Attorney Cesar Gavidia

Cesar Gavidia is a Partner in the Disability Income Division of Dell Disability Lawyers. Throughout his career, Cesar has helped thousands of disability claimants to recover millions of dollars in short and long term disability benefits. Cesar focuses his legal practice in representing claimants at all stages of a claim for individual or group (ERISA) long-term disability benefits including applications, ERISA appeals, ERISA litigation, ERISA exempt disability claims and lump-sum policy buyouts. He has assisted disabled claimants in nearly every state in the country and in all occupations including teachers, surgeons, dentists, chiropractors, lawyers, judges, corporate executives, software engineers, and even disability insurance claim representatives. Cesar has litigated disability lawsuits against every major disability insurance company and has gained internal knowledge about their internal claims handling processes through extensive litigation. There are very few lawyers in the country that have as much disability insurance claim handling and litigation experience as Cesar.

Cesar’s interest in disability insurance law began in law school, which is where he was first introduced to the complex federal law, ERISA, which governs most claims arising from employer sponsored long-term disability insurance plans. Cesar began working as a law clerk with Attorneys Dell & Schaefer in 2003. Upon law school graduation Cesar joined the disability income division of our firm and has focused his entire legal career on obtaining disability insurance benefits for his clients.

Cesar earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Florida State University and a law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law. Cesar is admitted in the State Bars of Florida and California as well as multiple federal district courts throughout the nation. Cesar represents claimants throughout the nation and has established a reputation for being an aggressive advocate for his clients.

Attorney Cesar Gavidia

Get to Know Attorney Cesar Gavidia

Cesar's Client Reviews
(42)

Cesar's Resolved Cases
(54)
Showing 8 of 54 Disability Cases

Seven Surgeries and The Standard Still Denies Disability Insurance Benefits

Our client was employed with the State of Oregon as a Technical Support Representative. She sought disability through her employer provider LTD Policy with Standard due to low back, hip, and lower extremity pain. She had two hip, two knee and three back surgeries.After paying her for 1.5 years Standard hired a board-certified neurologist to perform a review ... Read More >

Nurse Denied Long-term Disability Benefits by Lincoln After the Definition of Disability Changed

Our client, a registered nurse for Dignity Health, found herself in a difficult situation after being diagnosed with lumbar spondylosis and left knee arthritis. She continued to work, however, struggled while attempting to work through chronic lower back pain and left lower extremity radicular symptoms on a daily basis. Sadly, her condition failed to improve and... Read More >

Louisiana State College Director Wins Unum LTD Appeal But Then Denied Again

Client was Regional Director for the State of Louisiana. She was diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy, spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. In 2020 she underwent an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Unfortunately the surgery did very little to resolve her neck pain, radiculopathy and discomfort.She was a Regional Di... Read More >

Illinois Mutual terminates benefits for Tire Kingdom Service Manager After Review By Hired Physician

Our client was a service manager for Tire Kingdom, due to years of working on his feet he developed chronic back pain and shooting pain down his legs. Also, he had begun experiencing worsening memory and post-concussion headaches and orientation problems likely from some earlier head injury. Due to these surmounting problems, he was forced to stop work... Read More >

JP Morgan Chase Financial Advisor With Cancer Wins Prudential Long Term Disability Appeal

Our client was a 58 year old private client advisor for JP Morgan Chase Bank. He was forced to stop working due to squamos cell carcinoma of the mandibular jaw. He underwent numerous operations on his jaw including reconstruction, tracheostomy and postoperative radiation therapy. Apart from chronic pain suffers dysphagia and is limited in terms of... Read More >

Project Manager with Migraines Gets NY Life Disability Benefit Denial Reversed

Disability due to migraines is very common, but many disability insurance claims deny these long term disability claims because there is no objective evidence of migraines. New York Life will commonly try to limit disability benefits to 24 months and claim that your medical condition is mental and not physical.We were able to stop that from happening in this... Read More >

Liberty Mutual Overturns Denial of Disability Benefits Following Submission of an ERISA Appeal

Liberty Mutual Initially Approves Disability Claim After Finding Total Disability From Own OccupationOur client, John, was working as a Chemical Supervisor for Arkema, Inc., a French specialty chemicals and advanced materials company, when in 2015 he was forced to stop working due to chronic pain in his cervical and lumbar spine relating to degenerative disk disease and post laminectomy syndrome.John f... Read More >

Attorney Cesar Gavidia Successfully Reinstates CIGNA Benefits to a Senior Systems Engineer Suffering from Migraines

Claimant in this case was a Senior Systems Engineer with the EMC Corporation. He had a long history of suffering with chronic migraine headaches. As time went by, the headaches worsened in frequency and severity and were accompanied by photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, and vomiting. In the previous two years before he filed his claim, he had also faced the stress of being diagnosed with kidney cancer and under... Read More >
Cesar's Answered Questions
(51)
Showing 8 of 51 Answered Questions

Q: Can I win LTD benefits after a layoff?

Answered on September 24th 2024 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: The simple answer is, yes, a layoff can affect your ability to collect LTD benefits because it will likely aff... Read More >

Q: Can the Hartford reduce my long term disability payment due to a rental income?

Answered on January 25th 2024 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Usually non-work that is not described a deductible source of income the disability policy would not reduce th... Read More >

Q: Are VA disability payments considered “other income” by Reliance Standard?

Answered on October 25th 2023 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: The disability policy may allow Reliance Standard to deduct and offset your monthly benefit payment by your VA... Read More >

Q: Does Metlife pay Disability payments ahead? Example: December payment is for January.

Answered on October 25th 2023 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Peg, most disability insurers pay monthly disability benefits in arrears, in other words, payments are made fo... Read More >

Q: Does Lincoln Financial apply offsets to all claimants equitably?

Answered on September 20th 2022 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Jerry, yes, Lincoln Financial may seek to recover an overpayment of benefits pursuant to the contractual langu... Read More >

Q: Can New York Life refuse to give me a copy of my short term disability policy?

Answered on September 2nd 2022 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Dave, since the policyholder is your employer New York Life can refuse to provide it to you. You should contac... Read More >

Q: Do I have to sign and return MetLife's authorization to disclose my info in order to continue my claim?

Answered on October 24th 2020 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Pete, in most cases you are required to sign and return the authorization to Metlife. Failure to comply could ... Read More >

Q: Why is Reliance Standard trying to recover payments I was awarded through another company?

Answered on August 6th 2020 by Attorney Cesar Gavidia
A: Dani, your disability plan may contain a provision which allows Reliance to claim and recover an overpayment o... Read More >
Cesar's Disability Videos
(221)
Showing 12 of 221 Videos
Cesar's Disability Benefit Tips
(36)
Showing 8 of 36 Benefit Tips

How To Get Long Term Disability Benefits Approved Due To Neck Pain

If you have a disability claim that involves neck pain, you might be wondering exactly how much neck pain does it take to get a long-term disability insurance claim approved? Despite what a disability insurance companies may lead you to believe, there is no machine or tool that allows you prove how much neck pain you have. So what evidence do you need to prove ... Read More >

How do I prepare for an IME Exam requested by Disability Insurance Company?

Every day we get calls about claimants that have been requested to attend a medical exam requested by a disability insurance company. In this video disability insurance lawyers Gregory Dell and Cesar Gavidia discuss how to prepare for an IME exam and what to expect. Every IME exam is different based on a claimant's medical condition and definition of disability ... Read More >

I have both an individual disability insurance policy, which I purchased on my own, and a group disability insurance policy through my employer. Will I be able to recover benefits from both insurance policies if I become disabled?

Answer: It depends, but most likely yes.The group disability policy provided by your employer will most likely offset other income benefits you receive such as:social security disability;worker's compensation;and other group disability insurance, such as a group you may have through an association or other group insurance provider.However, individual disability benefits from your individual disabil... Read More >

Can my disability insurer offset pension or retirement benefits that I'm drawing from a previous employer?

It is common for group disability insurance policies to contain provisions “offsetting” or reducing the monthly disability benefit by other income benefits being received by the insured, such as social security disability, workers compensation benefits and state disability benefits. Also, these same “offset” provisions often reduce the monthly disability benefit by pension or retirement benefits drawn ... Read More >

Neck Pain and Long Term Disability Insurance Claim Help

Neck pain is unfortunately a very common occurrence for people at some point in their life. When neck pain becomes chronic it makes it extremely difficult for a person to commit to a regular work schedule. In this video, nationwide disability insurance attorneys Cesar Gavidia and Gregory Dell discuss their experience in helping long term disability insurance cla... Read More >

What Should a Claimant Expect When Suing Cigna or any Other Disability Company for Long Term Disability Benefits?

ERISA disability lawsuits are complicated due to the pro-insurance company laws. Our disability attorneys have handled thousands of ERISA disability lawsuits and Cigna is one of the companies that we sue on a routine basis. In this video, attorneys Cesar Gavidia and Gregory Dell discuss the fundamentals of a disability lawsuit against Cigna. If you have a potent... Read More >

When is the Best Time to Submit a Claim for either STD or LTD insurance benefits?

The answer to this question depends on numerous factors such as disability policy language, medical support and treating physician medical documentation. In this video, disability insurance attorneys Gregory Dell and Cesar Gavidia discuss some of the common issues encountered when selecting a date of disability. The date of disability determination is most chall... Read More >

The Long-term Disability Medical Consultant review. What is it? What can be expected?

You’ve arrived home from your doctor visit and you check the mail and find that you have a letter from your long-term disability insurance company. The letter explains that the long-term disability carrier is in the process of conducting a medical consultant review of your claim. Your benefits have not been interrupted; however, the disability insurance carrier has reached out to your treating physicians to ... Read More >
Cesar's Disability Lawsuit Stories
(193)
Showing 8 of 193 Lawsuit Stories

Unum Wrongfully Terminated Disabled Lawyer’s Disability Claim of Depression and Anxiety Despite Improvement in His Condition

This Unum lawsuit and appeal in federal court is a great victory for all Unum disability claimants. This case supports all claimants that are disabled and claim that they cannot return to work as the requirements of their job will aggravate their symptoms and make them unable to work.Mark was a personal injury litigation attorney, when he began struggling with symptoms of... Read More >

California Federal Court Overturns MetLife’s Denial of Disability Benefits

Application for Long-term Disability Under Kaiser Health PlanRenee Monroe worked as a Human Resources Compliance Specialist for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (“Kaiser”). Beginning in 2013 Ms. Monroe began experiencing significant low back pain and was taking off of work by her physicians. An MRI of her lower back indicated diffuse disk bulges at the L5-S1 vertebral disc. Ms. M... Read More >

Court Finds Prudential Abused its Discretion in Denying LTD Benefits

In James Ampe v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America, et al., Plaintiff Ampe worked for several years for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a senior development and test engineer. In August 2011, Ampe slipped and fell in his bathroom, hitting his head.He noticed some cognitive decline over the next few months and took intermittent FMLA leave. Meanwhile, his performance re... Read More >

Court Denied American General's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

In Kelly Ann Tyler v. United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, et al., United States Life Insurance and American General Life Insurance company (together, “American General”), terminated Plaintiffs total disability benefits. Instead of filing a second administrative appeal, Plaintiff filed this ERISA lawsuit alleging, among other things, American General breached the disabili... Read More >

Court Orders Principal Life to Pay Long-Term Disability Benefits to Plaintiff

In Craig Robertson v. Principal Life Insurance Company, Plaintiff, a National Account Sales Manager with XPO Logistics in Phoenix, Arizona, became disabled in July 2016 after severely injuring his left foot. His request for short-term disability benefits was granted. In October 2016 he filed a claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits, but in November 2017, that claim was denied.Plaintiff arg... Read More >

Court Rules Against Unum Holding Plaintiff's Plan is Exempt from ERISA Coverage

In Paula Le v. Unum Insurance Company of America, plaintiff was severely injured in an automobile accident and was unable to return to her job. She was covered by an employee welfare benefit plan (the plan) through her employer, Opelousas General Health System (OGHS). She was awarded long-term disability benefits beginning in September 2013.In January 2017, Unum informed her it was terminating her benefits... Read More >

California Federal Court Orders Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to reinstate benefits to disabled analyst

Prior to disability, David Do was employed as an Analyst-Desktop services for IVZ, Inc. He was responsible to resolving and handling “all support calls relating to desktop software/hardware installation and maintenance.”Mr. Do was insured under an employer sponsored long-term disability plan administered and funded by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. In February 2013, Mr. Do injured his neck, back ... Read More >

Aetna Ordered by Federal Court to Reconsider the Claim of Amazon Employee Disabled Due to Urinary Incontinence

In July 2016, Kimberly Garner, suffering from urinary incontinence, left her job with Amazon, and filed a claim for long-term disability benefits with Amazon’s long-term disability insurer, Aetna Life Insurance Company.The Amazon Long-term Disability Plan required that in order to receive monthly benefits, the employee insured must be unable to “perform the material duties of [their] own occupation sol... Read More >
Fun Facts About Cesar

We are not your typical law firm. We are always thinking outside of the box so that we can keep our clients a step ahead of the insurance companies. Customer service with our clients is an essential element as we want every case handled as if it was our own. Since the lawyer that you work with at our firm will need to know a lot about your life, we think it is important that you have the opportunity to learn more about the lawyer(s) working on your case. Here are some interesting and fun facts about Cesar Gavidia:

  • Describe myself in three words: Ambitious, determined, gregarious.
  • Best Thing To Do On Free Time: I enjoy boating, fishing and spending time with family and friends
  • Hobbies: Boating, Snowboarding/Skiing, Wakeboarding
  • Favorite Food: Ceviche or a good hamburger
  • Favorite Place to Travel: I love traveling to Breckenridge and really anywhere in the Rockies. The landscape is breathtaking. I also love traveling to the Bahamas and Virgin Islands.
  • Favorite TV Show: Game of Thrones and Dexter
  • Favorite Book: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
  • Favorite Musician: Jimmy Buffett; Social Distortion; Bob Marley
  • Favorite Quote: We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle
  • What do I like about my job: Often, when people contact us they have been sparring alone with the insurance company, they are beaten up, weathered and don’t know where else to turn. I enjoy the ability to then counsel these people, instill in them renewed confidence and provide them with that second wind that they need to recover what is rightfully theirs. To know that I have helped someone turn a situation which at some point looked grim, into something positive is the most rewarding aspect of my job.

Reviews from Our Clients

Request a Free Consultation

Our Lawyers Respond Same Day

5 Ways We Help Get Your Benefits Paid

Get Your Disability Application Approved

Our goal is to get your application for disability insurance benefits approved. Applying for disability insurance benefits can be a difficult process and the information you provide is critical. Most disability insurance companies look at your application in hopes of finding a reason to deny your claim. Your disability company will ask you to complete numerous forms, interview you, request lots of information, speak with your doctors and possibly request to have you examined by their hired gun doctor.

Through our experience of having helped thousands of disability insurance claimants, our disability insurance lawyers will guide you through the entire application process and give you the best chance to get your disability claim approved the first time.

Submit A Strong Appeal Package

If your disability insurance benefits have been wrongfully denied, then our disability insurance lawyers know exactly what it takes to get your disability claim approved. You only get once chance to submit an Appeal, therefore every piece of evidence that will support your disability claim must be included. The goal is to win your disability benefits at the Appeal level, but while preparing your Appeal you must consider how a federal judge will review your disability claim if your benefit denial is upheld.

Preparing a strong disability appeal package is an art that requires you to understand how the courts interpret your disability policy language, ERISA regulations / laws, and how to strategically present evidence in support of your definition of disability. We encourage you to contact any of our long-term disability attorneys for a free immediate review of your disability denial.

Sue Your Disability Company

98% of the disability insurance lawsuits filed by our law firm have resulted in either the payment of benefits or a lump-sum settlement agreement. Our disability insurance attorneys have filed ERISA governed and private policy long term disability insurance lawsuits against every major disability insurance company in state and federal courts nationwide and we love fighting for the little guy against the multi-billion dollar insurance company giants.

We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients and we would like the opportunity to provide you with a free review of your disability benefit denial. There are many complex factors in a disability benefit lawsuit and the legal battle to win long term disability benefits can be fierce.

Prevent A Disability Benefit Denial

Approval of long-term disability is a continuous process as every disability insurance company will evaluate your eligibility for benefits on a monthly basis. You can never let your guard down and assume that your disability company will continue to pay your benefits for as long as you think you need them.

Our disability insurance law firm offers a reasonable flat fee monthly claim handling service in which we handle every aspect of your long-term disability claim and do whatever it takes to make sure you are paid every month.

Negotiate a Lump-Sum Settlement

Let's discuss if a lump-sum settlement or buyout of your disability insurance claim is both available and makes financial sense for you. Our disability insurance lawyers have negotiated more than five-hundred million dollars in disability insurance buyouts and we know how to get you a maximum settlement. A disability insurance company is not required to offer a buyout and not every disability company offers them.

Questions About Hiring Us

Who are Dell Disability Lawyers?

We are disability insurance attorneys that know how to get your short or long term disability benefits paid. As a nationwide law firm we have helped thousands of disability insurance claimants throughout the United States to collect hundreds of millions of dollars of disability insurance benefits from every major disability insurance company.

Our attorneys have been able to either get our clients paid monthly disability benefits or obtain a one-time lump-sum settlement in more than 98% of our cases. Our disability insurance lawyers have seen it all when it comes to disability insurance claims and we know exactly what it takes for your disability claim to be approved.

We offer disability insurance attorney representation nationwide and we welcome you to contact any of our LTD lawyers for a free immediate review of your disability claim. We also invite you to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel where we have more than 900 videos and regularly provide tips to help protect your disability benefits.

Who do you help?

Our disability insurance attorneys help individuals that have either purchased a long term disability insurance policy from an insurance company or obtained short or long term disability insurance coverage as a benefit from their employer. We have helped individuals in almost every type of occupation with monthly disability benefit payments ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.

Our clients include all types of employees ranging from retail associates, sales representatives, government employees, police officers, teachers, janitors, nurses, pilots, truck drivers, financial advisors, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, consultants, IT professionals, engineers, professional athletes, business owners, and high level executives.

A strong understanding and presentation of the duties of your occupation is essential for securing disability insurance benefits.

Do you work in my state?

Yes. We are a national disability insurance law firm that is available to represent you regardless of where you live in the United States. We have partner lawyers in every state and we have filed lawsuits in most federal courts nationwide. Our disability insurance lawyers represent disability claimants at all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits. There is nothing that our lawyers have not seen in the disability insurance world.

What are your fees?

Since we represent disability insurance claimants at different stages of a disability insurance claim we offer a variety of different fee options. We understand that claimants living on disability insurance benefits have a limited source of income; therefore we always try to work with the claimant to make our attorney fees as affordable as possible.

The three available fee options are a contingency fee agreement (no attorney fee or cost unless we make a recovery), hourly fee or fixed flat rate.

In every case we provide each client with a written fee agreement detailing the terms and conditions. We always offer a free initial phone consultation and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in obtaining payment of your disability insurance benefits.

Do I have to come to your office to work with your law firm?

No. For purposes of efficiency and to reduce expenses for our clients we have found that 99% of our clients prefer to communicate via phone, email, fax, or video conferencing sessions. If you prefer an initial in-person meeting please let us know. A disability company will never require you to come to their office and similarly we are set up so that we handle your entire claim without the need for you to come to our office.

How can I contact you?

When you call us during normal business hours you will immediately speak with a disability insurance attorney. We can be reached at 800-698-9159 or by email. Lawyers and staff must return all client calls same day. Client emails are usually replied to within the same business day and seem to be the preferred and most efficient method of communication for most clients.

Helpful Resources