Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C., has extensive experience handling administrative Social Security Disability appeals, Supplemental Security Income Appeals, long term disability insurance claims and Virginia Retirement Disability Claims for disabled individuals.
Social Security Disability benefits are Federal benefits available to disabled workers who have paid enough into the system to have insured status. In some cases the dependents of disabled workers can also receive benefits. A widow or a widower of a person who has died while insured for social security disability benefits can receive disability benefits based on the deceased person’s contributions to the Social Security Administration if the surviving spouse is at least 50 and became disabled within a certain amount of time after the death of the spouse. Disabled Adult Child Benefits are paid to the children of people who are deceased, disabled or retired who had paid enough into the system to be insured under the Social Security Act for disability benefit purposes. The child must have become disabled before age 22 to receive this benefit. The financial circumstances of a Social Security Disability Claimants are not relevant to the decision to award benefits. To receive benefits the claimant must show that he can no longer perform any substantial gainful activity.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are paid to poor and disabled people, whether or not they've ever worked. SSI child's disability benefits are paid to children under the age of 18 who are disabled. The standard for disability is the same as for Social Security Disability: the person must be unable to perform any type of substantial gainful activity.
Long term disability insurance benefits are those provided by contract of insurance, often but not always through an employee benefit plan. Typically, these policies will allow benefits for the first two years if a person becomes unable to perform his or her usual occupation. After the first two years, typically, a person must show inability to perform “any occupation.” Many of these policies are covered by ERISA (Employees Retirement Income Security Act), which will require that a claimant exhaust administrative appeals prior to filing a lawsuit to collect benefits.
The Virginia Retirement System also provides disability benefits for state employees who have become unable by injury or illness to perform their usual occupation. This benefit is governed by state statute, which requires that the person allege and prove a “permanent disability.”
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C., can assist claimants who may qualify for any of the types of benefits described above. Currently, the firm is not accepting Veteran’s Administration Benefit appeals, however.
Guynn, Memmer and Dillon, P.C., has extensive litigation experience handling employee benefit claims for claimants, for employers and for insurance companies. For claimants, the firm has assisted employees to obtain health insurance, disability insurance and life insurance benefits under employee benefit plans. These cases involve an administrative claims appeals process that is often followed by litigation in the Federal Courts.
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C., has additionally represented employers and benefit insurance carriers, primarily in the defense of life insurance benefit claims. These cases typically involve a rescission of the policy on grounds of material misrepresentation in the application, a coverage dispute over the existence of coverage, a coverage dispute over the amount of life insurance benefits payable or a beneficiary dispute.
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C. counsels and represents public and private employers with employment law issues ranging from application to termination. The firm’s attorneys conduct training for employers, provide day to day legal advice, revise and update personnel policies, prepare and assist with employment agreements, manage employment issues to lessen the likelihood of grievances, EEOC charges and lawsuits, and defend employers before grievance panels, the EEOC and in state and federal courts.
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C. provides a variety of services to local governments and public officials. Members of the firm serve as City Attorney for the cities of Covington and Radford, Town Attorney for the towns of Buchanan, Christiansburg and Vinton, and County Attorney for the counties of Alleghany and Botetourt. In addition, the firm is well known for its litigation services in the defense of claims and lawsuits against local governments, school boards, and public officials across the Commonwealth. The firm regularly advises and counsels governmental entities and constitutional officers throughout Virginia outside of litigation on the wide range of issues that involve local governments and their officials and employees and constitutional officers and their employees.
Guynn, Memmer and Dillon, P.C. have extensive litigation experience handling Premises Liability matters. We have represented restaurants, grocery stores, apartment complexes, commercial buildings, municipalities, home owners, and other property owners for claims relating to alleged injuries on their premises. The nature of these claims are diverse from slip and fall and trip and fall accidents to cases involving construction defects, lighting issues, third party criminal assault, water drainage, snow and ice removal among other types of claims. These claims range from simple to extremely complex. Our firm has defended these lawsuits throughout Virginia’s State and Federal Courts as well as cases in North Carolina.
In addition to defending litigated claims in the Premises Liability arena, our attorneys are involved in assisting their clients with risk management issues, including the training of their managers and employees to prevent such accidents and litigation, and regarding accident investigation. These consultations and training sessions have taken place both in Virginia and in North Carolina on a wide range of topics impacting the potential liability of businesses and property owners.
Guynn, Memmer and Dillon, P.C. have extensive litigation experience handling Product Liability claims in Virginia’s State and Federal Courts, including the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. These cases involve negligence and breach of warranty claims for goods or products sold or introduced into the stream of commerce by our clients, which may include the retailers, the distributors, the manufacturers, or the component part manufacturers of such products.
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C. has additionally consulted with its clients in order to provide services and potentially avoid litigation, including the assistance in the creation and drafting of appropriate warnings, warranties, and product related literature, as well as claims consultation regarding potential investigation and/or use of experts early in the claim handling stage after an accident.
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, P.C. maintains a defense practice which focuses on the unique needs of insurance carriers and its insureds, as well as liability pools and its members. As a result of our significant long term experience, we can provide early assessment of claims, assist in establishing realistic goals for claims handling and litigate disputed matters. We serve as part of a collaborative team in order to assess matters and ensure that clients and claims professionals are able to monitor and constantly assess litigation activity. While we are often called upon to defend the interests of insureds with regard to lawsuits, we also provide complete first party case management services. We assist with claim investigations, examinations under oath of insureds, and evaluation of claims for liability analysis and policy coverage.
Our representation of insurance carriers and their insureds encompasses all phases of litigation, and involves lawsuits resulting from denied claims, declaratory judgment actions, or other insurance coverage disputes.
We routinely undertake the analysis and interpretation of insurance policies to assist carriers in making coverage decisions. This includes providing written opinions to insurance carriers concerning coverage issues as well as advice on claims handling procedures and bad faith allegations.