Ex-Dickstein Shapiro Lawyer Wins Disability Benefits From Unum

A former attorney with Dickstein Shapiro LLP won disability benefits from Unum Life Insurance Co. of America when an Oregon federal judge applied a “heightened level of skepticism” to the insurer’s decision following instructions from the Ninth Circuit.

Unum’s determination that Alison Gary could recover from surgery and resume working within six months was an abuse of discretion, because it overlooked the “overwhelming post-surgical medical evidence that anticipated a longer recovery,” Judge Marco A. Hernández of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon held in a decision docketed Tuesday. Unum also failed to conduct an in-person examination of ...