Attorney Thomas Richard Fischer Jr.'s Legal Cases

Employee benefits

Long-term Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Settlement - $50,000.00

Settled a long-term disability claim after filing suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico for individual whose claim was denied by insurance company. Client had major depressive diso ... rder. Insurance company asserted that client was not eligible for benefits because he was not "in service" as that term was defined by the policy at the time of his alleged disability onset. I obtained documentation showing he was paid by his employer at the time and that he was "in service." I pointed out to the insurance carrier's attorney that the summary plan description did not give the insurance carrier discretion and, therefore, the arbitrary and capricious standard did not apply.

Social Security & Disability

Social Security Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Voluntary remand by SSA

I obtained a voluntary remand of the Social Security Administration's finding that my client was not disabled due to her multiple mental impairments in U.S. District Court for the Western District of T ... exas. SSA's Office of the General Counsel agreed to a remand following my filing of my brief wherein I pointed out that the ALJ had not addressed the fact that my client's treating psychiatrist opined that her impairment satisfied the "C" criteria of the applicable listing although he had addressed the rest of the treating psychiatrist's opinion.

Personal injury

Personal Injury

N/A

OUTCOME: Settlement - $350,000.00

I obtained a settlement from a company after filing suit in New Mexico district court following the defendant company's employee dropping a load of building materials on my client's ankle while operati ... ng a forklift. My client sustained a fractured ankle and also needed back surgery due to the nature of his twisting when the building materials fell on his ankle. I obtained an opinion from the client's orthopedic surgeon that the incident is what caused the client's spine disorder that required surgery.

Social Security & Disability

Social Security Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Favorable decision - Appeals Council

I sent my client for IQ testing that revealed a full scale IQ in the 60's. Despite this, and my argument that her intellectual disability met the Listing, the ALJ denied my client's claim. My client's ... mother gave extensive testimony about her deficits in adaptive functioning. After filing my brief with the Request for Review, the Appeals Council issued a favorable decision finding that my client was disabled due to her intellectual disability meeting the Listing.

Social Security & Disability

Social Security Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Favorable decision after remand

I obtained an on-the-record decision by an ALJ for an individual with severe peripheral artery disease after winning a remand from the Appeals Council. In the Request for Review, I argued that the ALJ' ... s giving significant weight to the state agency physicians was not supported by substantial evidence due to new medical evidence submitted after the physicians rendered their opinions. The Appeals Council agreed.

Personal injury

Personal Injury

N/A

OUTCOME: Settlement

I obtained a significant settlement for my client after filing suit in New Mexico District Court against a restaurant after my client slipped and fell on a fork that had been left on the floor. My clie ... nt required spine surgery shortly following the fall. I was able to obtain the settlement despite my client's treating physician stating during his deposition that he did not think that the fall was the cause of my client's spine disorders that required surgery.

Employee benefits

Long-term Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Settlement

I was successful in having my client's long-term disability benefits reinstated, and getting payment of retroactive benefits, after proving that the earnings from his new job as an insurance agent did ... not rise to the requisite percentage of his pre-disability income to justify termination of his benefits pursuant to the terms of the long-term disability policy. I also sent my client to a functional capacity evaluation, the results of which proved that he remained unable to return to his prior occupation as a convenience store manager.

Social Security & Disability

Social Security Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Judgment

I obtained a judgment in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico for my client her in Social Security disability case. The judgment remanded her case back to Social Security after she was in ... itially denied at an ALJ hearing. The Court agreed with my argument that the ALJ improperly assessed my client's treating psychiatrist's opinion regarding the severity of her mental illnesses.

Social Security & Disability

Social Security Disability

N/A

OUTCOME: Voluntary Remand by SSA

SSA's Office of the General Counsel agreed to a voluntary remand for a new hearing after I filed my brief in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. I argued in my brief that the ALJ had ... improperly analyzed whether or not my client could return to her past relevant work. I pointed out that my client's significant gross and fine manipulation limitations due to severe carpal tunnel syndrome prevented her from returning to her past relevant work. I pointed out that the Selected Characteristics of Occupations in the DOT revealed that my clients past relevant work required gross and fine manipulation frequently although the ALJ found my client capable of those tasks only occasionally. After remand, the same ALJ granted my client benefits for a closed period of time (she had returned to work full-time due to an improvement in her symptoms).

Thomas Richard Fischer Jr.'s Legal Cases (9)

Long-term Disability

Social Security Disability

Personal Injury

Social Security Disability

Social Security Disability

Personal Injury

Long-term Disability

Social Security Disability

Social Security Disability