Gregory Michael Dell

Top rated employee benefits attorney in Weston, Florida

Dell & Schaefer Chartered
Gregory Michael Dell
Dell & Schaefer Chartered

Practice Areas: Employee benefits, Insurance coverage; view more

Licensed in Florida since: 2000

Education: Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Selected to Super Lawyers: 2017 - 2018, 2021 - 2023 Selected to Rising Stars: 2012 - 2016

Dell & Schaefer Chartered

2625 Weston Rd
Weston, FL 33331 Visit website

Details

As a partner and managing attorney of the disability income division of the Hollywood, Florida-based law firm of Dell & Schaefer, Chtd., Gregory Michael Dell focuses his representation in the field of civil law in obtaining long-term disability benefits on behalf of his clients from every major disability insurance company. He has participated in more than 50 criminal jury trials and won a nearly $3 million jury verdict against a large insurance company in a long-term disability income claim on behalf of a doctor.

A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Dell obtained a bachelor's degree in accounting and then went on to study at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, from which he earned his Juris Doctor degree.

The author of several articles that have appeared in national publications on the subject of long-term disability benefits, Mr. Dell is also the author of a book on disability insurance law. First published in 2006, the book is intended as an authoritative reference for judges and lawyers.

Mr. Dell is admitted to practice law in Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, New York and the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice in several federal district courts throughout the country. He maintains membership in the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), the Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee of the American Bar Association and the American Health Lawyers Association. Dedicated to his community, Mr. Dell is proud of his work with the Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Charitable Foundation, a charitable organization that he founded to improve people's lives by promoting community health and safety.

Practice areas

Employee benefits, Insurance coverage

Focus areas

Insurance

First Admitted: 2000, Florida

Professional Webpage: http://www.diattorney.com/gregory-michael-dell/

Pro bono/Community Service:
  • Gregory Dell is the founder of the Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Charitable Foundation. The not-for-profit foundation's mission statement is "Promoting health & safety in our communities to improve the lives of individuals."  The foundation is active in the South Florida community and works with both local and national charitable organizations such as Best Buddies and the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood.  
Bar/Professional Activity:
  • Founder, Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Charitable Foundation
  • District of Colombia
  • Member, New York State Bar Associations
  • Member, American Health Lawyers Association
  • Florida
  • Texas
  • Member, American Bar Association Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee
  • Vice Chairman, American Bar Association Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee 2011 - 2015
  • Massachusetts
  • Member, American Association for Justice
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
  • Author, Florida Insurance Law and Practice, West's Florida Practice Series, Long-Term Disability Benefits, 2008
  • Author, Treatise on Long-Term Disability Insurance Law, Nation's Largest Legal Publication Company (Thomson Reuters), 2006
Newsletters:
Representative Clients:
  • Gregory Dell represents claimants throughout all stages (i.e. applications, denials, appeals, litigation, & lump-sum policy buyouts) of a claim for individual or group (ERISA) long-term disability benefits.
Educational Background:
  • Washington University in St. Louis, B.S./B.A. in Accounting, 1999
Videos:
Verdicts/Settlements:
  • Unum awards over $9,000 a month to physician following claim denial, 2010
  • $1,250,000 Auto Accident (Confidential Settlement), 2009
  • $2.96 million dollar jury verdict against Nationwide Insurance Company
  • Unum Long-Term Disability Claim $12,500 monthly for lifetime, 2009
  • Long-Term Disability Claim against Ohio National $18,600 a month until age 65, 2008
  • $450,000 Long-Term Disability Claim, 2009
  • $425,000 Confidential Settlement with long-term disability insurance carrier, 2010
  • Multiple Seven Figure Settlements (Confidential Agreements), 2004
  • $140,000 Confidential Settlement with Long-Term Disability Insurance Company, 2010
  • $6,250,000 Products Liability Action (confidential), 2005
  • Cigna Insurance Company resolves long-term disability lawsuit for confidential lump sum, 2010
  • $1,800,000 (Wrongful Death & Products Liability) Confidential Settlement, 2009
  • $950,000 Confidential Long-Term Disability Claim
  • $475,000  Auto Accident  against trucking company, 2009
  • $650,000 Long-Term Disability Claim, 2009
  • Staab v. Nationwide Insurance Company (Broward County) $2,960,000, 2004
  • A general surgeon and his legal team at Dell & Schaefer win disability insurance jury trial against Unum In a federal court in Peoria, Illinois, a jury ruled against Unum Company (NYSE: UNM)  and awarded more than $300,000 in disability insurance benefits the insurer withheld from a general surgeon it had claimed was capable of conducting major surgeries, despite the surgeon’s difficulty standing for more than one hour at a time. The eight-person jury, which included an employee from State Farm Insurance, headquartered nearby, ruled that Dr. Yogihn Parikh, who was a general surgeon at Hammond Henry Hospital in Genesco Il, was partially disabled, and as such was entitled to long-term disability benefits Unum had withheld under the disability insurance policy that Parikh purchased from them. The case stemmed from an October 2004 claim filed with Unum by Parikh, in which the doctor, who had performed a wide range of major surgical procedures like appendectomies, colon resections and mastectomies, said that lower back pain has precluded him from performing the procedures, and thus greatly reduced his earning potential as a general surgeon. Unum denied the claim in April 2005, citing insufficient medical evidence for the claim. Subsequent to Unum’s decision, Dr Parikh performed minor and less time-consuming surgical procedures, but gradually lost the ability to perform any surgical procedures. Since November 2008, he has not performed surgery. In the year before he filed the claim, his income as a surgeon was more than $300,000; in 2008, it slid dramatically, to about $60,000. After the ruling, Parikh’s legal representative, disability insurance attorney Gregory Dell, said that his legal team will be pursuing an Illinois bad faith claim to help Parikh obtain an additional damages award up to 60% of the verdict and attorney fees in excess of $250,000. Dr. Parikh’s trial team included attorneys Gregory Denes, Gregory Dell and Cesar Gavidia. Unum had maintained that there is insufficient evidence to support Parikh’s claim for benefits, based on the opinion of one of its hired physicians, who after a 20-minute exam of Parikh opined that he had no restrictions and limitations and was capable of performing such procedures as appendectomies, gall bladder removal, colon resections, hernias, mastectomies and other abdominal surgeries. “This is a victory for Dr. Parikh, who was unfairly denied the benefits which he had paid Unum to provide in the event he was no longer able to perform his job as a general surgeon. It is also a victory for thousands of disability claimants suffering from subjective complaints of pain and the insurance companies deny their claim,” said Dell. Dell noted Parikh’s case is not unusual. It is one of a host of cases in which Unum’s practices for denying claims have been called into question. Unum has been fined millions dollars for its unreasonable and unlawful denial of disability claims. Earlier this year, a Nevada jury awarded $60 million to a man that sued Unum for a bad faith denial of long-term disability benefits. “This verdict demonstrates that Unum continues to ignore the 2004 agreement it entered into with 48 states, in which its practices for denying claims without reasonable justification were called into question,” Dell said.  During trial, a Unum employee testified that one way she could verify Dr. Parikh’s back pain would be “if he had a knife in his back.”  The same Unum employee testified that she did not know whether an appendectomy required a person’s skin to be cut, 2009
  • Besser v. Prudential Insurance Company $386,000 (Hawaii Federal Court), 2009
  • The Standard Disability Insurance Company Approves Dentist for $9,200 a month in ERISA Disability Benefits, 2010
  • $1,750,000 Auto Accident (Confidential Settlement), 2007
  • Long-Term Disability Claim $25,000 a month until age 65, 2008
  • Long-Term Disability Claim $25,000 a month until age 65 (Met-Life), 2008
  • $850,000 (Product Liability), 2007
  • $200,000 Confidential Settlement with Long-term disability insurer, 2010
  • $1,200,000 Confidential Long-Term Disability Claim
Industry Groups:
  • ABA Employee Benefits Committee
  • American Justice Assoc.
  • Florida Justice Assoc
  • Health Lawyers Assoc.

Office location for Gregory Michael Dell

2625 Weston Rd
Weston, FL 33331

Phone: 800-828-7583

Selections

5 Years Super Lawyers
5 Years Rising Stars
  • Super Lawyers: 2017 - 2018, 2021 - 2023
  • Rising Stars: 2012 - 2016

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