Have you ever heard the phrase, that “X is only as strong as the weakest link”? What does that mean? When applied to Federal Disability Retirement applications, it has significance and application on multiple levels. Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS and CSRS has multiple, and almost an infinite amount of, potholes, dangers, traps and landmines, both hidden and apparent — and that is from the viewpoint of the attorney. I can only imagine what it is like for the Federal or Postal employee who thinks as follows: I have a serious medical condition; there is a benefit called “disability retirement”; let me make copies of my medical records, fill out the forms, and submit it. I should get it with no problems. I get telephone calls almost on a daily basis from people who say, “I can’t believe that the Office of Personnel Management disapproved my claim. What did I do wrong?” Often, it is the Office of Personnel Management that “did something wrong”, and it is up to the Attorney to point that fact out.
Now, back to the original thought of this blog: A case is only as strong as the weakest link. As Federal Disability Retirement applications have many complex issues surrounding and central to the application and the application process, it is important to make sure that even the weakest link of the packet — whether it is the doctor’s report, the Applicant’s Statement of Disability, the legal arguments to be made, etc. — make sure that the weakest of the links is strong enough to withstand the selective (and often unfair) reasoning and attacks of the Office of Personnel Management.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The Applicant, OPM Disability Actors - The Attorney, OPM Disability Application, Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: being careful what you say in your federal disability application, being careful with the medical documentation you submit to opm, careful walking in the path toward federal disability retirement, complex issues surrounding a fers disability application, disability retirement federal government, examining all and each document submitted to the opm, fers disability benefits, fers disability mistakes, FERS medical retirement, fhers disability retirement, injured sick postal worker not on duty, keeping up with all the paperwork necessary for opm disability, landmines to watch during the federal disability process, legal representation for injured federal workers, medical disability for federal employees, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm disability application paperwork flow, OPM disability application tips and strategies, opm disability retirement blog, opm disability retirement representation in utah, OPM medical retirement, planning an opm disability strategy that goes beyond form filling, Post Office disability, postal workers owcp rights attorney, power of chain is measured by its weakest ring, preparing for a strong fers disability case, preparing the whole opm disability packet, representing federal employees from any us government agency, representing federal employees in and outside the country, SF 3112 disability retirement forms, SF 3112E(8)(d) Disability Retirement Application Checklist, strategists for a good opm disability application, the applicant's weakest document in the opm disability packet, the opm disability applicant: what did I did wrong?, the weakest statement is used many times by opm to deny disability, US Postal Disability, usps disability benefits, USPS disability retirement, usps federal attorney, withstanding the selective reasoning of the opm | Leave a comment »
