Attorney Jay Symonds

Jay Symonds is a Partner at Dell Disability Lawyers with nearly three decades of ERISA disability litigation experience and more than three thousand ERISA disability claims, appeals, and lawsuits under his belt.

Jay spent the first half of his career on the insurer side, serving as in-house and outside counsel for some of the country’s largest disability insurance carriers, including Sun Life Financial, Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, and Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company. As Senior Litigation Counsel at Sun Life Financial, he managed all ERISA disability litigation filed in the United States involving the company’s group insurance products. He also spent several hundred hours training insurer claims and appeals units on DOL regulatory compliance, claims investigations, and ERISA case law.

In 2009, Jay served as Chair of the Defense Research Institute’s annual Life, Health, Disability and ERISA Seminar in New York City — the largest and most prominent ERISA defense conference in the country. He also served as a seminar speaker in 2005, 2007, and 2009. In 2014, he co-authored the “ERISA – First Circuit” chapter of the American Bar Association’s Misrepresentation in the Life, Health, and Disability Insurance Application Process: A National Survey.

A cum laude graduate of New England Law and Bentley University (B.S. in Finance), Jay has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1998 and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Second, and Third Circuits. Since joining Dell Disability Lawyers in 2015, Jay has used his deep carrier-side knowledge to fight for claimants who are unfairly denied disability and life insurance benefits under ERISA.

Bar and Court Admissions

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • United States District Court, Massachusetts
  • First Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Second Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Affiliations

  • Boston Bar Association
  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • American Bar Association

Education

  • Bentley University, BS in Finance, cum laude
  • New England Law, JD, cum laude

Publications

  • ERISA – First Circuit: Misrepresentation in the Life, Health, and Disability Insurance Application Process: A National Survey. American Bar Association (Second Edition).
Attorney Jay Symonds

Get to Know Attorney Jay Symonds

Jay's Client Reviews
(37)

Jay's Resolved Cases
(39)
Showing 4 of  39 Disability Cases

Lincoln overturned its previous denial of LTD benefits for Escalation Engineer

Our client, Mr. E, formerly worked as an Escalation Engineer for a national data services and data management company. For many years Mr. E suffered from chronic debilitating effects of multiple physical conditions and ailments, including Chronic Intractable Migraines, which left him with debilitating physical and cognitive impairments. Mr. E was unwilling to give up his career and worked a...

Aetna Overturns Denial of Long Term Disability Benefits for Quality Control Manager

Our client, Mr. J, formerly worked as a Quality Control Manager for a large home furnishings store. For many years Mr. J suffered from the debilitating effects of his chronic, organic medical conditions and associated cognitive deficits, including transient cerebral ischemia and chronic migraines, which left him with significant physical and cognitive impairments. As a result of his serious medical conditions ...

After Appeal, Lincoln Overturns Denial of LTD benefits for Trucking Supervisor

Our client, Mr. D, formerly worked as a Trucking Supervisor for a large steel distribution center. For many years Mr. D suffered from chronic debilitating effects of multiple physical conditions and ailments, including severe degenerative osteoarthritis and cervical spine multilevel degenerative disc disease, which left him with debilitating physical impairments. Mr. D was unwilling to give up his career and w...

Sun Life Overturns Its Previous Denial of LTD Benefits for Massachusetts Teacher

Our client, Ms. L, formerly worked as a Technology Teacher for a public high school in Massachusetts. For many years Ms. L suffered from chronic debilitating effects of multiple physical conditions and ailments, including most notably severe degenerative joint disease and osteoarthritis, which left her with debilitating physical pain and occupational impairments. Ms. L was unwilling to give up his career and w...
Jay's Answered Questions
(56)
Showing 4 of  56 Answered Questions

Q: Will Lincoln Financial Really Pay My Disability Benefits Through 2033?

Answered on March 19th 2026 by Attorney Jay Symonds
A: At the 24-month mark the definition of total disability typically changes from inability to perform your “ow...

Q: SSDI Backpay and LTD Reimbursement: What New York Life Can and Can't Claim?

Answered on March 18th 2026 by Attorney Jay Symonds
A: The payment of retroactive SSDI benefits likely created and overpayment that you would be required to pay back...

Q: Pregnancy health issues

Answered on September 23rd 2025 by Attorney Jay Symonds
A: Nea, did you file a Short-Term or Long-Term claim with Unum? When did you file it? From your question it seems...

Q: What can I do if my appeal is denied?

Answered on July 7th 2025 by Attorney Jay Symonds
A: Andie, if the appeal is denied, NYL may offer a voluntary second level appeal. If not, you will have exhausted...
Jay's Disability Videos
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Showing 1 of  1 Videos
Jay's Disability Benefit Tips
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Showing 2 of  2 Benefit Tips

If I Have Physical and Mental Disabling Conditions Will My Disability Benefit Be Subject to a Limited Pay Period?

The answer to this question is very fact specific in each case. Not every disability policy has a limited pay period for a mental condition. Most employer provided long term disability policies will limit mental health disabilities to either 12 or 24 months. In the situation where a claimant has both physical and mental disabilities, then it still may be possibl...

Can my severance agreement eliminate my right to claim disability insurance benefits?

It is a common occurrence for a disabled employee to be offered a severance agreement when they can no longer work due to a disabling medical condition. An employee must take great caution as the severance agreement may eliminate all future rights to any short or long term disability benefits. Here is an example of a potential client that recently contacted us. Employee began working in the finance department ...
Jay's Disability Lawsuit Stories
(24)
Showing 4 of  24 Lawsuit Stories

Court Rules Plaintiff's Medical Records Was Replete With Evidence Supporting Claim of MS & Was Not A Pre-Existing Condition

BackgroundIn Bayer v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, C.A. No. 18-9702 (E.D. LA 2020), Plaintiff began working as a senior property manager for Sealy Operating III, Inc., in September 2014. According to Sealy’s written job description, Plaintiff’s job duties included maintaining properties in good order and condition by contracting and scheduling necessary repairs and maintenance, con...

Court Rules That Aetna’s Failure To Consider Plaintiff’s Actual Job Duties Was Arbitrary And Capricious

Aetna’s Rationale for DenialIn Patterson v. Aetna Life Insurance Company, C.A. No. 17-3566 (3rd Cir. 2019) through his employer, First Consulting Group, Inc. (“FCG”), is a pharmaceutical consulting firm, Patterson became covered by a long-term disability policy underwritten by Aetna. Patterson’s occupation with FCG was characterized as “Director, Busin...

Court Rules That MetLife Improperly Limited Proof Of Claim To Only Objective Data

In Roberts v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., C.A. No. 6:18-cv-725-TMC (D. S.C. Sept. 3, 2019), Plaintiff worked for IBM for more than eighteen (18) years when he stopped working in September 2010 due to intractable migraine headaches and cervical pain. He filed claims for Social Security (“SS”) disability benefits and short term disability (STD) benefits with MetLife, which is the claims adminis...

Court Rules That MetLife Did Not Consider The Material Duties Of Claimants Occupation

In Monroe v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 2020 WL 143005 (E.D. Cal. March 24, 2020), Plaintiff worked for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (“Kaiser”) until 2014 when chronic lumbar back pain caused her stop working. She applied for long term disability benefits (LTD) but was denied. Plaintiff hen filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) to recover benefits due to her....

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