FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — In a significant win for policyholders, the Hennepin County District Court has ruled that Paul Revere Life Insurance Company must pay lifetime, unreduced disability benefits to Dr. Paul Ziman, a retired orthodontist who was forced to stop practicing due to degenerative thumb joint disease.
The ruling, issued by Judge Rachna Sullivan on July 15, 2025, declares that Dr. Ziman is entitled to receive $7,500 per month for life under the terms of his 1990 individual disability insurance policy. The Court found that the policy’s Schedule II unambiguously provides for lifetime total disability benefits when disability begins before age 65—contrary to Paul Revere’s contention that benefits should be reduced after 36 months based on a subsequently issued rider.
Bryant Legal Group PC and Meyers & Flowers represented Dr. Ziman in the litigation. “This ruling sends a powerful message to insurers who attempt to rewrite clear contractual promises after the fact,” said David A. Bryant, managing attorney at Bryant Legal Group. “The Court upheld what our client and any reasonable policyholder would have understood: lifetime means lifetime”.
Importantly, the Court also barred Paul Revere from relying on an internal 1989 amendment that was never disclosed or incorporated into Dr. Ziman’s signed policy. “Insurers cannot use secret administrative memos to diminish contractual obligations,” said David Bryant. “This case reinforces the principle that written policies—not undisclosed internal documents—control the rights of insureds.”
While the Court declined to award attorneys’ fees under Minnesota law, the decision secures long-term financial protection for Dr. Ziman and offers broader implications for other policyholders facing similar tactics by disability insurers.
The case is Ziman v. Unum and The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, Case No. 27-CV-23-4277, in the Hennepin County District Court, Minnesota.
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Led by Illinois Top 100 Super Lawyer and former President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Peter J. Flowers, the Meyers & Flowers’ team of experienced trial attorneys routinely take on large challenges and succeed. For more than two decades, the firm has represented clients both locally in Chicago and nationally in a full spectrum of cases involving catastrophic personal injuries, medical malpractice, defective products, and wrongful death.
About Bryant Legal Group:
David A. Bryant is a solution-oriented lawyer with extensive experience in the legal, medical, and insurance sectors. As the founder of Bryant Legal Group PC and now serving as Of Counsel to Meyers & Flowers, he specializes in civil litigation and insurance disputes, with a focus on disability and health insurance matters for highly compensated professionals. To learn more about Bryant Legal Group, please visit www.bryantlg.com.