Our client had been a successful licensed hypnotherapist for many years. He developed and was diagnosed as suffering from severe depression and other mental disorders. He applied for benefits under his long-term disability policy (own occupation – a critical legal distinction) and received disability benefits for seven years.
While on disability, he began writing a newsletter, as a food and wine critic, which he circulated to family and friends and posted on an Internet website. Nonetheless, his mental illness continued, and he spent only 10% percent of his time as a food critic. His combination of depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior otherwise left him barely functional and essentially homebound.
The insurance company set up a sting operation. They invited our client to dinner to discuss his availability as a restaurant consultant and secretly videotaped him during the meeting. His benefits were then cut off, and the company attempted to have him criminally prosecuted for insurance fraud by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Our firm represented him in both the active criminal investigation and in the trial of the civil action against the insurance company. We succeeded on all fronts: we won the trial, the insurance company paid our client a large cash settlement, and the District Attorney’s office promptly closed its investigation.
Evan S. Schwartz
Founder of Schwartz, Conroy & Hack
800-745-1755
ESS@schwartzlawpc.com