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For The Ambitious Advocate BRIEF RECESS
OCTOBER 2023
FROM THE LAW OFFICES OF J. PRICE MCNAMARA
THE GAME-CHANGING POTENTIAL OF VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS How Much Is Your Time Worth?
incredibly expensive, and the amount of money we spent using them was more than it was ultimately worth in time saved. I voiced this frustration to another attorney friend when they recommended that I try hiring a virtual assistant through the website Upwork. So, I figured with the time and money I’d lost so far, it couldn’t hurt to try. On Upwork, you create a job posting for whatever task you need, just like on other local job-search sites, except you pull from a worldwide list of candidates. In your posting, you can (and should) get specific about what you need to be done (even down to asking that the writing for the task sounds like native English). Then, freelance workers will bid to complete your job, and you can sort through the bids to choose the person you feel best fits the requirements. So that’s exactly what I did! In my search, I’ve found multiple virtual assistants who are actually registered nurses from countries like the Philippines or India who do a fantastic job — better and faster than I could, and with the exact end-product I wanted. In fact, there’s one registered nurse we practically employ full-time now to handle all of our record summaries. She is meticulous, and her rates are very reasonable. With each job, we send her our bulk administrative records for the cases as the insurance companies send them to us, which is very disorganized and in no particular order. We also send her our briefing template, which includes a medical chronology section.
She organizes the files and fills in the medical chronology summaries right into the template. She even copies over the denial letters into that section of the briefing template. Sure, we have to edit these into a final product, and there’s much more to the briefs we file than these two components, but the time saving there is tremendous! Our virtual assistants have saved us so much time on menial tasks that were sucking up a large portion of our resources. Now I have more time to focus on the higher-level intricacies of each case. I’ve even expanded the use of virtual assistants in my personal life. I’ve used virtual assistants to help me search the web for hard-to-find car parts during COVID, and even help me find moving companies that would move furniture from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. As long as it’s work that someone can complete over the internet, the options are endless! So, if you have tasks in your business (or your life) that are tedious and time-consuming, I’d highly recommend trying out a virtual assistant. Hiring people is very easy once you have an account set up on Upwork, and in the years I’ve been using it, I haven’t been disappointed yet. If you want to free up your time from any type of task you can imagine, take a look at Upwork!
As we all know, our work requires lots of sifting through, analyzing, and summarizing records that will ultimately be the foundation of your case. Many times, doing so can take hours, and when you couple that with the fact that every attorney is likely juggling multiple cases at one time, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. This is especially true with ERISA cases, which often involve administrative claim file records ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 pages, the bulk of them being medical records. And as if reading these records wasn’t time- consuming enough, I like them to be summarized in a master chronology with references to Bates-stamped PDF pages for quick reference later. At first, I was doing all of this work myself before it eventually became too much to handle alone. So, I graduated from just me reviewing and consolidating these records to my paralegal and myself. But even with two people, multiple cases with thousands of pages of records also became too much, so we outsourced this work to a U.S.-based company specializing in the task. While I’ll say they did a fantastic job, they were
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HOW WE HELPED OUR CLIENT OVERTURN UNUM’S DANGEROUS DENIAL ‘His Seizures Could Occur at Any Time’
Does your office turn away calls about “long-term disability insurance” claim denials because you don’t handle administrative appeals or “ERISA litigation” in federal court? We want to hear from you! We happily share fees on referred ERISA long-term disability, life insurance, and accidental death insurance denial cases. Send us an email at HelpDesk@jpricemcnamara.com or call (225) 201-8311 to start the referral process! Now a bed and breakfast, Loyd Hall’s guests have long reported Loyd’s continued footsteps and presence there. But other Loyd Hall legends exist, like Harry, the Union soldier who was shot in the attic. Large bloodstains there (a main attraction on tours) have been tested and authenticated and are presumed to be his. He appears in the house, too, often playing a violin. WE VALUE YOUR REFERRALS! New Orleans may be considered the most haunted city in the U.S. with its eerie hotels, Voodoo culture, vampires, and other legends, but it’s not the only place in Louisiana with tales of the paranormal or ghostly activity. Many south Louisiana plantations, antebellum homes, historic bridges, and graveyards are said to host strange occurrences attributed to ghosts and goblins. Cheneyville’s Loyd Hall is a perfect example. Loyd Hall’s original owner, William Loyd, always said he wasn’t fond of the visitors occupying his plantation during the Civil War. But apparently, he enjoyed his visitors at least a little while acting as a double spy for the Union and Confederate sides who did come. But that all ended when he was discovered tarred, feathered, and hung from a tree in his own yard. THESE LOUISIANA The Big Halloween
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Our client, James (not his real name), suffered from extreme seizures, and his treating physicians told him that he was absolutely unable to work as a control panel operator for Valero. It was a job that required him to work from heights and with hazardous equipment, and he would be putting himself and others at risk. Yet UNUM Insurance Company ignored their opinions and denied his claim. UNUM further claimed his evidence was insufficient to prove his case, despite his treating physicians’ unwavering opinions that he was disabled and could not perform the work. We worked closely with James to help him build his claim carefully and systematically with new, undeniable evidence far beyond what he had presented to UNUM before the company denied his claim. In helping James gather evidence to build his case, we needed to learn all the details of his story. We learned that his seizures could occur at any time without warning. He also described how some of the medications he had to take caused him to experience dizziness and nausea, leading to errors and an inability to keep pace to accomplish any work on time. He described how, whether or not he was taking the medications, he experienced increased anxiety over the pressure to complete his work and how the stress seemed to trigger seizure-like episodes, often while engaging in hazardous job duties. Our team fortified these statements by speaking with some of James’ treating physicians and created detailed physician notes, which we then turned into formal, signed statements. We presented these and other new overwhelming evidence that was not part of James’ initial denied application to UNUM. James’ description of how the seizures affected his life was compelling, and thankfully, presented with undeniable new evidence in James’ appeal, UNUM finally did the right thing. The company paid him for all past-due benefits and a lump-sum settlement amount based on what would have been owed to him under the policy going forward. In the end, because he continued to fight instead of just accepting the insurance company’s denial of his disability claim, James was able to maintain his financial security while he took some much-needed time to pursue further treatment and focus on healing and alternative vocational pursuits.
ERISA is all we do!
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SPOTS MIGHT MAKE YOU A BELIEVER! n Question: Do You Believe in Ghosts?
Then there’s Inez Loyd, William’s niece, who is believed to have killed herself by jumping off the second-floor balcony, devastated after being jilted at the altar. She is often seen and heard playing the piano. Chairs rocking, doorknobs turning, windows rattling, and voices talking are other activities attributed to the ghosts in the Hall. If you visit, the housekeeper of the family who last occupied Loyd Hall in the 1970s and its current tour guide will be the first to tell you: The trio — gone from the world too soon — have “unfinished business” at Loyd Hall that keeps them coming back. Chretien Point is another haunted location still talked about today, even though it is now a gated private residence. The stairway of this mansion on the banks of the Bayou Bourbeux, which was replicated in “Gone With the Wind,” was a frequent fright for previous guests. A female resident shot an intruder dead on the steps, and both the long-gone interloper and the mistress have been seen coming back to visit from time to time. Though visitors are not permitted inside the mansion, you can still drive by it, and you may even encounter the unexpected on the road. The bloody Battle of Bayou Bourbeux was fought near it during the Civil War, and other clashes occurred on the property. Chretien Point was also used as a hospital during the war, and so, of course, it feeds stories of hauntings.
Chretien Point
Marland’s Bridge, leading up to the property, has had several reports of curious activity and has some ghost cred of its own. The bridge is named after Union Lt. William Marland, who was given the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Bayou Bourbeux battle, where there were 812 casualties, 124 wounded, and 566 missing. One can only wonder where those spirits hang out, but a few folks have an inkling. There are creepy and documented instances of the bridge. “The bridge by this plantation is incredible. You can hear voices, marching boots, and on one occasion, we got run off by a strong sulfur smell,” said Toni Daigle in a post on HauntedPlaces.org. “As soon as we moved from the bridge, the smell was gone.” Another anonymous writer said, “We came at night to see if we could see ghosts. We were parked on the bridge. Her car would not start. She tried and tried, but it wouldn’t start. I told her to push the truck [back] off the bridge. So, she did. Then the truck started right up.”
Marland’s Bridge is a bridge to somewhere — complete with electromagnetic fields, shadowy figures, and feelings you’re being watched and touched.
Would you go there? Are you a believer? Happy Halloween!
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
ERISA INSURANCE J. PRICE MCNAMARA Claim Attorney
10455 Jefferson Hwy. Suite 130 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (225) 201-8311 WinMyBenefits.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Revolutionize Your Law Practice With a Virtual Assistant
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UNUM’s Denial Put Our Client and Others at Risk
Louisiana’s Haunted Secrets: Tales of Ghostly Encounters
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Full Brain Activation: The Real Story Unveiled
MIND OVER MYTH: THE TRUTH BEHIND OUR BRAIN POWER You’ve probably watched some action-packed movie where the premise relies entirely on the belief that we only use 10% of our brains. The protagonist somehow “unlocks” their full brain potential and gains superhuman abilities. While movies like “Lucy” and “Limitless” are undoubtedly entertaining, the concept that we only utilize 10% of our brains is entirely false. Despite this widespread belief being entirely inaccurate, many believe it to be a valid scientific finding. In fact, one survey found that 65% of Americans believe in the 10% theory. Even more frightening is the study that revealed nearly 50% of primary and secondary school teachers in many countries believe this myth. So, how much of our brains do we really use? Understand the truth about our brain power. With the help of modern technology such as PET (positron emission tomography) scans and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), we can clearly see that humans use all of their brains at all times. Yes, even when we sleep! Individuals with degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease still use more than 10% of their brains.
Our evolutionary process also would have ensured the useless 90% of our brains would go away through natural selection if this myth were true. When it comes to brain activity, each part of our brain has a function. Where did the 10% myth come from? Despite being a common misbelief, the exact source of this myth is unclear. Many threads lead back to various archaic medical findings that were either misconstrued or outdated and inaccurate. It’s plausible that pseudoscientists, psychics, and self-help gurus falsely perpetuated the 10% myth to sell the desire to “unlock our full potential.” So, the next time you hear someone mention we only use 10% of our brains, you can dispute that myth with abundant and trustworthy scientific sources to back you up.
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