Successes
SUCCESSES
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Ferrin v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.
Ferrin v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 336 F. Supp. 3d 910 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 28, 2018) (holding insurance policy’s grant of discretionary authority is void under Texas law due to certificate being issued after effective date of regulation, and policy renewing after effective date, and holding Plaintiff was disabled from Any Reasonable Occupation where treating doctors certify she can sit at the occasional level, and insurer’s consultants opine Plaintiff can sit frequently, as weighing all evidence together would make capacity likely at low end of frequent range at best).
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Sadowski v. Tuckpointers Local 52
Sadowski v. Tuckpointers Local 52 Health & Welfare Trust, 281 F. Supp. 3d 710 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 20, 2017) (holding plan was arbitrary and capricious in denying medical benefits for removal of spinal cord stimulator following a fall down the stairs and infection where plan argued the expenses were caused by the same injury as the car accident necessitating implantation of the stimulator years earlier)
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Tassone v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co.
Tassone v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 264 F. Supp. 3d 867 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 30, 2017) (awarding client long term disability benefits denied by United of Omaha despite insurer’s doctor opining there was no objective evidence of functional impairment)
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Suson v. PNC Fin. Servs. Grp., Inc.
Suson v. PNC Fin. Servs. Grp., Inc., No. 15-CV-10817, 2017 WL 3234809 (N.D. Ill. July 31, 2017) (holding Liberty Mutual’s denial of client’s long term disability benefits was arbitrary and capricious where Liberty Mutual disregarded client’s carpal tunnel syndrome and relied on a vocational opinion to which client never had an opportunity to address before litigation)
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Contreras v. United of Omahao Life Ins. Co.
Contreras v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 250 F. Supp. 3d 338 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 25, 2017) (awarding client long term disability benefits denied by United of Omaha because client showed she was not able to earn the wages in substitute jobs insurer claimed she would earn)
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Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Corp.
Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 196 F. Supp. 3d 830, 62 EB Cases 1921 (N.D. Ill. 2016) (defeating Defendant’s motion to dismiss class action complaint for severance benefits)
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McKeown v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada
McKeown v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, No. 16 C 748, 2016 WL 4720048 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 9, 2016) (denying Sun Life’s motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c) where Sun Life argued client did not cooperate in providing insurer all the evidence insurer requested in course of denying the claim)
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Nagle v. The Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co.
Nagle v. The Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 15-CV-6073, 2015 WL 9268420 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 21, 2015) (denying Hartford’s motion to transfer venue to the Western District of Wisconsin)
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Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Corp.
Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 13 C 2635, 2014 WL 5334038, 59 EB Cases 2570 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2014) (granting Plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint to include claims for class-wide relief in severance benefit case over objections of timeliness and futility where delays were not attributable to Plaintiffs)
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Schane v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters Union Local No. 710
Schane v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters Union Local No. 710 Pension Fund Pension Plan, 760 F.3d 585 (7th Cir. 2014) (awarding client enhanced “retirement over age 50” pension benefits and holding that trustees’ interpretation of the plan definition of “retirement” was irreconcilable with the context of the surrounding plan provisions)
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Travis v. Midwest Operating Eng’rs Pension Plan
Travis v. Midwest Operating Eng’rs Pension Plan, No. 13 CV 12, 2014 WL 4057372 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 15, 2014) (overturning pension plan’s denial of all work disability benefits where plan conducted no analysis of whether client could earn a living performing any other jobs)
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Young v. Am. Junkie River N.
Young v. Am. Junkie River N., LLC, No. 13 C 8901, 2014 WL 1493354 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 14, 2014) (granting client’s motion to remand to the Circuit Court of Cook County because the employment agreement is not an ERISA plan, which allowed client to seek damages beyond those allowed under ERISA)
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Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Crop.
Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 13 C 2635, 2014 WL 1299000 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 31, 2014) (denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss clients’ complaint seeking severance benefits)
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Novak v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am.
Novak v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., 956 F. Supp. 2d 900 (N.D. Ill. 2013) (holding Illinois insurance regulation banning discretionary clauses applied even though conferral of discretion to insurer appeared in a document that was not the insurance policy or certificate of insurance, resulting in de novo judicial review applying to client’s long term disability claim)
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Coleman v. Supervalu, Inc.
Coleman v. Supervalu, Inc. Short Term Disability Program, 920 F. Supp. 2d 901, 55 EB Cases 1680 (N.D. Ill. 2013) (holding that forum selection clause seeking transfer of venue to Minnesota in disability plan was unreasonable as contrary to public policy and was unenforceable against our client)
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Bd. of Trs. of the Auto Mechanics’ Local No. 701 v. Brown
Bd. of Trs. of the Auto. Mechanics’ Local No. 701 Union & Indus. Welfare Fund v. Brown, No. 12-CV-10268, 2013 WL 5873360, 56 EB Cases 2876 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 30, 2013) (in a case where Michael Bartolic was appointed to represent health insurance plan participant, granting client’s motion to dismiss claims for equitable relief against client)
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Garner v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co,
Garner v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 12 C 709, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48064 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 5, 2012) (denying insurer’s motion to dismiss client’s claim for equitable relief where client alleged insurer misrepresented how to maintain life insurance coverage when client’s mother became disabled with stage 4 pancreatic cancer)
