Good Neighbor Podcast for the Greater Chattanooga Region
Connecting Business Friends to Local Neighbors!
Our goal is to enable business owners and executives such as yourself, who serve Cleveland and the Greater Chattanooga Area, to share your stories and connect with your neighbors residing in the nearby communities. Through the local projects and programs offered from the Friends & Neighbors Group, including The Good Neighbor Podcast, residents are able to learn more about local entrepreneurs and executives including the products and/or services your business offers them
EVERY LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS HAS A STORY TO TELL...
THE GOOD NEIGHBOR PODCAST HELPS TO TELL YOUR STORY LOUD & PROUD!!
Good Neighbor Podcast for the Greater Chattanooga Region
Navigating Disability Insurance Claims with Audrey Dolmovich and Noah Breazeale of Eric Buchanan & Associates
Ever wondered how to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of disability insurance claims? Join us on the Good Neighbor Podcast as we bring you invaluable insights from Audrey Dolmovich and Noah Breazeale, seasoned attorneys from Eric Buchanan & Associates. Audrey, who has been with the firm for seven remarkable years, and Noah, a dedicated part of the team for five years, share their professional journeys and the personal stories that shape their empathetic approach to client advocacy.
In our conversation, Audrey and Noah delve into the intricacies of ERISA and non-ERISA disability claims, life insurance denials, and long-term care denials. Listen as they break down the nuances between employer-provided and individual disability policies and the unique challenges faced by those with conditions like fibromyalgia and neuropathy. They emphasize the importance of thorough medical documentation and the critical role of legal assistance in collecting evidence to support disability claims, especially for self-employed individuals.
We also explore the heart of their practice—a client-centered approach rooted in genuine concern and empathy. Audrey and Noah discuss how treating every case with the same care as if they were advising family members ensures clients feel heard and supported. Wrapping up, we underscore the importance of timely action in claim disputes and encourage our listeners to keep supporting local businesses in the Chattanooga area. Plus, don't miss out on our invitation to nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show!
Eric Buchanan & Associates
414 McCallie Ave
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Mailing address:
PO Box 11208
Chattanooga, TN 37401
P (877) 634-2506
F (423) 634-2505
intaketeam@buchanandisability.com
https://www.buchanandisability.com
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This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Scott Howell.
Speaker 2:Hello good neighbors, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Greater Chattanooga Area. Again, as the host told you, my name is Scott Howell and I'm your host here for today. The purpose of the Good Neighbor podcast? We get asked this a lot what is it all about? People never heard of it before. What do you do on there?
Speaker 2:Well, our desire is to bring awareness to the residents living all over our communities regarding locally owned and or operated businesses in the greater Chattanooga area. You know small businesses are sometimes this is forgotten that small businesses have always been the backbone of our communities, and what I mean by that? Small and medium sized businesses. You know our communities weren't built on corporate giants. They were built on small to medium sized businesses growing themselves in that community and then the corporate giants came in later. But every local business has a story to tell and our desire at the Good Neighbor Podcast is just to help them tell it loud and proud. And so today we've got some of our good neighbors here with us. We've got Audrey Dalmopich. Did I say that correctly?
Speaker 3:Yes, you did.
Speaker 2:I did good, all right, and we've got Noah, brazil, and we are happy to have y'all with us today. Now, if you don't care, I'm going to let you tell us who you're with your firm name and kind of explain to us a little bit more about what you do. But before we jump into that, I'd like to know, audrey and Noah, would y'all like to share with us a little bit of personal about yourself and your families?
Speaker 3:Sure, absolutely so. I'm Audrey. I am a junior partner here at Eric Buchanan Associates. I've been here, for goodness, almost seven years now. I started here right out of law school, so this has been home for the past seven years. I also am married and I have a one-year-old son and my husband, I think would be very upset if I didn't also mention our two dogs, who we also love very much.
Speaker 2:I love it. Don't forget the dogs, that's for sure.
Speaker 4:My boy goes everywhere I go. So my name's Noah. I've been an attorney with the firm for goodness five years, which is just a blink of an eye. Time flies when you're having fun, and all that Right. I also have a lovely wife. We have a daughter. She just turned two, audrey. You have a whole lot to look forward to in the next year. It's getting a lot spicier. And, yeah, just great to be here in the Chattanooga area, moved away from law school, but I always knew in my heart that I wanted to come back, and that's exactly what I did.
Speaker 2:Well, that's awesome. Yeah, I've heard talking about the children. I've heard you.
Speaker 4:you know they go from the wonderful ones to the terrible twos, so I'll do it for yourself while you can. I didn't. I didn't realize. As is often the case, you don't know what you have until it's gone. A lot of people tell of.
Speaker 2:People tell me. Say, when you turn 40, you start falling apart. I thought it was a joke. The year I turned 40, I lost my 20-20 vision. My shoulders started killing me, the hip started bothering me. It was all kind of things.
Speaker 3:You guys are just telling me I have a lot to look forward to.
Speaker 2:Live while you can, Audrey, Live while you can.
Speaker 1:Audrey.
Speaker 2:So tell us all about Eric Buchanan and Associates and what y'all do there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so at Eric Buchanan Associates, we are in downtown Chattanooga, but we practice nationwide and we help disabled people sue insurance companies. So we practice ERISA. So that's long term disability, short term disability, life insurance denials, goodness. Long term care denials. And then we also do non ERISA disability claims as well. And no, I don't know if you have anything to add on, if I missed a category of what we do.
Speaker 4:Oh gosh, if you did, I didn't catch it and basically, I think to you know, we could boil it down to you know, when you run into issues with your insurance company, when it comes to health, when it comes to employee benefits, we help you.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah. So I think instantly a large portion of the population. When you said you sue insurance companies, you instantly became heroes. There's not many people that don't have a story to tell about. You know dealing with an insurance company Right so. But you know, thankfully there are good companies out there. I don't mean that Thankfully there are good companies out there who do what they say they'll do, but in those instances when they don't, and just a general consumer like myself, we don't know what to do, we don't know where to go next, we don't know. So a lot of times we don't know what our rights are. So that's where you step in and and you help us. So, audrey, you said you work nationwide. Does that mean any insurance company or any client?
Speaker 3:Both, so our clients are all over the nation. I even have clients in Hawaii or New Jersey. Of course, we are located here in Chattanooga, tennessee, though that's where our office is Right, ok, so you got a client in Hawaii.
Speaker 2:You ask if they have a spare bedroom, because you're coming to meet them in person.
Speaker 4:That's a case where all of the hearings have to be in person.
Speaker 2:I love it. Requirement oh man. So, noah, talk to me about what your take on your journey is. How did you decide to become an attorney and then decide to be an attorney in that field?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, it's kind of funny. So my dad is a doctor here in town. He's an eye doctor and I grew up I had the opportunity to work in his clinics, help people for the longest time. I wanted to be a doctor. I loved helping people. I still love helping people.
Speaker 4:I got to organic chemistry in college and decided I didn't want to be a doctor after all, and so, you know, I became the next best thing and which, for me, was to go into the law. And you know there's all different justice with medicine, there's all different types of law. But I knew my heart that I wanted to do something where I help people, um, and particularly help people overcome you know obstacles and odds that uh, unfortunately for a lot of us. You know, for example, these insurance companies, they've got a lot of us. For example, these insurance companies, they've got a lot of money, they have the technical terms, and to be able to help people fight against these big machines like that was something that's always been a passion of mine. And so I found my home here at Eric Buchanan and, just like Audrey, as soon as I graduated law school, I clerked for a judge here in Hamilton County for a couple months, but otherwise went straight into doing this.
Speaker 2:So when you talk about organic chemistry, you don't know how many times I've heard that same story.
Speaker 4:We're all living the same life, scott.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they said they wanted to be a doctor until they got to chemistry.
Speaker 4:And I will say that as a law degree it is a doctorate degree.
Speaker 2:So technically, Audrey, tell us about your journey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I have always known that I wanted to be an attorney. I have no one in my family that's an attorney, so I have no idea why, but I think it was in first or second grade you had to do like a drawing project where you choose your profession, and I chose to be an attorney and I've just clung onto it the whole time. I do have. You know, I always knew I wanted to be an attorney. I didn't know what type of law I wanted to do, but I have several family members that are disabled and I always knew that I wanted to help people. That was kind of that was my passion going into law school.
Speaker 3:No matter what I did, I wanted it to be an area of law where I'm helping people and then having that background of having family members that have gone through the system and I've seen how difficult it is to get the disability benefits that drew me to this. And it just so happened that, you know, when I moved to Chattanooga, we have Eric Buchanan and Associates here and they had a job opening and I applied and I started and there's no way I'm leaving. I mean, this is the area of law that you know. It makes you feel good, at the end of the day, that you're actually helping people and helping people tell their stories and go up against these big insurance companies that a lot of people think are unbeatable. But here we are, you know, marching in full force. So yeah, so that's how I came here and into this area of law.
Speaker 2:Well, Audrey, if we could talk to your husband and he explained how good you are at arguing, we might understand why you always wanted to be a lawyer, right?
Speaker 3:Yes, you can also ask my family.
Speaker 2:That's what I tell people. I said I'm really good at arguing. I should have been a lawyer, you know.
Speaker 4:Either that or a teacher right.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, right. Well, you know, it's really cool when you hear about people's journeys in whatever they're doing, if they do what they love, it's always a cool thing to hear about their journey, and there's so many different things that I've heard people talk about. But also when I talk to people, I find out that a lot of times there are myths and misconceptions if I could use those words about what they do that a lot of people don't know, they don't understand and they come into it not understanding. You know that maybe the right questions to ask or the right things to. And what do you, audra, what do you help people with when they come into your office and they just are unaware? What do you help them with?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think there's kind of two different answers to this. The first is and I'm sure Noah can say this as well is, when you tell people what we do, they automatically assume that we do social security disability. But that's actually not what we do. We do long term disability, short term disability, which means that our clients, you know, had a job where they paid premiums for a policy, a policy that promised them that if they become disabled then the insurance company will pay out. So our clients have paid for this policy a lot of them, you know, over 20 years of premiums, and it's probably more premiums than what they're going to get as a benefit at this point when they become disabled. And so that's the hardest thing with, you know, just telling people. What we do is getting them to understand that these are policies people bought that promise them that if they become disabled, the insurance company will pay benefits.
Speaker 3:That's the biggest misconception in the public when we have potential clients come to us. I think the hardest thing to overcome is that our clients at that point have had no one listen to them and they've been told that they're a liar from the insurance company. If you can imagine being told by your doctor that you are disabled, that you have these conditions, you cannot work, and you know yourself that you cannot work because of how you feel, and then you have an insurance company tell you that you're a liar. So when they come to us, it's our job to let them know that we will advocate for them and we will tell their story and we will make the insurance company listen. Um, so that's the biggest hurdle when you know potential clients come to us is making them trust us.
Speaker 2:I love to hear that because when I tell people story, that's what my goal is. It's not only this podcast, but in everything I do to help businesses in their marketing or grow whatever they want my assistance in, I want to tell their story and it's not just a story of what they do to serve who they are, why they do what they do. That means a lot. You know people really want story of what they do. It's a story of who they are, why they do what they do. That means a lot. You know people really want to do what they do. You know they want to do it. They want to help people like you're talking about. It means a lot.
Speaker 3:And one of my favorite things to do is to make the insurance company realize that this is not a claim number. It's a real person. I'm representing a real person who has real disabling conditions, and you're going to listen to them and not just look at their file as a claim number.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. And no, you know, there are. There are attorneys out there who help with the social security stuff, you know, with things like that. But what do you run into when, when people you know come to you? What myths and misconceptions do you hear?
Speaker 4:So you know, I guess, just to kind of take a different spin on it and I think this kind of applies just to the concept of disability, being disabled in this country. You know, we we talk with a lot of people, help a lot of people, and something that is ingrained, I think, in a little bit in all of us, but certainly, unfortunately, in society there's a lot of negativity associated with being disabled and there's a lot of implications a lot of which come from the insurance companies themselves about, well, you're not really disabled, you just don't want to work and the reality is, if your back has been fused seven times, you can't bend over anymore. It's not about being lazy and to kind of tap into what Andrew's talking about, the frustrations that our clients, the people that we meet with, deal with. I think that that really exacerbates a lot of the issues. That really exacerbates a lot of the issues.
Speaker 4:And so something that I've had to talk with people I talk to people all the time is it is not something to be ashamed of, frankly, and it is okay. I've talked with countless people who just the last thing I ever wanted to do was file for disability and that is the, I believe, the honest truth, the people that we meet, they need help, and there are lots of people who we never talk to who need help and part of it. I think the honest truth, the people that we meet, they need help, and there are lots of people who we never talk to who need help and part of it. I think the issue is, is there's such this negative stigma about saying yeah, I'm disabled that a lot of people, even when they need it sometimes, are afraid to reach out for it or get help with those kinds of things?
Speaker 2:That's a good point. I knew a lady one time that she she took a crippling arthritis and it it got in her knees and she wasn't, her knees locked and she couldn't, you know, stand up on her own. She couldn't sit up. She really couldn't sit up on her own and it was. Everything was difficult for her and life when this happened.
Speaker 2:And and she mentioned, she told me one day. She said you know, some people dream about going on vacation, taking long trips and, you know, take you getting away from home. She said I dream about being able to clean my house myself. Yeah, I dream about being able to get up and take care of things here myself, without having to watch somebody else do it for me. And so, yeah, there are people out there like you that really do want to work, but they just can't. They can't do it. Do you find that most disability policies require people to or say they'll pay out if they can't do the same job, or they require them to do any job if they can work at all? How does that usually work among disability companies?
Speaker 3:So most policies your long term disability policies are going to be two years of own occupation. So two years, if you can prove that you can't do your own job, you're disabled and you get benefits. After that it goes into what's called the any occupation, which doesn't mean any occupation. There are still some guidelines for that, but that's how most policies are. If you bought a disability policy on your own and you didn't get it through your employer, most of those I would say are probably going to be own occupation the whole time. So those are, those are the better policies usually.
Speaker 2:OK, so the individual kind, where I don't get it through my employer, I got it from my local insurance agent or national company, whatever.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Those are the ones that are going to keep your typically the same occupation. You're disabled, Okay, and when you say after the two years, that means they'll pay benefits and after a few years they're required to just get a job of some sort.
Speaker 4:Or you know, I think in a maybe a different way of it, just the question of could you go out and do another job Insurance company, for example, believes that the answer to that question is yes, then you know that they would deny, or at least try to deny, your claim. Yes, then you know that they would deny, or at least try to deny your claim.
Speaker 2:You know a lot of companies are. Oh, I didn't mean to cut you off Please.
Speaker 2:A lot of companies are offering work from home jobs, now, you know. There's a lot of that now where and they're legitimate. I know some people that literally work from home. They, you know, they answer the phone for some national corporation. One friend of mine answered the phone for Pizza Hut, you know, and they took a pizza order from people. So is that the type of thing they look at? Well, you can sit at home and answer the phone. Is that the type of thing y'all deal with?
Speaker 4:So, scott, that's a great question and the answer is yeah, absolutely. So you know. Just to take us back to this, the basic, the first question is well, what is you have an insurance policy and that's going to define these things, what does disability mean, and it's going to define any occupation.
Speaker 4:at least a lot of the times it's going to say this is what we mean when we say it. Sometimes, for example, when they say any occupation, they mean any occupation that will pay 60% of what you were making when you were working, right? So once you get that in mind, then if that job, for example, fits into the parameters of it would pay enough, it's available, it actually exists, then arguably, yeah, they could assert that, hey, we believe you could do this job and that could be the basis for denial.
Speaker 4:Now I will just add that you know. Another great question, of course, maybe not with the example that you gave, but some of these jobs you have to have skills, you have to have training and experience so you might have the physical ability to answer the phone and talk about. You know a product, what have you? You might not actually have the educational or training experiential background. So it's still something where I guess all I'm really getting at is it can be kind of a complicated question of whether that is a job that meets the definition or not.
Speaker 2:So, ardra, what do you find most of the time that you're most successful in, what type of denial claims that you find that are most successful?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I think most of our practice here is going to be ERISA long-term disability claims. I think that's just mostly what we have on our docket, so that would probably be our most successful type of claim. But if we're looking at the specific long-term disability claim, the condition that you're able to get objective evidence of is going to be easier to prove. You've had a fusion on your back. That's easy to prove because you have objective evidence of it when you have have surgery. You have objective evidence of it when you have conditions that don't have objective evidence. So you know, I know fibromyalgia has a test that proves that you have fibromyalgia, but for many years that was something that insurance companies refused to pay because there's no you know x-ray of your body that's going to show it.
Speaker 3:So you know, conditions like that are a little bit harder, but that does not mean that they're not winnable, because they absolutely are.
Speaker 2:If I get too specific here you just tell me, because I don't want to dive into waters that really I shouldn't be asking about. But I have neuropathy. I'm self-employed so I just deal with it myself, right, but I have neuropathy. So somebody's on a job and they develop neuropathy. Well, you know neuropathy affects a lot of people differently. But you know some have severe pain, severe stinging and burning where they just cannot hardly function. You know they're keeping their feet are so uncomfortable, it's difficult, they have.
Speaker 2:Some people have the neuropathy where they they they unintentionally drag their feet and they don't even realize they are. They have heaviness in their legs and so you know where. It makes them feel like they're weighted down the whole time and it and it gets to where it's difficult to carry out some functions. You know I could see if I was working in an industrial setting where I worked at when I was very young, before I got into a professional career, and I worked in that setting and I had this type of drop that I have, I would be a huge risk working around machinery. So what do you? How do you help people dealing with things like that?
Speaker 4:So, yeah, sorry, I'll just go ahead and jump in on this one. So you know, I think, keeping it going back to just basics here, you know, especially in the context of neuropathy, not all neuropathy is going to show up on an objective test, right?
Speaker 4:Small fiber neuropathy is my understanding that a lot of it, you know, isn't, and I might be getting it reversed, and this is exactly the moment where I'm not a medical doctor but, you know it's not necessarily something that's amenable to objective testing, and you know what is true, I think, for pretty much every single disability claim is treating provider support, and what I mean by that is not only you know, am I willing to fill out forms, am I willing to help you with your claim, but more specifically, to explain the very things that you and I are talking about, and you know what I find that to be incredibly helpful, especially when it's something where it's not. Oh, here's a test that shows, you know, for example, pain. We, we know that someone's in pain based off of facial expressions that they make or other observations. There's not like a oh, you have, you know, 90% pain in your body, and so having thorough explanations from your doctor to explain what really is going, you know, oh, you have neuropathy. This is what that means.
Speaker 4:Yes, it does make it hard for you to hold things and to provide those details on your behalf. I find to be really helpful in these clients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, audrey, you're going to share something with us too, so go right ahead.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I was going to say in. You know, if I had your case, what I would do is probably send you out for objective testing. So you know, an FCE is a functional capacity evaluation is going to show that you have issues walking or you have pain when lifting. You know, whatever your specific issues are and that report will spit out specific restrictions, limitations. So not only you, you know Noah said a very important thing you need treating provider support.
Speaker 3:But if I can also get a functional capacity evaluation, independent medical examination, a neuropsych, something like that that you know the insurance company has to consider objective because it is testing that would claim that much better. And then also going back to what we pride ourselves in here is telling your story. So what we do is we get statements from you, family members, past co-workers, whoever is willing to give us a statement just saying you know, you know maybe your wife says every day he wakes up and he has to, you know, roll himself out of bed, um, because he can't move his arms, or, you know, I have to put his shoes on for him, or I have to leave sticky notes as a reminder because he forgets to turn the water off and things like that.
Speaker 3:So that's really, really important.
Speaker 3:Um, and something I think that is important that I try to tell everybody, because I think it's the most important thing, is that if you have an ERISA claim, your record closes at the time of the final denial and what that means is that once you get a final denial from the insurance company and the next step is going to court, you can't add any most of the time. There are some very limited exceptions, but you can't add any of this development in at that time. So when people come to us at that point it's very hard for us to take their case. But if you came to us when you still had an appeal and were able to do all of this really good development to prove your case, then it makes it to where, even if you get a final denial, we would be able to take that case to court and show the judge that you're disabled. It's important to, if you're going to talk to an attorney, to talk to them earlier, before you get that final denial and before you appeal your denial from the insurance company.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you brought that up, yeah.
Speaker 4:Go ahead. Yeah, sorry, something that I'll just tag on at the end of that is and, as Audrey has mentioned, there's all sorts of different types of tests out there, right and um, you know, everyone's disability is going to be a bit different and what, what evidence is going to be most helpful for you. Changes from person to person, even even sometimes with the same condition. Frankly, uh, because it's, for example, neuropathy. It affects people differently, and so that that's also something that, uh, that we help people with a lot is. You know well, the insurance company says you know X, Y and Z and our attorneys can work with you to figure out, essentially, a battle plan, way to show your disability the objective side, the subjective side, all of it and help you kind of tailor that evidence.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if I was going to be having to deal with something like this against a large corporation, insurance company type, I would definitely have to have someone's help and I wouldn't have known what you just shared, audrey, that I needed to come to y'all before it's closed. I wouldn't have known that. I thought maybe I would need to exhaust all my efforts first and then come to y'all. So I'm very glad y'all shared that on here. And neuropathy is just something I deal with on a daily basis. I'm understanding it more, but I didn't know.
Speaker 2:I started going to see a neurologist to see if there was anything they could do. And this neurologist says do you see a cardiovascular doctor? And I said, yeah, I do. And they said, well, we want you to see a different one. And I'm like, why would I see a different one? Because the type of neuropathy you have is related to heart disease and there are heart doctors, there are cardiovascular doctors who have that as their second specialty and I wasn't aware. So you know there's a lot of things like that I think the public in general is just not aware of, and I was glad to hear that y'all say that y'all will do additional tests. You send them for additional testing to clarify all these things, because that's if we just we're left out on our own to deal with things like this, we're probably going to lose 90 percent of the time.
Speaker 4:And what makes it even more problematic, Scott, is these insurance companies don't do the best job of making things like that clear for people don't do the best job of making things like that clear for people.
Speaker 4:You know someone gets denied and they say, hey, we'll give you an opportunity to appeal and you can submit documents, information and support of your appeal they don't say anything about, by the way, this is your last chance to do it and all the evidence that you want and your claim, right here and now. Because you know, once we make that final decision, decision it's like the doors of the temple, not temple of doom. I think of the creators of the lost ark when the door's coming, but really it's like that. And well, absolutely great letter from your doctor that would have absolutely explained what was going on. If you didn't get it in on time. It doesn't come in.
Speaker 2:Uh, and I'm really glad we're talking here today about this, because this is very eye-opening. Uh, you know, I think that probably there's a lot of people out there that really need to hear you know what y'all are saying, explaining. Uh, because it's just, there's just so much detail that that we don't go to school to learn how to deal with an insurance company right, you know, we don't, we don't get learning on that, but obviously y'all do. Y'all that's what you did. You went to school to learn how to do these things, to learn the law, and then, and then you know, learning how from your, from your peers, and all how to actually deal with it. And but you know, uh, you know, I'm really glad that we took this time today to learn.
Speaker 2:There's one thing I always like to ask people and I want to ask it individually of both of you, and whoever wants to go first can go first. But if there was one thing that you wish that our listeners knew about the heart of what you do, I'm listeners knew about the heart of what you do. I'm not talking about the mechanics of what you do, but the heart of what you do, and they probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to just share it here today on the Good Neighbor podcast. Loud and proud, what would that be?
Speaker 3:I guess I would say just, you know, for Eric Buchanan and Associates as a whole, something that has made me want to stay here is that we really do care about our clients and if we can help someone, we are going to bend over backwards to help someone and to tell their story. To bend over backwards to help someone and to tell their story. So I know people come to us in a very bad position and with an insurance company that they trusted and, you know, has now done them dirty and called them a liar, and you know I understand that's a hard hurdle for us to jump over to have that person trust us. But we truly care here at Eric Buchanan Associates about our clients and so that's what I would really want people to know is that we do see our clients as people and not just as cases or claim numbers. They, you know we get very emotionally invested with our clients, so it's just that we actually do very much care about each client.
Speaker 2:That's very refreshing to hear. We all get tired of being considered a number, don't we, Noah?
Speaker 4:You know and especially in the law, unfortunately it's easy to run into that there's a lot of people I talk to that are like you know. You're the first person who even just took the time to let me just tell my story, not say, hey, sorry, I can't help that kind of thing. And for me, and certainly learning here at the firm and working all of us attorneys this is something that we pride ourselves on. And then to go back further, going back to my work in these medical clinics, I think it's important to let your people, to let your patients, to let your clients know that you care, because we are just human beings. Right, you know one of us and you know a question I get asked I don't know about you, audrey a question I get asked all the time and I really don't mind it at all. Well, what if I was your mom? What would you say? What would you say if I was your brother? Would you? Would you do it that way? Whatever it?
Speaker 4:was an honest God, yeah, If I. That's how I think about it. You know, and that's the level of care that that all of us bring to these cases is, yeah, that's. I would tell my mom to do that, for example. I don't think there's any other way to really practice law and do it right. You got to care about the people that you help.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I agree with you a hundred percent. I just almost guarantee myself that both of you have saw your share of tears when people are sitting in front of you telling their story.
Speaker 3:Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:Especially when they finally get somebody who they can feel that passion like I feel from when y'all speak that passion that you do care, you want to help. You know some people can pretend like they care, but when it comes time to help, there's no compassion, there's no empathy there. But when you have people that are sitting in front of you, they care and they want to help, that means a lot, it means a whole lot.
Speaker 3:You know, when Eric Buchanan first started this firm, he's kept it consistent and he will still say today. He'll say what's best for the client, and that's our number one thing is what's best for the client. What do we need to do to help the client? And so he's been very good at putting the client first in our mind and making sure that we're telling their story. I mean, that's it. You'll see it's all over our website. You know we've done many videos about it, because it is something that we we really pride ourselves on doing is we're going to tell your story and we're going to make them listen.
Speaker 2:Which one of y'all would like to share your contact information and all, whether online or offline, how people can find out more about you or find out how to contact you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can do it. So you can give us a call and that's 423-634-2506. Or you can go to our website, which is Eric Buchanan Associates. You can just Google that, which would bring it up. Or I think the website's actually Buchanan disabilitycom. But if you look up Eric Buchanan I know it'll pop up. And also, if you're curious about us, on our website we have a ton of newsletters and videos. You know our profiles, so get to know us. Or if you ever have a question, please just call in and ask for one of us and we'll try to answer your question as best we can.
Speaker 2:And for those social media butterflies out there do y'all have any social media accounts?
Speaker 3:We do. We have a LinkedIn, a Facebook and I think we have an Instagram. That's not very active, but maybe it'll become more active soon.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we'll try to become more hip on the Instagram.
Speaker 2:We were all hoping you'd say TikTok, where we get these videos of y'all dancing and all that. Let me talk to Eric. Let's see, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you much for having us.
Speaker 3:I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my pleasure. My pleasure, noah and Audrey. They said that to all the good neighbors out there. They said call in and ask for them. They've taken the time out of their day to day to try to benefit you and I know, after meeting both of them and learning more about you know eric buchanan associates that you know they hope that you'll do that, that you'll consider them.
Speaker 2:Hopefully this will never happen to you, but if it does happen to you that you are in a in a claim difficulty, remember one thing they said don't wait till it's too late. Give them a call and get them involved now. Get them to hold your hand and walk you through this process, because if you wait till it's too late, according to what they told us, then it may be too late to help you and nobody wants that. After you paid for that policy, you want what you feel like you were supposed to get out of it If you had the right understanding of the product itself. So let them walk you through it and help you out.
Speaker 2:And, of course, to all you listeners out there, before ending the episode, I just want to thank you from my heart for taking time out of your busy day as well to visit with us at the Good Neighbor podcast and always remember to support the locally owned and or operated businesses that are in the greater Chattanooga area. You know, I always say from Cleveland to Dalton, from Benton to Jasper, our whole area all over. Everybody's important to us and this is Scott Howell. I'm with the Friends and Neighbors Group. Everyone go out and make this a remarkable day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPClevelandcom. That's GNPClevelandcom, or call 423-380-1984. Thank you.
