Many people have lawyers in their family. Maybe your brother-in-law? But, if you have an ERISA disability claim, it is not for your lawyer brother-in-law to handle just because he’s related to you. Many lawyers know little more about ERISA than do the people they undertake to represent.

What such representation may lead to was made clear in Riley v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company,WL 814742 C.A.1 (2014), recently decided in Massachusetts.

Mr. Riley worked for Metlife in a managerial position when he was stricken by chronic pain in his back, neck and some joints. He applied for and received STD, but was denied LTD.

The following year, he was able to resume working, but in a non-managerial position. He earned substantially less than he had previously. About a year later, Mr. Riley’s pain returned and he stopped working again. This time he received both STD and LTD. But, his LTD benefit left him only $50/month of his MetLife benefit after it took its offset for a Social Security benefit he was receiving.

He tried to argue that his ERISA benefit should have been based upon his managerial salary of $80,000 when he was first stricken not his substantially lower salary after he returned to work. If this had been the case, Mr. Riley would have received a monthly benefit of about $1400 from Metlife, not $50.

It seems obvious that his then legal counsel was unaware, as so many attorneys are, that ERISA is a law unto itself. His attorneys started suit in State court in February, 2007, alleging violation of a Massachusetts statute! They did not realize that ERISA, a Federal statute, preempts state law. Jurisdiction lies only in Federal District Courts. So, his case was dismissed.

In 2011, at Mr. Riley’s urging, his then attorneys filed again, but in the Federal District Court. Their filing did not conform to the rules of that Federal District (each has their own) and the pleading was not served properly. Again the suit was dismissed on motion in January, 2012.

By March, 2012, claimant Riley had retained counsel knowledgeable in ERISA who filed a proper complaint, except for one thing – it was filed after the 6-year statute of limitations had run and was dismissed for that reason.

This is a prime example of what can happen when a lawyer representing an ERISA claimant has no idea of what ERISA is all about and doesn’t invest the time and effort to learn even the basics.

There is no way of knowing if Mr. Riley’s claim could have been successful because he never had his day in court. His original attorney didn’t seem to know enough ERISA fundamentals to get him there.

If Mr. Riley’s second round of pain was caused by the condition that caused his first round, he stood a reasonable chance of establishing that his actual date of disability was the earlier STD claim and therefore his benefit should have been based on his first salary and not his lesser second one.

We live in a world of specialization, and ERISA lawyers are specialists in the arcane world that is ERISA. Because the stakes can be so high, it is critical to get advice and guidance from someone who knows the ropes so that you don’t learn about ERISA the hard way.