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OPM Disability Retirement

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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)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • 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)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (177)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (288)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Applicant (79)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Doctor (53)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Human Resources Office (17)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
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    • OPM Disability and a Hostile Working Environment (11)
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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)
    • OPM Disability Process (160)
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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)
    • OPM Disability Retirement & EEOC Complaints (4)
    • OPM Medical Questionnaire (8)
    • 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 (2,055)
    • 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) (79)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (363)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

Disability Retirement for Federal Workers: Precision & Wiggle Room

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

In every legal writing and oral argument, there is an appropriate time and context for precision, and times when wide discretion must be used in allowing for additional evidence and argument to remain effective.  Recognizing and identifying which approach must be applied is the first step to effective advocacy; maintaining the flexibility when appropriate, and constraining the precision for all sides, is often a key to winning.

For Federal Disability Retirement law, whether under FERS or CSRS, the key in applying the applicable case-law, the meaning of the ruling of the court or administrative issuance, while keeping open and flexible the statement of one’s disability, is an important part of the entire process.

To “paint oneself into a corner” in one’s Statement of Disability is often a problem, where subsequent medical conditions arise but one cannot supplement or support such conditions because one was inappropriately precise (or unduly succinct) in the descriptive narrative of one’s statement; or, conversely, being vague about the importance, relevance or applicability of a certain holding in a precedent-setting case; these are all mistakes which should be avoided.

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal or Postal Disability Retirement case, submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the context often drives the content; where precision is called for, technical knowledge must be applied and the terms of art must be inserted; where linguistic flexibility is required, the artful weaving of wiggle room must be allowed, in order for the air to circulate, and for the chameleon of appearance to change as circumstances require.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: a flexible opm disability plan with room for a response strategy to developments not anticipated, a tailored and flexible approach to filing for fers disability, accepting opm disability clients all across america, an effective written communication strategy in your fers disability claim, an experienced attorney who has learned a lot from clients' mistakes, avoiding listing all your medical conditions in the opm disability filing, civil service disability, dealing with inexperienced case workers can be a challenged for the federal disability applicant and his or her attorney, disability retirement at the USPS, discretion with the opm in handling a federal disability reconsideration, discretionary decision-making on medical reports and documentation submitted to the opm, enlisting the help of an owcp- or agency-paid occupational medicine doctor, federal disability attorney, federal employee disability, FERS disability retirement, fers disability: discretionary and non-discretionary decision making, filing for OPM disability retirement, flexibility in adding a new medical condition after submitting original fers medical claim, how an opm disability attorney must be able to make discretionary decisions, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, looking at your federal disability retirement claim with one foot on the ground, nationwide representation of federal employees, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, planning a fers disability claim strategy with flexibility to overcome possible obstacles, planning an opm disability strategy that goes beyond form filling, planning your opm disability strategy from the beginning, postal service disability retirement, questions about discretionary decision-making, resources for injured federal workers, submitting mandatory forms and discretionary documents to the opm, the issue of disability listing in the usps disability application, the most complete blog on federal disability retirement, the right approach depending on the context of each particular federal disability case, time to be flexible and time to be accurate during the federal disability retirement process, USPS disability retirement, which is more flexible opm federal disability or workers comp?, your opm attorney's discretionary decision making | Leave a comment »

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Medical Records Alone

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Medical records can provide valuable information, and as a tool in getting a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS approved, it should be selectively submitted.  Can it replace a medical narrative report from a treating doctor?  Normally, a narrative report from one’s treating doctor — whether a specialist, a family doctor, a psychiatrist, etc. — is invaluable in preparing, formulating, and submitting a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.  The combination of the two, of course, is unequivocally the best-case scenario:  of a medical narrative report supported by, and in consonance with, the office notes, surgical notes, treatment notes, etc.

However, it is not impossible to get a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS approved based upon medical records alone.  If that is the only course of action left — with the alternative choices being of walking away without filing for Disability Retirement benefits — then a Federal Disability Retirement application based upon one’s medical records alone can be successfully argued, but it must be done with meticulous care, and squeezing every notation and attribution of annotations to their fullest relevance, extent and extrapolating significance.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: accurate and proper medical documentation key for getting fers disability, being careful with the medical documentation you submit to opm, building a strong opm claim doesn't take lots of medical documents, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, dancing without the occupational medicine physician, do I really need a lawyer?, doctor uncooperation with usps medical disability claim, enlisting the help of an owcp- or agency-paid occupational medicine doctor, federal employees with paperphobia doctors, FERS disability retirement, fighting the curse of an owcp-assigned nurse, if your doctor won't cooperate with your federal disability case, if your treating doctor is being paid by the united states postal service...., in the event your treating physician was assigned by the office of workers comp, it the owcp federal employee doesn't have a supportive physician, large amount of medical documentation for opm disability retirement, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, medical documentation guidelines, medical documentation tools used to prove a usps disability case, medical records in opm disability application, medical records reviewed by the OPM, nationwide representation of federal employees, no medical narrative from an owcp-appointed doctor, OPM disability retirement, opm medical documents, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, situations when you really need the help of a federal disability lawyer, the importance of medical records in opm disability law, the less your doctor help the more you need help from an opm disability lawyer, the opm must evaluate medical documentation, USPS disability retirement, usps medical documentation requirements, what if my doctor refuses to cooperate in a claim for fers disability?, what to do if your doctor won't cooperate with your omp disabiliy claim, when the injured federal worker must go solo, when the owcp-assigned treating physician won't cooperate with the postal worker | Leave a comment »

  • 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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