In 1988, the newly elected president of the PBA, Gary DelaRaba, brought a brilliant and innovative concept to lawyering for police unions. DelaRaba decided that he would hire expert law firms that concentrated their practice in a particular specialty, rather than have one firm to handle all the union’s business. After conducting an extensive vetting process, DelaRaba selected the firm of Fusco, Brandenstein and Rada, P.C. The selection of Fusco, Brandenstein & Rada, P.C. was based on numerous interviews with the partners of the firm, the general reputation of the firm and the firm’s established superior track record in the disability fields in which it practices.
After the firm was retained by the Nassau County PBA, tremendous successes were achieved, not only in the areas of Workers’ Compensation, Social Security and personal injury claims, but particularly in claims for accidental disability retirement cases (commonly referred to as “3/4’s”), an area in which Nassau County Police Officers had not been faring well until Fusco, Brandenstein & Rada, P.C. became involved. In fact, the law firm became so successful in police disability claims, that Newsday ran a series of Pulitzer Prize winning articles regarding police officers and their disability benefits entitled “Cops on Disability.”
In this series, Newsday proclaimed that “The firm’s hiring [by the Nassau County PBA] has paid off – its disability clients have a 75 percent approval rate in Albany.”
The firms’ approval rate continues to be very, very high due to aggressive, well-presented, careful, thorough and complete legal representation. Former Nassau County Police Commissioner Donald Kane was quoted by Newsday as describing Fusco, Brandenstein & Rada, P.C., as “much more sophisticated in their abilities.” Newsday proclaimed Milan Rada, Esq. to be a “leading police-disability lawyer on Long Island.” And, according to state officials cited by Newsday, “The sophistication of [this] lawyer, state officials say, gives Long Island police an edge over those from areas with smaller police forces, where lawyers who specialize in police pension law often don’t exist.”
The legal expertise of Fusco, Brandenstein & Rada, P.C., as touted by Newsday is available to any injured and disabled worker. The same high level of legal representation enjoyed by police officer members of the Nassau County PBA is available to any applicant for Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability, Municipal Law Section 207-c disputes, Line of duty determinations and personal injury lawsuits. The firm takes great pride in our legal work on behalf of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association and the many other unions who have chosen it to represent their members. We take equally great pride in each individual client we represent, whether a PBA member or not. All you have to do is call us, make an appointment and retain us. We will take care of the rest. You will find that it is a major advantage to have one law firm to represent you in ALL your disability claims. The representation is seamless and issues that cross all the areas can be handled much more efficiently. Let us know if we can help. Here’s more of what Newsday had to say:
The Lawyers
“Injured on or off the job? We’ll protect your rights. We’ll help you get all the monetary and health care benefits you deserve.”
“…..The firm’s hiring has paid off – its disability clients have a 75 percent approval rate in Albany.”
“….They are the driving force behind a dramatic increase in awards of the lucrative pensions, with the retirement system staff no match for their preparedness and legal expertise. ”
“…..Milan Rada, is a former attorney for the Social Security system. The sophistication of these lawyers, state officials say, gives Long Island police an edge over those from areas with smaller police forces, where lawyers who specialize in police pension law often don’t exist. ”
“The lawyers advise police applicants at every step along the process toward getting disabiility retirement. First, they review their cases to see if they meet the technical legal requirement for disability retirement. Then they look to see if the cops have undergone sufficient diagnostic testing to prove they are disabled and have statements of disability from their doctors.”
“It is essential that we keep close ties to the health care community, so that we can refer our clients to qualified doctors, chiropractors and health care professionals on request.”
“In 1976, four Nassau police officers got accidental disabilities….In 1986, the number was about 92, some phenomenal number.”
“DelaRaba argues that the screening of applications by Rada’s firm amounts to a weeding-out of potentially phony disability claims”