Marc Whitehead & Associates, Attorneys at Law, LLP

Focus and the claims it takes on

The firm works on denied disability claims. It represents people whose benefits have been turned down by insurance carriers, the Social Security Administration, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. That single thread runs through most of what the firm does.

The disability work splits into a few clear lines. Long-term disability insurance covers both individual policies and group ERISA claims. Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income make up another line. Veterans disability benefits form a third, and the firm also takes life insurance denials. In my opinion, a practice organized this tightly around denied claims tends to know the appeal deadlines and evidence rules better than a general office would.

The mix of federal and private claims

The claims fall into two camps. Federal benefits cover Social Security disability and veterans disability, where the case runs through a government agency and its appeals. Private insurance covers long-term disability and life policies, where the dispute is with a carrier and, for group plans, with ERISA rules. The firm works both sides, which lets one office follow a client whose situation touches more than one system.

The firm also works in elder law and estate planning. That side covers Medicaid eligibility and asset protection, wills and trusts, probate, and special needs trusts. It handles some personal injury claims tied to dangerous products and defective medical devices as well.

How the team is built

The attorneys page names eight lawyers. Marc Whitehead is the founding partner, and the firm carries his name. Most of the named lawyers trained at South Texas College of Law in Houston, and their profiles cluster around benefits and insurance work.

The partners who lead departments

Anthony Vessel is a partner who heads the Social Security Disability Department. He earned his undergraduate degree at Texas A&M University and attended South Texas College of Law, where he took part in the Advocacy and Alternative Dispute Resolution programs. He represents clients in Social Security disability denials.

Britney Anne Heath McDonald is a partner and the managing attorney of the disability insurance department. She earned a B.A. cum laude in Speech Communications from Baylor University in 2009 and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 2012. Her practice centers on ERISA-based insurance claims, breach of contract and bad faith insurance disputes, as well as veterans benefit matters.

Other named attorneys

Selina Valdez graduated from South Texas College of Law Houston, where she received the Willard and Anne Levin Foundation scholarship and earned a CALI award for mediation theory and practice. Before law school she attended Texas A&M University, finishing in 2011 with a degree in English and a minor in Communications. She also clerked in a juvenile division in Fort Bend County.

Shane R. Kadlec is of counsel to the firm and runs his own practice, the Law Office of Shane R. Kadlec. He earned a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of Windsor in 1992 and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1996. He holds board certification in personal injury trial law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

The named list also includes Diana Berry and Marla Briscoe. Erin Jane Svetlik is a Houston family lawyer who completed her legal education at South Texas College of Law in 2022, and her profile lists an associate role at Carter Morris, L.L.P.

Board certifications behind the founding partner

Marc Whitehead holds credentials that line up with the firm's core work. He is Board Certified in Social Security Disability Law by the National Board of Social Security Disability Advocacy. He is an Accredited Veterans Claim Attorney, a status required to practice before the VA. He also holds board certification in Personal Injury Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

As a reviewer, I read board certification as a marker worth noting, since it asks a lawyer to meet a standard beyond the license to practice. Whitehead's certifications sit in the same areas the firm publishes: Social Security disability, veterans claims, and personal injury. Shane Kadlec carries the same Texas personal injury trial law certification.

The National Board of Social Security Disability Advocacy grants the Social Security certification, and the Texas Board of Legal Specialization grants the personal injury one. Both are outside bodies, so an independent review backs each credential. That gives them more weight than a self-styled title would.

Where the firm works

The firm keeps its main office in Houston and states that it serves clients across the country. It also lists offices in other Texas cities, among them Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Beaumont, Cypress, The Woodlands, Temple, League City, and Lubbock.

Its public presence runs across Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The nationwide claim carries weight in disability insurance and ERISA work, where federal rules apply the same way in every state. A Houston base paired with national reach fits the kind of claims the firm takes.

For disability insurance and Social Security cases, much of the work moves through filings, records, and administrative hearings. A firm that accepts clients nationwide has to run that process by deadline wherever the client lives. The Texas offices give clients in those cities a nearby point of contact.

What the record shows

The site states 30 years of practice, though it gives no explicit founding year. That figure appears in taglines across several pages. In my opinion, three decades of steady focus on denied claims is the clearest signal the firm offers about its depth.

What the firm publishes lines up as a consistent picture. The practice areas, the department heads, and the founding partner's certifications all point toward disability and denied benefits. A prospective client can match a specific problem, say an ERISA long-term disability denial or a VA claim, to a named attorney who works in that area.

The named departments give that match a clear route. Anthony Vessel leads Social Security disability, and Britney Anne Heath McDonald manages disability insurance. Both roles connect straight to the denials the firm handles most.