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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)
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    • 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)
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    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
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      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
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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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    • Post-Application Issues (19)
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    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,060)
    • 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)
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    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
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    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

OPM Disability Retirement: How Specific?

Posted on August 15, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The Applicant’s Statement of Disability should be specifically tailored to encompass and embrace the particular type of medical condition, the unique symptoms which result from the specific medical condition, a factual delineation of the type of daily, essential elements of the particular type of job one engages in, and the impact of each to all.  The “creativity” of writing comes into play, not in terms of “storytelling creativity” (although the applicant’s statement must always have an element of storytelling), but rather a compelling description of the “human story”  — the story of the individual who is suffering from the particular medical condition, combined with the workplace impact and peppered with the emotional toll of the human condition.  It should never be voluminous — for length should never replace a concise story; it should never be a stream of consciousness — for the human story should always be factual and reasoned; and it should never be a ranting bundle of emotionalism — for the true story of a medical condition upon a human life should entail a medical delineation, along with a detached, but personal, account of the person’s statement of impact.  Such a balanced story needs to be told well, and it needs to be compelling.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The Applicant, OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS, OPM Disability Process - 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application | Tagged: a personal medical narrative supported by facts, a story of human suffering behind an opm disability application, an emotional vs. reasoned personal account of disability, applicant's claim for compensation for non occupational disease, applicant's statement of disability, applicant’s report on disability retirement fers, applying for opm medical retirement, arkansas opm disability retirement, avoiding voluminous statements of disability, civil service disability retirement, claimant's statement for federal disability compensation, describing a medical tragedy without too much emotionalism, disability retirement for federal employees, do not overstate your medical condition, don't deny the severity of the symptoms, federal employee applicant's work capacity evaluation, federal employee disability retirement claims, federal employees disability retirement system, federal employees' compensation disability claim, federal employment accident or injury report, fers disability retirement law firm, FERS medical retirement, focusing on a particular medical condition, how to write a persuasive statement on disability, how your conditions affect your job performance, I need help with my postal disability claim, law enforcement officer's claim for compensation statements, legal representation for injured federal workers, list only disabilities that prevent core functions of the job, medical disability for the bureau of prisons employee, medical disability retirement for usgs employees, opm disability for bop employees, opm disability representation for new mexico federal workers, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement and the story behind a disability claim, opm disability retirement blog, opm disability statements made by applicant, opm disability tips for non lawyers, paying attention to the essence of a disability retirement case, persuading an opm representative to rule in your favor, postal service disability retirement, resources for injured federal workers, severe injury compensation for federal law enforcement agents, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for FERS, stating the facts about the essential element of the job, story of human tragedy, supporting substantial medical evidence to OPM, the applicant's medical narrative report, the compelling description of physical incapacity, the compelling story of an opm disability applicant, the human side of a disability story, the opm disability retirement applicant's errors, the patient's own account on opm disability retirement, the potential disability retirement applicant, the short but personal account of disability, the symptoms and the diagnosis in the narrative report, tips for unrepresented opm disability applicants, too much information in the applicant's statement of disability, traumatic injury federal notice compensation, USPS disability retirement, usps federal compensation attorney, usps fers retirement, usps medical disability | Leave a comment »

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Creativity & Objectivity

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The Applicant’s Statement of Disability is a very personal statement; that is precisely why when I take on cases at the Second (Reconsideration) Stage, or at the Third (Merit Systems Protection Board) Stage, I have an opportunity to read heart-felt, personal, and very “emotional” statements written by the individual applicant.  This is not to be negatively critical of such statements — such personal, emotionally-charged statements can be very effective.  On the other hand, it is precisely because the Applicant who writes such a statement — about his or her own personal engagement and experience of the disability — that he or she is unable to provide an objective perspective.  It is very difficult to “stand outside” of one’s self and write about one’s self.  Again, this is not a negative criticism — it is simply what it is.  As an aside, I have had many of my clients who read my interpretive statement of disability, which I craft based upon multiple sources (i.e., by speaking to the client; by having my client fill out a short questionnaire; by reading the medical reports and records, etc.), who tell me later that, yes, the statement of disability accurately reflected their state of medical disability, and further, that it made him or her realize for the first time how “bad off” they were.  It takes a perspective of objectivity to creatively — and accurately — depict one’s own medical disability and the impact of such disability upon one’s life.  For this, a third party — often an attorney — is needed.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: affirmative approach for OPM disability retirement, applicant's statement of disability, applicant's statements on 2nd and 3rd stage opm disability, applicant’s report on disability retirement fers, applying for disability in the postal service, claim for disabling condition non-work related compensation, claimant's statement for federal disability compensation, disability retirement for federal employees, evaluation of psychological conditions by fers disability applicant, federal employee disability retirement, federal employees long-term compensation non job related, federal employees' compensation disability claim, federal employment accident or injury report, federal job related injury or illness, federal non-work related injury or occupational disease, federal soup postal, federal workers who sustain off-the-clock illnesses, fers claim for compensation occupational disease, fers disability retirement in Missouri, future of limited duty us postal employees, how to write a persuasive statement on disability, injury compensation and light limited duty, limited jobs for light duty employees, long lwop for nervous or mental conditions, losing your federal job because of non-work related injury, mail carrier injury on the job, medical compensation for federal and postal workers, medical resources for us federal employees, medical retirement from federal service, Minnesota employee federal opm disability retirement, MSPB Third Stage, notice of traumatic injury claim for compensation, on-the-job accident or injury federal employment, OPM disability, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement blog, opm disability retirement for a employee in Wisconsin, opm disability statements made by applicant, OPM Initial Stage, OPM medical retirement, OPM Reconsideration Stage, owcp and unable to return to work, owcp disability retirement really is usually meant "opm disability retirement", owcp medical retirement, Postal disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, schizophrenia and federal disability retirement, Second Step OPM Appeal, separation while in federal workers comp, severe injury compensation for federal law enforcement agents, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for FERS, story of human tragedy, the applicant's medical narrative report, the human side of a disability story, the patient's own account on opm disability retirement, us postal service disability retirement, usps denial federal compensation attorney, usps disability benefits, USPS disability retirement, usps federal compensation attorney, usps separation, what a federal employee can do when injured outside work? | 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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