Amputee Lawyer Media Center

This is a case that’s really personal for me I’ve been an amputee my whole life and for about the last 15 years I have been devoting a significant portion of my practice and a lot of the pro bono to representing amputees and claims against insurance companies to try to get them prosthetic devices the insurance industry unfortunately has been taking advantage of a law called ERISA which provides a ton of protections for insurance companies in adjudicating insurance claims health insurance claims so with an ERISA claim there’s no jury trial there’s no punitive damages there’s no general damages and the only remedy you can get is to actually get paid the device or the medical product that was denied in the first instance so as a result insurance companies have very little incentive to honestly and timely process claims I’ve been tracking kind of what the insurance industry has been doing for years and they have come up with creative ways to delay and deny payment of valid and timely meritorious health insurance claims this case had a significant impact on amputee healthcare nationwide united healthcare was the largest health insurer in the country and this case forced them to revamp their unlawful claims practices and provide both retrospective and prospective relief it was really gratifying to me as an amputee to go to my clients and tell them look you know you can get your leg you can catch your arm you can go back and lead like a normal life and just have the basic decency and dignity that you really should be entitled to when you buy insurance

CLIENT: My brother Francisco was in jail. And he had some terrible disease. And he got in touch with Conal. I guess he first went through a lot of lawyers. But I guess he found something in Conal that he didn’t see in no one else. He was very trustworthy. You could talk to him any time. I had his personal cell phone, and I could call him any time I want. Conal took this case and argued forward to the Supreme Court. To go to the Supreme Court with Conal– it was a big challenge. I was– I don’t know– I felt nervous. Scared. But I knew that he was a good lawyer, so I trusted him. Yeah, I was very happy with the way he represented us. He got justice for us. He touched my life, like, in a positive way, because now I know that there’s people that care for other people, which– I didn’t think that before. You know, now he’s showed me that there’s people that do care for others. To me, he was my hero, because he not only got justice for me– for my brother, for my family, and for other people that was around us. Because now they know that, just because we’re from other place– not from USA– that doesn’t mean that we can’t get justice. So, yeah. There’s justice in here. And there’s people like him that fight for us. The jury came back and awarded us with every penny that Conal asked for. I don’t see him as my lawyer, now. I see him as a friend. Because, I mean, I had his cell phone, like I said. And I call him, and we talk to each other as friends.

CLIENT: Mi hermano estaba en la cárcel, por cualquier motivo que estaba en la cárcel, estaba enfermo y no le dieron la atención que necesitaba. Así que busco abogados, y abogados. Y hasta que encontró a Conal. Creo que Conal tiene algo diferente a los otros. Él es– se da a conocer, a querer. Y es muy fácil de platicar con él. Muy llevadero. Justicia me gusta que nos agarró justicia. No más importa el dinero, pero la justicia. Y eso es lo que hizo por nosotros. Agarró justicia. Y no sólo para mí, sino que para mucha gente. Muy contenta, estuve muy contenta con el resultado del caso. Como dije, no sólo por el dinero, sino que por la justicia que hubo y por la confianza que el nos dio. Nos demostró que hay gente buena en el mundo en que podemos confiar. En veces uno piensa que toda la gente es mala. Pero no, hay gente buena como Conal que está dispuesta a ayudar a otros. Está disponible los siete días, las veinticuatro horas. Tengo su celular privado y le puedo hablar cuando yo quiera. Y me contesta las preguntas cuando yo le digo. Conal fue conmigo hasta la Corte Suprema y pelió conmigo hasta agarrar justicia. Así cuando ví a Conal en el tribunal, estaba peleando por nosotros, estaba de parte de mi lado. Estaba orgullosa yo de que Conal estuviera representándome. Porque se que es un buen abogado. Porque sé que pelea duro. Porque sé que no se da por vencido. Y porque está de mí lado lo miraba yo como un heroe. Lo que promete lo cumple.

CLIENT: I’m Stefanie Funke. I was trying to get a sea leg from my health insurance, and they kept turning me down until I learned about Conal. I called him, and he met with me really quickly. The next day we met. He talked to me about the case, and I felt that he had experience and knowledge. He kept me informed. He would call me and update me on what was going on. He seemed to go beyond the call of duty, meeting with my prosthetist and loaning me his old sea leg. So meeting Conal and feeling hope that I could get the microprocessor knee and then getting it contributed greatly to this process of me looking forward and actually getting back into life. Working with Conal on the microprocessor knee has just given me a sense of confidence to face the world and try to make the life I want to live instead of– so my focus is on how to do what I want to do rather than all the things I can’t do.

CLIENT: My name is Charline Pericles. When I was 27 years old, I went to the hospital for a stomachache. It turns out it was kidney stones, which led to my– to complications. And before I knew it, I was a amputee. Right away, someone came down to the house and did a depo on us and got my story. And before I knew it, Conal got me some money to get my prosthesis and start getting on my feet. I started getting therapy. He directed me to the right prosthetic clinics that could help better assist me. He even sent me down to Florida to even get more help. So you know, it was just a blessing. Conal was just like an angel that came into my life. And seeing him as an amputee as well, oh, my gosh. He knows exactly what I’m going through, what I feel– how I feel. He knows that there’s no amount of money that can compensate to what happened to me, but he just wants me to be comfortable. And that’s a man of God right there. He’s fighting for me. He’s limping around the courtroom to fight for me. That this is just truly a honor, and I just– I thank God for him. He really represented me in a good way and showed these people that I’m young. I have a long life ahead of me. I need these prosthesis, and I want them. I want to get back up again. He let them know how critical my situation is. Like, it’s not easy. I’m stuck like this for the rest of my life, and I have two kids that depend on me. It’s really hard. So I’m really lucky to have Conal on my side. Anybody is lucky to have a lawyer like him around. We need more lawyers like him. [MUSIC PLAYING]

CLIENT: In 2011, I lost my arm. And after I lost my arm, I started working with a company, because I would need a prosthesis to help live a more normal life. So I went and took all the right steps that anybody would with their insurance company. And I applied and showed the reasons why a prosthesis was very important. The very first time they denied me. And I was told, well, that’s kind of standard that they deny you the first time. I didn’t quite understand that, because I’ve been paying monthly for my insurance company. I applied again, and I got denied again. And at this point, there was just no reason why they kept denying me. And I felt like anybody would at that point. You feel pretty helpless. Even working with a company that works with insurance companies all the time, didn’t have an answer. And they felt powerless. And that’s when they said, well, we have another option. We know this great lawyer, named Conal Doyle. The reason why I picked Conal, he’s very straightforward. He looks you in the eyes. He tells you how it is. And he gave an honest opinion on what it would be. And then we just took that ride together, and I trusted that. He said, there could be room for more, but I’m going to tell you, I can definitely get you your prosthetic. And that’s what he delivered on for sure. The financial part of the settlement, definitely exceeded what he thought. And that was awesome.