Alicia M. Paulino-Grisham

Attorney Paulino-Grisham saved my home when she won my disability case. She was extremely knowledgeable about the law and clearly explained the ERISA statute and appeals process. I had no idea what I was doing and certainly would have been lost without her. I have a chronic and permanent condition.... When my insurance company denied my benefits I was so scared and almost lost my home. When Attorney Paulino-Grisham got involved, she was so caring and competent that I instantly felt that I was in good hands. She talked to and got statements from all of my doctors, got sworn witness statements, sent me to an independent doctor, and prepared an impressive appeal. The insurance company tried everything to delay the process, but she was very aggressive and kept fighting for me. Ultimately, we won and I cannot thank her enough! She saved my home and maybe my life!

I hired Alicia Paulino-Grisham and her team of lawyers after my disability benefits were terminated for what appeared to be no reason at all! I contacted her firm at a horrible time in my life when I was trying to figure out how I would be able to pay my bills and mortgage without my disabilty benef...its. I was angry, hurt, and frustrated. How could I have paid insurance premiums on my disability policy for almost 15 years to then be told that my debilitating medical condition did not qualify me for the benefits that I had planned for, and counted on when I became sick. To make matters worse, I suffer from a rare medical condition, which I really don't think my insurance company understood. I first learned of Alicia Paulino-Grisham and her law firm while watching a profile of one of her disability cases on Good Morning America. It was the week that I had just received the letter informing me that my insurance company would no longer pay my insurance benefits. I contacted Ms. Paulino-Grisham that day, and received encouraging words and possible ways to attack the insurance company’s wrongful termination of my insurance benefits. I was so relieved to know that I had a chance of overturning the insurance company’s denial of my future benefit payments! Throughout the next six months, Ms. Paulino-Grisham and her team of lawyers worked hard to aggressively attack the findings of the insurance company. Ms. Paulino-Grisham was able to effectively convince the insurance company that the termination of my disability benefits was without merit. Though her extensive knowledge, hard work, and commitment to my case, my benefits were reinstated, including the retroactive benefits! Thank you Alicia for helping me through this very difficult time!

My bottom line on this attorney is that I would not rely on Paulino-Grisham to handle a case. In my opinion Paulino-Grisham failed in protecting me from being squeezed by the insurance company. I originally hired the Paulino-Grisham at $300/hour, based on a recommendation of her practice in disabi...lity claim denials, when I first received notice the insurance company wanted a round of IMEs. She counseled me on procedures to protect my interests through the insurance company’s “independent” medical examination (IME) process. Six months later I received the denial of claim letter. After my claim was denied I had no income and went on a retainer basis with the law firm. Both my doctor and I thought Paulino-Grisham talked a much better case when I was paying her hourly fee than after I went on the retainer agreement. I do not believe Paulino-Grisham was sufficiently pro-active in stemming off the denial. She was always so confident about the many issues adversely affecting the credibility of the IMEs as conducted. After I received the denial letter I didn’t hear from her for 3 weeks. Four weeks after the denial we had an extensive conversation about the process of getting back on claim and ultimate litigation if necessary. After the claim denial I had little income. I needed to know how long the process would take and what would be involved. My experience is that you should not rely on Paulino-Grisham attorney if limiting the insurance company’s squeeze is an important consideration for you. In the beginning, Paulino-Grisham told me I could expect 12-13 months from start through end of trial. I relied on what the attorney told me I should expect the process would take. I bought into going without income the 12-13 months she told me. I understood that at the end of trial I could get nothing or a settlement or an award. Unfortunately Paulino-Grisham allowed the insurance company to dawdle for 3 months before getting her their doctors’ IME reports on which they relied in making their denial of claim. When we had my doctor’s extensive rebuttal in writing and shared it with the insurance company the insurance company asked me to make them a settlement offer which Paulino-Grisham told me we had to do, procedurally. Six months later the insurance company still had not responded to our offer. Paulino-Grisham allowed the insurance company to stall me for 9 months, knowing I had no current income and though she initially told me to expect 12-13 months through resolution. Ten months after the denial, and without any income, Paulino-Grisham was finally ready to file our lawsuit. But, at this point and not before, Paulino-Grisham changed the expected timeline and told me to expect another 2 years through conclusion because there would be extensive discovery. Paulino-Grisham failed me horribly. Paulino-Grisham allowed the insurance company to squeeze me big-time. I finally decided to take the insurance company’s first and only offer that came in another procedural requirement—“pre-litigation negotiation”—because after 10 months of the attorney and insurance company dance of delay I couldn’t afford to continue another two years without income. If Paulino-Grisham had been straight with me up front in terms of the time horizon she told me to expect to go without income when she was hired my family and I would have analyzed the circumstances differently. Had Paulino-Grisham been more attentive with my case and kept the insurance company focused on my case we feel the outcome would have been better for me. My recommendation, for what it is worth, is not to hire this attorney unless you can hold out substantially longer than she initially tells you. Even then, you have to have a tremendous amount of confidence in her through trial, if you can last that long. The bottom line is Paulino-Grisham did not perform as she initially told us she would. I would not hire Paulino-Grisham for any legal matter after my experience.