FERS Medical Retirement: The Chance for Success

It is what everyone wants to know; we have all been accustomed to relying upon percentages — of probability theories from the likelihood of being struck by lightening to whether we will be attacked by a shark while swimming in the ocean (in both instances, of course, various factors come into play, as in: If you don’t venture into those circumstances which favor such calamities, the probability of such occurrences precipitously drops).

Or in the case of divorce, for example — Does including Elizabeth Taylor in the statistical analysis skewer the numbers— or those in Hollywood generally?

One can argue as to the accuracy of statistical analysis by questioning the data used, but we nevertheless seek assurance and find refuge in numbers, because of the impenetrable mysteries surrounding numerical certainties.  Math is a uniquely different language, and most of us struggle with comprehending its complexities while simultaneously defending its infallible status in the universe.

For Federal Gov. employees and U.S. Postal workers who have filed, or want to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, the question often posed is — What are the chances for success?  The answer, of course, is: It all depends upon the various factors underlying your own particular case.

However, one thing is quite certain: You must be prepared to fight for your case, a each and every stage of the process.  You must prepare an arsenal of weapons — not the least of which, includes the legal cases which favor and support your case.  It may be a self-evident proposition, but here goes: If you are not willing to fight aggressively against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, you will surely lose.

So, take this simple advice from an experienced lawyer: Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is not for the “faint of heart” and must be engaged in only with a view towards a “long and arduous slog”.

And as for the chance for success?  With the guidance of an experienced Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer, it can be exponentially enhanced.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The Music of Yesterday

There is a mournfulness in listening to yesterday’s music; of evocative memories and places we have been, the person we once were, the relationships previously haunted.

The clutter of a busy life barely allows room for music to be appreciated.  To have the patience for classical music requires time, which we no longer have; for other kinds of music, the dashing about to get stuff done allows only for the radio’s capture of time, and that, only if you leave your thoughts behind.

One is often struck by the innocence of the lyrics of past music; and while commercialism has determined the relevance of the music of yesterday, nevertheless, it is fun to sometimes listen to the actual lyrics of a couple of generations ago, and pause to appreciate how depraved we have become when compared to the explicit language of today.  The music of yesterday, if listened to, reminds us that the past was a different time than modernity.

Likewise, those with chronic medical conditions are reminded that bad health was not always the case, and the music of yesterday stands as a metaphor and testament that we were all once young, healthy and vibrant.  What changed?  Just as the quality of music changed, so our lives have changed.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal employees who need to consider applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under the FERS system, the music of yesterday necessarily reminds us of that period of yesteryear when health was taken for granted.

Contact a FERS Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement under FERS, and consider whether the Music of Yesterday might not be appreciated with greater vigor once you can focus upon your health, when you can retire on disability retirement and take the time to regain that which has been temporarily lost.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Extracted Tooth

It must be a difficult profession.  Every analogy from time immemorial has always compared negative experiences with the process of extracting a tooth; or, of having a root canal, drilling away a cavity, etc.  There have been, in recent times, advertisements from various dental groups attempting to change its image and reputation — that the dental procedure has attained great advancements in technological approaches and, as a result, the “dental experience” is now a pleasant, almost welcoming encounter.

But do we believe it?  After being told by everyone else, in every profession and by all conceivable marketing techniques and approaches that there no longer exists any negative consequences for anything we buy or obtain, can we be fools enough to actually believe that the “dental experience” is now a pleasant one?

Anyone and everyone who has ever experienced a tooth ache knows that the extracted tooth is an experience to avoid, and were it not for the severe pain leading to its necessity, the dental chair is still one to avoid.  The analogies are replete: every negative metaphor and analogy is likened to it.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, the analogy is probably somewhat applicable here as well: Dealing with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in trying to get a FERS Disability application approved is like the extracted tooth.  It is not a pleasant experience, no matter how you might want to characterize it.

Contact a FERS Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and allow for an experienced lawyer in the speciality of Federal Disability Retirement Law to take your place in that dental chair where the extracted tooth is yanked and experienced.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill,
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal & Postal Worker Disability Retirement: Myths, Idioms and Old Proverbs

They exist for a reason; of a story and narrative of a people’s existence; of meaning derived from experience; of a truth handed down from generation to generation.  We may dismiss them because of their age and applicability; for, in modernity and in each successive generation, people tend to think that past generations know nothing, and that it is only the present brilliance of youth who have experienced life.

Yet, myths, idioms and old proverbs continue to remain true, and for those who believe that history is merely a regurgitation of things which have happened before, it is wise to heed and listen.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, believing in myths, idioms and old proverbs can cut both ways.  For example: The myth of the invincibility of the ferocious dragon — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — can be dispelled by hiring an OPM attorney who has been overwhelmingly successful in winning OPM Federal Disability Retirement cases.

The idiom of being a fool if you try and represent yourself — well, that remains fairly accurate.  And the Old Proverb of being penny wise and pound foolish — contact a lawyer who has a long track records of successfully securing your Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Federal Employees: The Stresses of Life

And there are many.  Whether the mere acknowledgement of their existence helps to reduce the level, quantity and qualitative impact, is of course an unknown factor.  Psychology is not a perfect science — if in fact it is a science at all — and “talk therapy” may not be the course of efficacious betterment for everyone at all times and in all circumstances.

We were all told that life would get better if: If the world became more “connected”; If new drugs were discovered to control our stresses and anxieties; If a certain standard of living were to be achieved; If …. Yet, somehow, despite all of the technological advancements which have been made, of “time-saving” devices and gadgets which enhanced our capabilities to become more productive — somehow, the stresses of life seem to exponentially compound our problems.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition — perhaps with an identifiable onset from the stresses of life — Federal Disability Retirement may be an option to consider.

Consult with an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of shedding yourself of at least one of the unwanted stresses of life: Dealing with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in trying to obtain an approval of a Federal Disability Retirement application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement Help: Life’s Challenges

It may not seem so at the time.  Often, during encounters, we consider them as threats, annoyances, “the world is unfair” muses, and would rather avoid them and get on with the routine of our lives.

We hear people talk about “challenges” and “journeys”, and we scoff at such language games and euphemisms as being mere facades behind which lay the true nature of existence: fear, loathing and a greater sense of bitterness.  Why me?

Medical conditions are, indeed, challenging; and whether you characterize them as “another journey”, a bother, one of “life’s challenges” or a greater annoyance which cannot be avoided — it is an existential reality which must be faced.

In facing one of life’s challenges, it is a good idea for the Federal or Postal employee who must consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS to consult with a OPM Disability lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest the annoyance and one of life’s challenges turns out to be somewhat more than that — a disaster that could have been avoided.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Retirement under FERS: The Silent Troll

OPM silently trolls the Internet.  You may not think that such activity poses a risk to you, but you should be fully aware of it.  By “troll” is not meant to include posting inflammatory remarks or initiating controversial discussions on the Web; rather, they silently and quietly view any postings and activities you may be involved in.  They will “spy” on your activities and use what is online as an argument to try and undermine and deny your Federal Disability Retirement application.

Thus, if you are a Postal worker, for example, and claim that you are unable to perform your physical duties as a Letter Carrier, Mail Handler, etc., but you have an Internet Web Page which claims that you are physically fit, a Facebook photo that shows you running a marathon, or a business that involves physical labor, etc., they will use your own postings against you.  Or, perhaps you are a Federal employee who can no longer perform a cognitive-intensive job, but have an Internet-based business as a consulting firm, or some similar work requiring cognitive-intensive work.  Guess what?  OPM may use that against you.

Of course, claims made on the Internet can be quite misleading.  For example, you may be a partner for an Internet-based business in “name only” — meaning that all of the work is done by a sibling or a close friend.  Or, it may be that the “self-pacing” element of running your own business is what allows you to have such an Internet-based business.  However, be that as it may, you should be aware that OPM is the Silent Troll who collects such information for a singular purpose: To deny your Federal Disability Retirement application.

Consult with a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin to safeguard a benefit which is your right to assert.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement: Who I Am & Who Am I

One is a question; the other, a declarative statement.  The latter of a more subjective nature; the former, perhaps a composite of observations by third parties together with self analysis.  Both must begin with a query — of analyzing a statement “about” myself, through others who are well-known as well as of opinions rendered and judgments passed by acquaintances and passersby strangers barely acknowledged.

“Who I am” is often answered in response to a preceding query by a third party: “Who are you?”  It might be answered with fairly objective and short statements which are incontestable: I am X’s brother in-law; I am the husband of Y; “Oh, I am Sarah’s father” (in response to Sarah’s classmate who sees you standing outside of the classroom); or, “I am nobody”.  This last statement, of course, has implications well beyond being an unresponsive nullity; for, it goes to the heart of one’s own assessment of one’s self, one’s consequential impact upon the limited universe of one’s role, and the very essence of an ego left abandoned.

The other — Who Am I — is often followed by the grammatical punctuation of a question mark.  It is often a self-reflective query — one which causes a pause, a momentary furrowing of eyebrows raised, and then a regrouping of having just previously been taken aback by a question which stabs too closely to the essence of one’s being.  Perhaps a soliloquy follows.  One will normally cast the question off with a shrug and answer the self-query with, “I am X” and then move on to take out the garbage, watch a movie, see a documentary or engage in what Heidegger refers to as an activity which allows us to forget our mortality.

Will the question inevitably haunt us and force us into facing ourselves at some point in our lives?  Perhaps.  Can we avoid the question entirely?  Maybe.  It is the former, asked by others, which fails to have the force of the latter, and merely because of the placement and substitution of positions of the two words after the “Who” that makes all of the difference.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and who must face the prospect of facing the question, “Who I am” in reference to one’s position and role in the workplace, it is often the medical condition itself which prompts the second, more incisive query of “Who Am I?”

Does a medical condition define a person?  Certainly, the Agency or the Postal Service makes it the primary issue by questioning one’s competence or capabilities based upon your condition.  Both questions go to the heart of the issue in a Federal Disability Retirement application; for, in the end, the Federal Agency and the Postal Service treat both questions with a foregone conclusion of an answer: You are Nobody if you are no longer part of the “Mission”, and that is why filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management becomes a necessity.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM FERS Disability Retirement: Coordination of Elements

There is no question about it: It is a complex process.

Administratively, it must be passed through multiple levels of agency review in order to get a completed packet — the Supervisor’s Statement (SF 3112B); Agency’s Efforts for Reassignment and Accommodation (SF 3112D); effectively answering the Applicant’s Statement of Disability such that it provides the proper nexus between each of the questions on SF 3112A — for, although it may not be so obvious, the questions must both be answered separately as well as viewed in the totality of each as being a component fitting in with each other, in order to answer it to completion.

Then, there is the coordination of internal and external elements, and the intersecting impact within and without — of a medical report effectively prepared and consistent with the history of treatment modalities; of a nexus persuasively argued establishing the connective impact between the medical condition and the essential elements of the Federal or Postal job elements; and the interconnectedness of essential elements to the physical or cognitive inability to perform one or more of the essential elements, etc.

Throughout the process — whether for a denial and a rebuttal response at the Reconsideration Stage, or at the initial preparation stage in the First Stage; or, even of an appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board — the coordination of elements is important in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Consult with an attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law in order to more effectively establish the coordination of elements.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The memory of greener pastures

Are memories faulty, and are they so for a purpose?  Does the human psyche selectively extrapolate the positive and repress the negative precisely in order to preserve an optimism that will incentivize survival?  If our memory banks retain a pessimism such that the overload of negative images cumulatively dominates, wouldn’t the subtle forces of depression set in to overwhelm us?

The memory of greener pastures — are they true in an objective sense, or only in the selective and myopic perspective that has filtered the negation of subjective desires?  Was childhood as innocent as we remember?  Were the ice cream cones on a hot summer’s day better then, and the wintry winds of Christmas Eve so filled with anticipation of glee that yesterday’s joy was tenfold the truth of untold lies?

We do tend to remember the summers of yesteryear, and of thinking that the lights across the street glow a warmth of love and fidelity; and yet, we know that the room within which we stand is likely a reflection of a reality no lesser, nor no greater, than the greener pastures across the way.  Except when a medical condition hits us.  Then, the memory of greener pastures always reflect the “before” — before the condition worsened; before it began to impact my work; before it became a chronic condition.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, it is often the memory of greener pastures that finally prompts the Federal or Postal employee into preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS.

For, the greener pastures that once were can still be those of tomorrow, but only if the focus of one’s life can attend first to the medical condition itself, without the greater burden of work and the harassment and constant hostility of the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service.

To preserve and hold sacred the memory of greener pastures is to prioritize the things that we hold dear and important, and one’s health should be at the top of the list of such priorities.  Protect it by preparing, formulating and filing an effective FERS Disability Retirement application, to be filed through OPM so that those memories of greener pastures in yesteryear’s childhood joys will not be subsumed by the worries of one’s deteriorating future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire