Ever since employers began offering benefits to their employees, the number and variety of employee benefits has proliferated. The rights of employees to benefits are governed by laws distinct from those governing hiring, promoting and terminating employees. These include the federal law known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and state law.

Denied Disability Claims

Common employee benefits today include workers’ compensation, occupational injury, short- and long-term disability and retirement benefits. Some of these are on the wane, as cost and changing workforce patterns lead employers to modify or terminate them. Others, like workers’ compensation, are subject to frequent change by amendment of the laws governing them. Employers and their insurers become the payers of benefits claims, and thus, the targets of litigation for denied claims.

Employee Benefits Litigation

Kilgore & Kilgore is in the forefront of employee benefits litigation. Every year, we represent many disability claimants, most with group policies governed by ERISA and under professional disability policies. We have represented large classes of employees in multiple, federal, class actions over the last several years raising issues of first impression relating to class action waivers and the applicability of ERISA to retirement claims.

Andrea Clark, Paralegal

Example Cases and Outcomes

• Recovery through an actuarial settlement of the present value of disability benefits through age 65 for a client with a terminal disease after her claim to long-term disability benefits was initially denied; and
• Successful resolution of short- and long-term disability claims by payment of past due benefits and, in some instances, meaningful percentages of present value of future benefits.

Our Clients Tell Us

Click on this link to read some of the many client testimonials that people have sent to thank our employee benefits law attorneys for keeping them on track. Kilgore & Kilgore can do the same for you.

We Work With You

We are especially keen to control legal costs and align ourselves with the economic interests of clients. We use a variety of strategies to fit different situations, such as flat rate fees, contingency fees, reverse contingent fees and modified hourly rates. When contingency fee scenarios come into play, we apply legal fees, court costs and other reimbursable expenses to the client’s portion of the settlement amount.

Reach Out to Us

To learn more about our employee benefits law practice or to schedule an appointment to discuss matters in confidence with an employee benefits lawyer at our Dallas office, contact us. We offer a free review of the circumstances of your case.