Disability Lawyer Volunteers at Long Island MS Society "Meet the Attorney" Night

Thanks to Jane Reilly and all those at the Long Island, New York Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for inviting me to participate at their annual free "Meet the Attorney" night last week at the Melville headquarters.  I had a private meeting with a lovely woman struggling with MS to discuss both her ERISA long term disability claim with Unum, and her pending Social Security Disability claim.  

I advised her NOT to use the "free" representation from GENEX Services to assist her with her Social Security Disability claim, as GENEX operates solely for the benefit of Unum, and therefore has a major conflict of interest similar to Allsup and Advantage 2000.  (See my previous blog posts  about Allsup and Advantage 2000 for the full story).  GENEX is no better! Did you know that GENEX Services was a wholly owned subsidiary of Unum until just recently, and that Unum remains their major client.  This tells you everything you need to know. 

I told this grateful woman she would be far better off hiring a private attorney to represent her in her Social Security Disability claim,  regardless of who the particular attorney is.   Attorneys have an ethical obligation to guard the client’s secrets and confidences, as opposed to GENEX which is obligated to share personal information with Unum since Unum is paying their bill.  Money talks!

In other MS news, my partner Chris Redmond participated in a Bike-A-Thon recently to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.  Finally, Chris’ Uncle Ed Keegan, age 69 and still a top New York Life Insurance Agent, made headlines in Newsday by walking across Long Island in a T-shirt that read "Who Gives 100%?" to raise funds for MS.  Ed’s daughter has MS.  Ed Keegan gives 100% ! Thanks Ed!