Susan B. Grabarsky represents individual and group policyholders in disability insurance bad faith actions and ERISA matters. Since becoming a member of the firm, her practice has focused on the representation of disabled professionals, entertainers, and college and pro athletes, though she continues to represent a wide variety of workers in every field.
Ms. Grabarsky’s insurance expertise derives from her many years of experience as a cost-containment analyst for major insurance companies and large self-insured employers in California. While attending law school on scholarships, she continued working full time in the insurance industry. She handled medical claim review, property and casualty claim valuation, and attended hearings on behalf of insurance carriers. She recognized the value of having good insurance, but also the myriad of ways in which the claims process can go wrong.
Susan B. Grabarsky represents individual and group policyholders in disability insurance bad faith actions and ERISA matters. Since becoming a member of the firm, her practice has focused on the representation of disabled professionals, entertainers, and college and pro athletes, though she continues to represent a wide variety of workers in every field.
Ms. Grabarsky’s insurance expertise derives from her many years of experience as a cost-containment analyst for major insurance companies and large self-insured employers in California. While attending law school on scholarships, she continued working full time in the insurance industry. She handled medical claim review, property and casualty claim valuation, and attended hearings on behalf of insurance carriers. She recognized the value of having good insurance, but also the myriad of ways in which the claims process can go wrong.
Early in her legal career, Ms. Grabarsky worked for insurance defense firms handling property, casualty, and medical malpractice cases. But, after her first Superior Court jury trial – a victory while representing the plaintiff – she realized that her heart was not in defending big insurance companies. For more than a decade, she has been representing policyholders exclusively in their efforts to obtain wrongfully denied insurance benefits.
Ms. Grabarsky is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale Hubbell, an honor awarded to lawyers with the highest ethical standards and professional ability. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Joseph B. Campbell American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to fostering civility and ethics in the legal profession.
Ms. Grabarsky has been featured as the insurance law expert at national conferences for the disabled community, and has addressed physicians and patients regarding insurance issues. She has served as a guest speaker on cost-containment and disability management panels for claims professionals. She has authored numerous articles about Individual Disability Insurance and ERISA issues for lawyers, and is a frequent speaker on these topics at legal conferences.
In addition to all the free consultations she gives at DarrasLaw, her pro bono activities focus on advocacy for at-risk children. She serves as a mentor and, prior to the birth of her son, was a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth with extraordinary challenges.
Ms. Grabarsky served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Western State University, where she received her J.D. cum laude and was a Law Review Editor. During law school, she had the honor of working as a Judicial Extern for Presiding Justice David G. Sills, of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District.
Ms. Grabarsky is admitted to practice in all California State and Federal District Courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of California, and the United States Supreme Court.
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