Jennifer Hess is a partner at Riemer Hess LLC, a New York City-based law firm with a national practice focused on ERISA long-term disability and disability insurance claims. The firm represents professionals and executives in disability claims, administrative appeals, and federal litigation involving denied or terminated benefits.
Her work focuses on building strong claim records, addressing common insurer defenses, and litigating cases in federal court when necessary. A significant portion of her practice involves physicians and surgeons, where disability determinations depend on a detailed understanding of occupational demands such as procedural skill, cognitive function, fatigue, and patient safety, and how medical conditions affect the ability to perform them.
Hess writes and lectures on disability law and is the author of ERISA Disability Claims and Litigation, An Employment Attorney’s Guide to ERISA Long Term Disability Claims, and A Personal Injury Attorney’s Guide to TBI LTD Claims. Her work has been published by the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, American Association for Justice, and U.S. Pain Foundation. She is also a Lawline faculty member and a preferred attorney with the Brain Injury Association of America. More information is available on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Sooner or later, most physicians encounter this moment. A patient arrives at an appointment carrying a thick envelope of disability insurance forms. They look uncomfortable when they ask the question.
“Can you help me fill these out?”
For many clinicians, the request lands at the worst possible time. The waiting room is full. The schedule is already behind. And the forms themselves are long, repetitive, and often confusing. Still, you try to …
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Why your patient’s disability claim was denied
