Spotlight on pro bono
Woman’s pension benefits prevent home foreclosure
By Richard Jay Hess
Thanks to the pro bono efforts of McDermott, Will & Emery attorneys Todd Solomon and Brett Johnson, a 61-year-old woman will realize nearly $400,000 in pension benefits during her lifetime. She has been able to use this income to save her home from foreclosure.
In early 2003, Mary (fictitious name), an employee of the City of Chicago for 31 years, was deemed totally and permanently disabled due to a work-related illness. Mary quickly applied for and began receiving disability benefits.
In November 2003, she renewed her request for medical leave. In August 2006, however, the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (MEAB) stopped payment of her benefits, alleging that the city had never received her medical leave of absence renewal or the required doctor’s forms.
She was therefore presumed to have resigned, making her ineligible for any disability benefits from the fund. By that time, she had received $68,763.37 in disability benefits, which the MEAB considered to be an overpayment.
Although Mary became eligible for a regular retirement benefit of $1,243 per month in November 2006, the MEAB decided to withhold those benefits until 2011, when the overpayment would be recouped.
With no income for the foreseeable future, Mary was unable to pay her mortgage, and her lender began foreclosure proceedings. She contacted Lura Barber, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (LAF) pension rights advocate, for help.
Mary was able to show Barber that the request for a leave of absence was submitted in a timely fashion and that she had made it clear to the city that she did not intend to resign.
In response to an e-mail blast sent to LAF’s pro bono panel, Solomon and Johnson volunteered to take on the case. Together, they spent more than 90 hours on it, eventually negotiating a settlement with the city.
Mary’s benefits were reinstated and her employment records were amended to reflect that she was indeed on an approved medical leave of absence. She is now entitled to regular retirement benefits of $1,245 per month for the rest of her life.
The tireless pro bono efforts of Todd Solomon and Brett Johnson not only saved Mary from homelessness, but also ensured that she can live her retirement years without worrying about her income.
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Richard Hess, a supervisory attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, is a member of the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and the Senior Lawyers Section Council.