E. Peter Pfaff

Born and raised in western New York, I graduated from the Law School at the University of Buffalo in 1976. After passing the New York and Florida Bar examinations in the spring of 1976, I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Once in Florida I began my legal career as an associate with a firm then called Bradham, Lyle, Skipper, and Cramer, a firm then practicing in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area which represented a large number of insurance companies.

During my first five years of practice I was an “insurance defense” attorney working for the Bradham, Lyle firm. An “insurance defense” attorney is an attorney who represents persons insured for liability who have been sued for acts or failures to act which come within the protection of liability coverage afforded through an insurance policy. If sued on a claim coming within policy coverage, the insurance company assigns counsel to represent its defendant insured.

After five years of representing insureds and insurance companies, I opened my own law firm in St. Petersburg on April 15, 1981. I wanted to (and did) change from representing defendants and their insurance companies to representing injured persons.

During the 1980s the insurance defense practice was totally phased out. The practice was focused on representing individuals in workers compensation, and first party insurance claims (claims on disability insurance policies, life insurance policies, etc.).

In 1997 I moved the primary office location from Florida to East Aurora, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. A primary reason for the move was a health problem of a family member (skin cancer). The Florida climate is great, but for some it can be deadly. Additionally, I had always wanted to practice in New York, where I had grown up and had gone to law school.

Since 1997 my office location has been at 673 Main Street in East Aurora, New York. East Aurora is located 17 miles southeast of Buffalo, approximately 20 minutes by car from downtown.

Although the office is in New York, I continue to practice in Florida. Most recently, I have appeared as attorney for an estate beneficiary in Pasco County, Florida and also settled a Florida Workers Compensation claim, on which I had been working for many years, for a substantial sum.

My primary practice areas are: Disability Insurance Claims, private and group; ERISA Litigation, (particularly Long Term Disability); Employee Benefits Litigation; Federal Civil Practice and Social Security Disability Claims.

Lectures and Writings

• Member, Editorial Board of Paraclete, (Florida) 1983-1992.
• Lecturer, Pasco County Medical Association, 1990.
• Presenter, Erie Institute of Law, Private Disability Insurance, 1999.
• Presenter, Employee Benefits, 5th Annual Labor & Employment Symposium (Erie County Bar Association).
• Presenter, Current Trends in Employee Benefits, 6th Annual Labor and Employment Law Symposium (Erie County Bar Association).
• Presenter, ERISA Litigation for the Non-ERISA Practitioner, Erie Institute of Law, March 23, 2002

Military

1st Lt., N.Y. Army National Guard, 1970-1976

Current Legal Practice

The bulk of my practice concerns Long Term Disability cases. Such cases are usually subject to ERISA, the Employment Retirement Security Act of 1974. Long Term Disability and other employee benefit matters are often difficult and fact intensive. I represent individuals who are claiming Long Term Disability and other benefits. I do not represent insurance companies. Representation provided on both ERISA appeals of Long Term Disability denials (ERISA Administrative Appeals) and in litigation. My experience in ERISA also includes litigated claims of breach of fiduciary duty in pension, 401 K, and LTD (Long Term Disability) cases, as well as medical benefit claims. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to send an email to me — peter@epeterpfaff.com or call (716) 652 2260.