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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
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    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (78)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
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      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS (62)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS (9)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
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      • OPM Disability Process – 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage (17)
      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
      • OPM Disability Process – 5th Stage: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (2)
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    • Post-Application Issues (19)
    • Pre-Application Considerations (454)
    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,059)
    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
    • Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application (204)
    • U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) (21)
    • U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (80)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (363)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

OPM Disability Retirement: The Proper Approach

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Some believe that, when formulating and compiling a disability retirement application, that quantity of supporting documentation will win the day — all medical reports, records, statements from friends, family, co-workers, etc.  Sometimes, however, it is better to refrain from providing everything all at once; for, if a determination is made that there is sufficient documentation to prevail in a disability retirement application, it is sometimes the wiser course to restrain the natural inclination to bombard the Office of Personnel Management with all of the available documentation.  This is merely a strategic bit of advice; yet, in practical terms, inasmuch as every disability retirement case has the potential to be denied at the First Stage, and OPM would in that event be requesting additional supporting documentation, it is often a good idea to “withhold” and “keep back” a secondary source of supporting documentation — but only if the primary source of supporting documentation is confidently adequate to win at the first stage.  It is a discretionary method of approaching the compiling of data and documentation at the first stage — a decision which should be made with wise counsel.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, OPM Disability Process - 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Appeals, Application, disability insurance for federal employees, disability retirement for letter carriers, documentation for federal medical retirement, federal disability law, federal disability law blog, federal employee disability opm workmans, Federal Medical Evidence of Record Program (FEDMER), federal workers comp application forms, fers claim for disability retirement, fers disability insurance, FERS disability retirement, filing for OPM disability retirement, helping injured federal workers, job related stress and federal disability, Medical Documentation for OPM Disability Retirement, medical retirement in the us post office, more than enough medical documentation, national reassessment process, opm disability claims processing, OPM medical disability retirement claims and appeals, opm medical documents, place quality over quantity, postal workers disability insurance, preparing an OPM disability application for the long term, preponderance of the evidence documents, quality versus quantity on medical documentation, relevance over quantity on disability medical documentation, saving some medical docs for later in opm disability, statements from friends to support opm medical documentation, supporting substantial medical evidence to OPM, using coworkers' statements in federal disability, USPS disability retirement, usps fers retirement disability | Leave a comment »

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Is there a higher standard of proof for Psychiatric Disabilities?

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

I am attempting to address the issue of Psychiatric medical disabilities in the context of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS, by addressing the issue from various perspectives and angles, in an effort to inform the reader in different ways.  Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, panic attacks, Bipolar Disorder — each possess unique traits, characteristics, and symptomatologies and manifestations exhibited in ways specific to the psychiatric condition. 

What is often the case is that, while the Psychiatrist is the medical doctor who is the “expert” on the Psychiatric condition, it is often the psychologist (the “Ph.D”), the Therapist, the Licensed Clinical Social Worker, etc. who has the “personalized” knowledge of the patient, who can provide the descriptive emotional impact, and the specific adjectives which can properly be formulated to reveal and “prove” the impact upon one’s inability to perform the essential elements of one’s job. 

Often, the Psychiatrist is merely the “medication manager” — the prescriber of the psychotropic medications.  Thus, in proving a Federal Disability Retirement case by a preponderance of the evidence, it is often necessary to have both the Therapist, as well as the Psychiatrist, in a joint effort to meet the standard of proof.  Is there a higher standard of proof in a Psychiatric medical condition?  To some extent, the answer is yes — but this is only natural, inasmuch as it requires “more” to have people fully understand the nature, extent, and impact of what it means to have a psychiatric medical condition.  For, at its very essence, who among us can truly understand what it means to be overwhelmed by a psychiatric medical condition?  Only words — descriptive adjectives and emotive-concepts, can draw us closer to having at least some rudimentary understanding.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Burden of Proof, Clarifications of Laws or Rules, Mental/Nervous Condition | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, anxiety & panic attack in the Postal Service, Appeals, Application, applying for csrs retirement, applying for fers retirement, Bipolar Disorder in the Postal Service, disability opm retirement, disability retirement fers, disabling depression, disabling mental nervous conditions, disabling side effects medication, doctor's statements of disability, federal disability attorney, federal disability retirement opm, federal law enforcement occupational injury, FERS disability retirement, FERS medical retirement, Health Conditions and the Federal and Postal Employee, job-related illness, legitimate conditions for OPM disability retirement, letter carriers disability retirement, licensed clinical social worker, mail handler workers comp, mail processors occupational injuries, Major Depression cases in the USPS, medical reasons for federal disability retirement, mental health therapist, Nexus between Medical Condition and Essential Elements, OPM Disability and the Ideal Doctor and Patient Relationship, OPM disability application tips, OPM psychiatric and physical conditions, psychiatric conditions, psychiatric medical conditions, psychological impacts of dog biting, psychologist, psychotropic medications effects on the federal worker, stress disability for federal employees, treatment of mental illnesses, USPS disability retirement, usps fers retirement, workers comp federal employee, your treating doctors | Leave a comment »

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The Process

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The importance of the “process” cannot be overstated in the filing of Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  It is the “coordination” of all of the various elements involved:  the Medical Narrative Report; the proper legal citations to refer to; the relevance of which medical documents to use; streamlining the documentation; the orderly listing of the medical conditions; how the medical conditions should be described; the narrative description of the impact and nexus between the medical condition and the job description; how to deal with accommodation issues; how to preemptively minimize any adverse impact from an “unfriendly” Supervisor’s Statement; preparing for the “long haul” — the potential denial, the denial at the Reconsideration Stage, and onward to the Merit Systems Protection Board — thus, preparing the case not only for the First Stage, but for any future stages of the process; how to deal properly and intelligently with specific medical conditions which may require a different “tweaking” of the application (i.e., medical conditions such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, panic attacks, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity cases, etc.); the “do’s and don’t’s” of describing certain medical conditions.  These are only some of the issues which must be dealt with, coordinated, and thoughtfully constructed in preparing for a Federal Disability Retirement case.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Process, Pre-Application Considerations | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, anxiety & panic attack in the Postal Service, appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, Appeals, Application, Bipolar Disorder in the Postal Service, case law citation in federal disabilities cases, Chronic Fatigue in federal jobs, different medical conditions in federal disability retirement, federal employee disability, federal employee retirement disability, federal workers with panic attacks, Fibromyalgia in OPM disabiity retirement, ill postal worker, injured postal worker, legal accommodation for Postal workers, medical condition(s), MSPB Reconsideration Stage, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Nexus between Medical Condition and Essential Elements, OPM First Stage Disability Application, OPM Reconsideration Stage, SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement, the approval/disapproval process, The Doctor's Medical Narrative, USPS disability claims, USPS Workers Comp | Leave a comment »

OPM Disability Retirement: Additional Comment on Medical Documentation

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

There are two (2) fundamental reasons why SF 3112C (Physician’s Statement) “doesn’t work” for physicians:  First, it is a government “form”.  It requests of a doctor to mechanically engage in the very performance of a duty which all doctors (generally speaking) hate:  writing up a report.  It does not provide for a context; it does not attempt to simplify the process for the doctor.  Second, for any doctor, it is an unappealing request.  To shove a government form which is written in fine print, and ask him to “follow the directions” is something all doctors (again, generally speaking) hate to do.  What I have found to be much more effective, is to provide a context and background — an “explanation” — to the doctor, concerning the medical disability retirement process.  That is one of the primary reasons why I never have my clients sign or submit an SF 3112C.  Aside from the danger of allowing for the blind release of any and all medical information to the Agency, and ultimately to the Office of Personnel Management when one signs the 3112C, it is simply not an effective means by which to obtain the necessary medical narrative report from the treating doctor.  To obtain an effective narrative report, it is important to have an attorney make a proper and thorough request.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Clarifications of Laws or Rules, Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Appeals, applicant's physician, Application, disability FERS retirement, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement from post office, disability retirement with the federal government, federal employee disability benefits, federal workers disability, FERS Disability Application, FERS medical retirement, lawyer role in federal disability cases, legal requirements of the medical narrative report, not owcp retirement but opm disability retirement, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), OPM disability application tips and strategies, OWCP long term disability, physician's statements in an OPM disability case, Postal employees disability, Postal Service disability, Robert R. McGill, SF 3112C Physician's Statement, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, the applicant's methodology, The Doctor's Medical Narrative, Why not to submit an SF 3112C, your treating doctors | 1 Comment »

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement Cases: Presenting the Case to OPM

Posted on December 8, 2008 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Fortunately, most of my cases which are submitted before the Office of Personnel Management at the Initial Stage are approved. It is important to step back and understand, first and foremost, how the approval/disapproval process works. Remember that the submission to the Office of Personnel Management is a “paper submission”, and as with any bureaucratic presentation, it is important to make sure that it is neat, understandable, and “presentable.” You want to make your particular submission stand out from the thousands which are submitted. Neatness and streamling accounts for much. Merely gathering up a thousand pages of medical documentation and hoping that the sheer volume and weight of the medical records will be proportionate to the seriousness which the OPM representative will view your case, is a foolhardy approach.

I attempt to streamline the case for the OPM representative, by annotating, identifying the medical documentation, explaining the relevance of the documentation, and identifying both statutory and case-law citations which are relevant in supporting the fundamental basis for the disability retirement application. It is important to make a proper presentation. It makes the life of the OPM Representative that much easier, and if the OPM Representative can review the application, read the synopsis, clearly understand the relevance of the medical documentation, be able to analyze the applicant’s statement and do it almost effortlessly, then one is more often than not rewarded with an approval, rather than the dreaded “denial letter”.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The OPM Representatives, OPM Disability Process, The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Appeals, applicant's statement of disability, Application, argument by analogy, case law citation in federal disabilities cases, disability federal workers, federal disability retirement opm, federal medical retirement, FERS Disability, FERS disability retirement, FERS medical retirement, filing a csrs disability claim, filing a successful postal service disability claim, filing for federal employee medical benefits, filing for OPM disability retirement, Initial Stage of the OPM disability process, medical evidence, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, OPM disability application tips, OPM Representative, Post Office disability, postal workers injury attorney, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, the approval/disapproval process, the dreaded denial letter, usps disability filing | Leave a comment »

Federal Disability Retirement: Getting the Bruner Presumption

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

If an individual is successful in persuading the Agency to remove him or her for his/her medical inability to perform the job, then the entitlement to what is coined as the “Bruner Presumption” is obtained. This is a great advantage, but one which is often misunderstood.

Remember that, under Bruner v. Office of Personnel Management, 996 F.2d 290 (Fed. Cir. 1993), when an individual is accorded the Bruner Presumption because of being removed for one’s medical inability to perform one’s job, this merely means that the “burden of production” shifts to the Office of Personnel Management, who must disprove your entitlement to disability retirement. However, the initial burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence must still be met: i.e., one must still submit sufficient medical evidence to show that one was or is unable to perform the essential elements of one’s job.

This point should be obvious: for the Agency itself would never have separated an individual unless there was medical evidence to show that the individual could no longer perform the job. Thus, the very medical evidence which supported and justified the Agency’s action, is the same medical evidence which can be used to meet the initial burden of proof with OPM. The key is that, after this burden is met, then OPM has the harder burden of disproving that which the applicant has met. This is the great advantage of the Bruner Presumption.

Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Burden of Proof, Clarifications of Laws or Rules, Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted, Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time, OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Appeals, Application, applying for federal disability, attaining an amicable separation, Bruner Presumption, Burden of Production, Burden of Proof, document preparation and opm disability law, essential elements of jobs, federal court decisions in OPM disability cases, federal disability attorney, federal disability retirement attorney, federal disability retirement lawyer, in bruner the applicant must still submit sufficient evidence, limited burden of proof shift over to OPM, more than enough medical documentation, opm case-law decisions, Postal disability, Postal disability retirement, preponderance of the evidence documents, separated because of the employee's inability to work, separated from service, the Bruner Presumption and the burden of proof, usps separation | Leave a comment »

Physician’s Statement, SF 3112C, for FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Instead of signing the SF 3112C (Physician’s Statement), in representing my clients to obtain disability retirement, I write a 4 – 5 page letter directly to the client’s treating physicians to obtain a current medical report. Generally speaking, I advise my clients not to sign the SF 3112C, because it is essentially a general release of medical information which releases any and all medical records to the Agency’s Human Resources designee.

There is no reason to release all of your medical information — especially such information which is private, which is irrelevant to the medical disabilities which are specifically described and identified as the basis of your disability retirement application in your applicant’s statement of disability, and which do not impact your ability or inability to perform you job. Indeed, while the Agency will often insist upon the signature of the 3112C as being “required”, this is simply not true: Look at SF 3112E(8)(d) (Disability Retirement Application Checklist), which states: “SF 3112C, Physician’s Statement (or equivalent).” This shows that signature of the SF 3112C is not required — if you go out and obtain the medical records and reports yourself, and file the supporting medical documentation, then such documentation constitutes its “equivalent”.

It is my job, in representing a client to obtain disability retirement benefits, to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that my client is entitled to disability retirement benefits. It is not my job to release and and all private medical documentation to the Office of Personnel Management — only such documentation as will prove my case. As such, it is important to know what is required, and what is not.

Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Attorney specializing in disability retirement cases for Federal and Postal employees

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, OPM Disability Application - SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS, The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney | Tagged: and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Appeals, Application, avoiding a release of medical information to opm, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, CSRS disability retirement SF3112-1, department of treasury employees disability retirement, federal disability retirement, fers disability and release of all your medical reports, FERS disability retirement, fers disability retirement for oklahoma federal employees, FERS disability retirement SF3112-2, inability to perform core functions of a us government job, inability to perform one's job, Medical Documentation for OPM Disability Retirement, medical documentation guidelines, medical report from treating physicians for fers disability claim, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, OPM disability application tips and strategies, physician's statements in an OPM disability case, Postal disability, Postal Service disability, preponderance of the evidence documents, regulatory requirements of a fers disability medical report, relevance over quantity on disability medical documentation, SF 3112C Physician's Statement, SF 3112E(8)(d) Disability Retirement Application Check, SF 3112E(8)(d) Disability Retirement Application Checklist, The Doctor's Medical Narrative, USPS disability retirement | 3 Comments »

  • More on CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
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