due to these other firms not understanding the law and charging excessive hourly rates. For some reason, one law firm had the disability insurance company still contact me, which was most unpleasant. I’ll leave it at that.

So, when I began working with ELC, I was shaken by my worsening illness, the tactics of the disability company and the lack of understanding of ERISA Law by other firms. Finally, ELC took over, and I mean “took over”. They handled all communications and that was such a relief. They were already familiar with my health disability. Just amazing. I worked very closely with Ms. Busani throughout the appeals process. There have been multiple appeals won by ELC since they took my case. She was impeccable with follow through and thoughtful with her guidance. Since I have focus issues, I was a challenge (that is an understatement) for ELC. Ms. Busani has the patience of a saint and was able to get me back on track and guide me throughout the process. I am forever grateful for her. These attorneys specialize in this practice area. The entire team, including Jill Fulkes, work closely together and are seamless with their approach. They are head and shoulders above the rest. They are exceptional at dealing with the insurance company, while keeping the client protected from the harassment. Their work is done with precision, perfection combined with exceptional knowledge. It’s also important to note, their kindness and compassion have restored my faith in humanity.

Anonymous
Marketing Manager

I was receiving disability benefits from an insurance company and then at one point, they denied future benefits and said I was no longer disabled. I needed to obtain legal counsel, because I didn’t think that I would be able to prevail myself in trying to get my claim reinstated.

Well I realized that this particular insurance company that I was dealing with was really aggressive. They had done surveillance on me, which really didn’t amount to anything. But using this surveillance, they cut off my benefits and had sent the surveillance tape to my doctors and to my psychologist, and I realized that I needed some help in getting my claim reinstated; that I probably would not be able to prevail and do so myself.

I did some research. I realized that my claim probably wasn’t going to be a simple one to handle because it was covered under ERISA regulations, which I never really even knew existed. So I was looking for a law firm that had a good understanding of ERISA and would be able to represent me and do a good job, and based on my research, this is why I did select ERISA Law Center to represent me.

I did go on the Internet. I did ask some questions, did some research on my own to find out more about the ERISA regulations, and after looking at ERISA Law Center‘s website I was really impressed and wanted to give them a call to find out if they would be able to represent me; find out some more information whether or not I felt comfortable dealing with the law firm; and I had unfortunately had to deal with some other law firms in getting some other types of benefits reinstated. So I wanted to make sure it was a law firm that I felt very comfortable with.

I looked at the backgrounds of the lawyer who worked the law firm, and I was impressed with the research that I had done, even though I was a little bit apprehensive because I originally was looking for a law firm that was located in my general area – Marin County or San Francisco – but then I realized that in my particular case that didn’t really matter; that wasn’t even necessary.

Well, looking at, let’s say law firms, originally I thought it would be better to have someone representing me in the general area in Marin or San Francisco, but I realized, since this wasn’t going to involve necessarily a face to face encounter at the law firm, it probably wouldn’t amount to me having to travel anywhere, so there really was no need in finding a law firm that was right in my area.

I had been impressed with ERISA Law Center since I started my relationship with them in representing me against the insurance company, and the staff has always been very professional and friendly and helpful, and has always kept me informed by telephone, email and sent me hard copies of all documents pertaining to my case. What I really liked is they always let me know what to expect next, and my questions and phone calls were always answered very promptly, and that was important to me. I tend to be a consumer who is pretty demanding in what I get.

I felt ERISA Law Center did a good job of moving my case along, and making sure that I was informed through the whole process and I was very pleased with the amount of time that it took to get resolution in my particular case.

The resolution in my particular case, for me, meant that my benefits would be reinstated and that I would receive back benefits from the time that my claim was denied. So, I was very satisfied with that.

I’ve had ongoing contact with ERISA Law Center since my benefits were reinstated and they have continued to help me. I’ve gotten letters from the Insurance Company asking for updates on my medical history and requiring me to fill out documents, and ERISA Law Center has always been very helpful in helping me fill out those documents, which I’ve appreciated. As well as I’ve had some issues with a life insurance policy being denied and ERISA Law Center is also helping me with getting that life insurance policy reinstated.

I would recommend ERISA Law Center to friends or other family members or others who’ve had similar situations like mine without any hesitation at all. I’m very satisfied with the service I’ve gotten from the very beginning.

L.S. 
Bank Manager

I selected ERISA Law Center to represent me in my long-term disability appeal because they seemed the most knowledgeable. I talked to roughly 10-12 attorneys, some local, some national. ERISA Law Center had the most knowledge. They were the most personal in my case; didn’t treat me like a number. I felt very comfortable.

During my appeal, dealing with ERISA Law Center was very helpful for me because I was kept informed through the, probably 6-9 months that it took to win the appeal. I was never left in the dark. The knowledge was top notch with ERISA. The receptiveness to my questions, I was always treated fairly. I was always responded to very quickly – usually a 3-4 hour turnaround – and I was treated like a human being, not a number. My case was very personalized to me.

During the course of my appeal, we would turn corners and pass milestones, I was always kept informed of all the ramifications of decisions, not only the team was making on my behalf, but also the decisions that I was trying to make on my own behalf. I was always well-informed of the possible avenues that would develop based on decisions, and where I would ultimately end up. The risks were presented and there were a lot of hard decisions to make and the thing I appreciated the most, I’m dealing with a team that has decades of experience with this. And I always felt better after talking to them no matter what risks were involved.

I wasn’t surprised because I always had faith that you guys knew what you were talking about. The thing I was surprised about was the industry trend that was happening, when I first contacted you, which was when insurance carriers were settling or trying to do buyouts rather than overturn terminations. So I was surprised I won the appeal. I basically thought I was gonna get a buyout.

Well, the process to me is not over. I was put back on claim after ERISA Law Center successfully overturned my termination case. It’s ongoing, so at this point, I’m back on claim. Every month I get a disability check from my insurance carrier – thanks to ERISA Law Center – and, I ask questions every 3-4 weeks. I ask the paralegals questions, I ask the attorney questions, and it’s the same relationship I’ve always had since I started with ERISA Law Center. And that is, I have a question, I write an email, I pick up the phone and call, and I am responded to very efficiently and effectively. I’m always put at ease. It’s not easy, it’s a hard process and I could be cut off again at any time and I know I’m able to call ERISA Law Center and pick up the process no matter what obstacles pop up in front of me.

If I was presented – now that I’m back on claim because ERISA Law Center successfully won my appeal – if there was an option for a buyout, if the insurance carrier decided that they would rather not deal with my claim and wanted to negotiate a buyout I would turn to ERISA Law Center.

R.F.
Company Manager

Shortly after I had become disabled and on long-term disability, the insurance company denied my claim for benefits. It was quite disheartening because going through the disability itself was very difficult for me to want to even think about how I go about appealing this denial. I just decided one day that I was going to get some information on the Internet and did some searches on disability. I didn’t even know what area of law this was related to even though I am a lawyer myself. Luckily I hit on some very good websites and one of them was ERISA Law Center‘s website, which has the section for Learning Center. So first thing I did, I just started reading and learned what type of law applies, how the treatment had been and it became very clear to me that this wasn’t the type of thing that I wanted to take on myself, even if I could. Even if I were in the best of health that it was clear to me that this is a very specialized area and that required professionals who had a lot of experience.

I read further on their website about the types of cases they had handled because I had some concern that my disability being an invisible disability, being a mental illness; it’d probably be even harder to litigate. I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least some aspects of the cases that they had tried included mental illness.

In comparison I also looked at other websites and I did not find anyone who gave objective, thorough information on the law and treatment of cases like me. But I decided I was going to interview various law firms and see how I am treated in person and make the final decision. Some law firms that I had contacted dropped off right away because they either did not get back to me, or got back to me way later or when they did get back to me I did not like the way I was treated. Suffering from mental illness maybe I was in need of some gentle treatment, gentle yet professional treatment and a lot of people did not give me that. Again, it came down to two law firms that I’ve come to understand are perhaps the two outstanding law firms in this area. ERISA Law Center is one of them and what I did was asked them to tell me how they were going to handle my case and basically after they took all the facts and laid out for me how they would go about defending my case and presenting it, it was clear to me that they were both very confident and would do an outstanding job. I did find ERISA Law Center‘s approach more thorough and well thought out. On top of it, the personal factor came in that was feeling connected to my lawyer that not only they were professionals, but that they also came across as very gentle, understanding human beings with a lot of integrity through the process, I felt that I was not only going to be in good hands professionally, but that the process could also have a healing effect because these people who had seen so many cases of disability totally understood the emotional situation that I was in and their acknowledgment of what I was going through was very therapeutic. So I decided ERISA Law Center and it was the best decision that I’ve ever made in my life.

I had a case that was perhaps not standard for disability cases. Suffering from mental illness, it is very difficult to prove it and what I had faced was the insurance company basically ignoring the opinion of my psychiatrist and my psychotherapist that had laid out in detail why they felt that I was disabled and sent me to their own psychiatrist who was totally disengaged right off the bat and it was clear that he had no interest in what I had to say, but rather finding anything that I could say that could be taken out of context and used against me. So not only was that very difficult emotionally for me, but also this was now an uphill battle for my attorney to be able to counter these statements of this insurance company psychiatrist who had taken my word and basically twisted it cleverly to support his allegations that I should go back to work.

What my attorney suggested was actually to go to a psychologist who was independent, who did not have direct relationship with my attorney and undergo two days of testing. I was of course worried at how difficult that was going to be but my attorney reassured me that all I needed to do was to be myself and answer the questions and allow the examination to proceed. So with that in mind, I did go to the psychologist that they had found and although it was a long process and because of my condition, it was not easy to do, yet it was clear that this psychologist was totally objective and that he was interested to know all the details about my functioning, mental and emotional and my history. So, I went through that and I’m very happy that we did this because some of the discovery that he had was also useful in my own treatment, aside from the insurance claim, aspects that he pointed out that needed to be further investigated by professionals, medical professionals.

I’m totally delighted with the outcome of my case. In fact, what was interesting was basically watching the process unfold, with reading the briefs that my attorney submitted, I felt that someone had heard me and that it was very empowering and therapeutic and then to watch the insurance company take several other attempts basically to disprove them or maybe haggle through the process and to watch my attorney basically win the case, it was perhaps the best I had felt in the last few years.

My attorney at all points of time kept in touch with me and kept me informed of what was happening and what I could expect to come next. I had continuous access to all of them, whether through the office phone and email or personal cellphone and this has been also quite reassuring because it is difficult to not know what is going on and to be informed of every step allowed me to manage my anxiety and also manage my expectations and plan how to give my financial aspects of life as to timing and other things. Having such open access to them and having and receiving emails and phone calls from them informing as to where we are in the process has been a wonderful way of helping me as a client who has actually had an illness.

R.H. 
Corporate Executive