Oct 31, 2025 - Disability Insurance by Seltzer & Associates
The more skills, experience, and reputation you build as a professional, the greater the impact can be if a disability suddenly prevents you from practicing your profession. You have obligations to meet. People are depending on you. An entire business may be riding on your shoulders.
Your disability insurance should provide critical resources to cover your expenses while you are unable to work. But insurance companies can make it notoriously difficult to recover the benefits that should be provided under the terms of your policy. They may insist—wrongly but vehemently–that you are still able to perform critical job tasks and are therefore not eligible for benefits. Or that might determine that your condition falls under one of the nebulous exceptions provided in your policy. Sometimes, they engage in unreasonable delaying tactics, requesting more and more evidence to satisfy a mysterious standard that is never fulfilled.
The bottom line is that insurance companies do not want to pay out on a policy if they can avoid it. And that’s why so many people seek help from a disability insurance attorney when they need to file a claim for benefits. Like any other service provider, disability insurance lawyers differ in levels of experience, dedication, and service. Knowing what to look for when choosing a disability insurance attorney can help you leverage the most benefits from your legal investment and gain the best resources while you are focusing on recovery.
Insurance Law Focus
Many attorneys will handle disability insurance issues if you ask them to. Some will advertise that they help with disability insurance cases or insurance disputes. But if insurance issues are only a small part of the practice, these attorneys will not be as knowledgeable about the issues, procedures, and insurance business as a legal team that focuses on this particular field.
Insurance policies are written in a language with terms that have meanings specific to the industry, and it is important to understand how courts interpret these terms. There are also laws unique to the insurance industry, and a firm with an insurance focus will be most familiar with the recent judicial interpretations and administrative guidance regarding regulatory requirements.
Ideally, you should look for a law firm that focuses primarily or solely on disability insurance claims, because the attorneys at this firm will have the most in-depth understanding of the legal issues and the most effective techniques for resolving problems with claims.
Experience to Meet Your Needs
The next feature to look for is a lawyer who has experience handling claims similar to yours. So, obviously, you will want to find an attorney with considerable experience succeeding with disability insurance claims. But that should be the bare minimum. What would be better is to find a lawyer who has successfully resolved disability claims that involve:
- A disabling condition similar to the one you are experiencing
- Claimants with work and professional responsibilities similar to yours
- The same type of disability insurance (private or group policies, short-term or long-term)
In addition, it is a good idea to ensure that the attorney you work with has experience with all aspects of the claims process, from filing an initial claim to appealing denials, negotiating settlements, and litigating disputes, including bad faith claims.
Many attorneys excel at transactional law and arranging settlements but prefer to avoid litigation. So if the insurance company behaves unreasonably or unethically and the case needs to be heard by a judge, that transactional attorney is not going to be able to provide the same level of advocacy as an attorney who routinely protects the rights of clients in court.
Depth at the Position
To use a sports analogy, it is advantageous to look for a law firm with a deep bench when it comes to disability law. Finding a firm with one attorney experienced in the areas you need may be sufficient, but you would be better served by a firm with more knowledge and experience to draw on. When a firm has two or more attorneys who actively practice in the field where you need assistance, they can collaborate, and you can get the benefit of different perspectives and alternative approaches. You are also better protected—your case won’t be put on hold if an attorney is prevented from working.
Track Record of Success
While you can hope that people learn from their mistakes, you can’t count on it. If an attorney has years of experience handling disability insurance cases but doesn’t often succeed in getting clients the full benefits they’re entitled to under their policy, that is a problem.
So, when looking for a disability insurance attorney, make sure the individual attorney and the firm have a track record of success with the type of claim you are dealing with. How can you determine this? One way to check is to read through the attorney’s biography on the law firm’s website. If awards are listed, it is a sign that the attorney has a well-established reputation for success within the legal community. However, these awards are usually only given to attorneys with decades of experience, so when considering a younger attorney, it is helpful to ask them about their results. The information in their biography will provide information about the courts where they’ve been admitted to practice and the professional organizations they belong to, and that data provides clues about the attorney’s meaningful experience.
Reviews vs. Endorsements
Another positive feature to look for when searching for the right disability insurance lawyer is an attorney with a good reputation among past clients. You can find out what clients think by reading reviews on Google, AVVO, and other sites. The reviews provide indications about the attorney’s dedication and service to clients.
Law firms will frequently post excerpts from reviews on their websites. Of course, these excerpts contain nothing but praise. So while these testimonials can provide information about an attorney’s success record, it is important to remember that they only reveal the parts of the truth that the law firm wants to highlight. These are more like endorsements rather than reviews.
When you read clients’ full reviews, such as the reviews that appear in the search engine results online, you get a clearer picture of what it’s like to work with that lawyer. Clients who have already finished with their case have no reason to exaggerate to get a benefit—they can afford to be honest about the service they received. Review sites generally don’t allow businesses to censor reviews if a customer posts something the business does not like. So, when you take a look at what clients have posted, you are generally getting an opinion provided without ulterior motives.
We Invite You to Examine Our Reviews, Reputation, and Experience When You Need a Disability Insurance Lawyer
At Seltzer & Associates, we focus solely on disability insurance issues and understand them thoroughly. But we also know that what matters is not only the legal issues but also the needs of the policyholder who deserves to receive the benefits they have contracted for to cover this difficult time.
While you are working to recover and rebuild your life after a disability has knocked you off track, allow us to manage the nuts and bolts of your disability insurance claim. We can apply our knowledge not only to overcome problems with the claims process but also to ensure that many common problems never arise in the first place. For a free consultation with a Philadelphia long-term disability appeal lawyer to discuss why Seltzer & Associates may be the right legal team to assist in your particular case, call us at 888-699-4222 or contact us online today.