OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Life Patterns

Every animal has a pattern or rhythm; and so, by studying such behavioral patterns, we can ordinarily predict, with some amount of accuracy, future responses and reactive inclinations.  Human beings are the one species where, purportedly, if a pattern is detected early, deliberative alterations can be initiated; or, at least that is the theory.

In reality, most people are unable to break from the patterns of their lives.  We apply various euphemisms to explain away our inability to alter self-destructive behaviors — and call them “addictions” or childhood “traumas” and early-developmental imprints which cannot be easily cured.

So, in the end, it turns out that we are not much different from other species, and our DNA seems to be as entrenched in our behavioral predictability much the same as the Cheetah or the Chimpanzee.

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 all of the essential elements of his or her position with the Federal Government, the question to ask is: Is the life pattern of ignoring the medical condition and pushing forward while your health deteriorates — is that a life pattern you want to continue?  Or, should discernment that obtaining a Federal Disability Retirement benefit will break that life pattern so that you can focus on your health — is that a possibility?

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and see whether or not you will be one of the unique few who can identify a self-destructive life pattern, and break out of the mold of Cheetahs and Chimpanzees.

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.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Help: Fear of the Unknown

It is natural to fear that which is not known; for, it is knowledge which makes for comfort, facts that provide the foundation, and recognizable conceptual constructs which ease the conscience.

Swimming in waters previously uninitiated, where murky waters and unknown growths brush against one’s legs; of entering an abandoned home where strange and unfamiliar noises are heard late at night; or of enduring an unending medical condition where the uncertainty of the outcome, an obscured future and the constant symptoms which never seem to abate — yes, it is natural to possess the fear of the unknown.

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, the known quantity is the very fear of the unknown: What the U.S. Office of Personnel Management will decide; what the future will hold; whether there will be an opportunity for another career despite the medical condition; and many more besides which may not be known now, and may remain unknown for an undetermined time.

Consult with an experienced disability attorney to at least be informed of that which may yet be unknown, but where an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law may unravel some of the mysteries behind FERS Disability Retirement, and shed light upon the darkness comprising the fears underlying the unknown.

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.

 

Disability Retirement from the USPS and other Federal Gov. Agencies: Loyalty in Our Time

As a member of The Band, Levon Helm was a fiercely loyal member who was extremely critical of his fellow musician, Robbie Robertson.  The issue which centered upon the bitter feud involved royalties (as all feuds throughout time immemorial involve money) — of who should receive it; what constitutes “writing” a song; who should get credit for it, etc.

There are many adages which our grandparents used to offer — of sayings beginning with, “There are two types of people in the world”, etc.  One such saying might begin with: “There are two types of people in the world — the Levon Helm type, and the Robbie Robertson type…”

The controversy involved the bifurcation of the following: How is a song written: by the origin of the idea, or by the end product involving a collaborative effort?  Levon Helm believed in the latter approach; Robbie Robertson, in the former.  In the end, what was considered as one of the greatest rock bands in the history of music — a group merely called, “The Band” — disintegrated into a bitter end because of a feud over money and loyalty.

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, the question of loyalty in our time will test the Federal Agency and the Postal Service.

Should you inform them immediately about your intention to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits?  How will your past loyalty to your Federal Agency or the Postal Service be “repaid” when they find out that you are filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management?  Will the Federal Agency or the Postal Service act like Levon Helm — fiercely loyal — or like Robbie Robertson?

To protect yourself and learn the lesson of loyalty in our time, contact a disability attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law.

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 Employment Medical Retirement Benefits: Answering

There are a wide-ranging set of rules when answering — whether to a question, a query or the need to rebut a determination of some sort.  Etiquette often plays a large part in social situations; or of common conventions and unspoken rules of interpersonal interactions.  Different situations call for tailored responses, and often we confuse one sphere of responsive need with another. “Do I owe an explanation” often depends upon the circumstances — the status between the query and the deposed; the relationship fostered; whether there would be consequences in failing to provide an answer, etc.  Then, of course, there is the issue of timeliness.

For Federal employees and U.S.Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, much of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is a matter of answering questions — questions posed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Standard Forms 3107 and 3112.  How one answers the questions; what answers are formulated; when to file a response; where to file the response — they are all relevant in preparing an effective FERS Disability Retirement application.

Consult with a Federal Disability Retirement Attorney who specializes in Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) Laws and set the path of “answering” not only in the right way, but in an effective manner in preparing, formulating and filing a successful Federal Disability Retirement application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS: Further than once thought

Whether the distance was miscalculated, or the area was last visited decades ago as a child, the feeling that the destination is further than once thought — or that one is enmeshed in something that is “above one’s head” — is a disturbing and often distressing feeling.  An underlying sense of panic begins to envelope; then, time becomes of the essence, perhaps because the appointment specified a time or it is simply getting late.

Have you ever had that sense where you believed that you could do it, or you thought you knew — perhaps the direction that you once knew “like the back of your hand” when you were a child, or the ability to build something or repair a broken object?

Whatever the issue at hand, the chasm which is evident between your “thought-of” knowledge of a subject and the actual know-how suddenly becomes a problem.  It is one thing to sit around and talk about a subject; we can all spew our expertise in this or that subject, so long as the actualization of the matter is never tested.

At a party, everyone can be anyone, sort of like people who develop friendships on the Internet in forums like Facebook: On a flat screen, anyone can claim to be such-and-such.  And so the braggart can claim to know how to fly a plane; but would you want that claimant to take you on a ride without first “actualizing” the claimed assertions (i.e., perhaps verifying his license to fly, how many hours of actual flight lessons he or she has taken, etc.)?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, it is a wise “next-step” to consult with an experienced attorney before considering preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

If you — as a Federal or Postal employee considering a Federal Disability Retirement application — are hit with a similar sense as that of thinking that the distance between Point A and Destination B is further than once thought in grappling with the process of Federal Disability Retirement, then it is time to consult with an Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Systematic Preparation

Can a project be well-prepared if there is no “system” in place?  Do we trust, for example, a construction firm who goes about their business without a blueprint?  If you ask of the firm, “Well, can we see some examples?” or “Can you provide a rendition of what kind of a house you plan on building?” — what would you think if the answer came back with: “Oh, don’t worry, it will have a roof, a couple of bedrooms and a kitchen.” Is that a satisfactory answer? Or, would you want to see that a firm foundation is first built, and that a systematic methodology of preparing, then initiating the building project will proceed in accordance with a previously agreed-upon blueprint of the archetype of the product proposed?

To that end, shouldn’t you be able to speak to the lead architect, at some point, and not merely be sloughed off to salesmen, administrative support staff and other office workers who may be very helpful, but are not the ones who will “head” the project?

Similarly, if you call a law firm, shouldn’t you be speaking with the lawyer him/herself, instead of a secretary, paralegal or some other “disability specialist” whom you believe you are hiring, but you never seem to get a hold of?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition has come to a point where it/they prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the necessity in filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is often an option which is unavoidable.  That being said, do you want to proceed down the administratively complex process of Federal Disability Retirement without a systematized methodology of preparation?

Consulting with an attorney who specializes in obtaining Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is a good first step in gaining a blueprint on how to proceed; just be careful that you don’t hire a law firm that merely has all of its “underlings” do the important work of the systematic preparation, and moreover, it is important to inquire as to what kind of approach the attorney has in moving forward to win a Federal Disability Retirement benefit, for you.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Minding the ‘happiness principle’

Is there such a thing?  Certainly, enough authors, gurus and faith-healers have claimed it, packaged it and sold it as a commodity to be prepared, marketed and purchased.  Somehow, we are all gullible enough to believe in it:  Just as sorcerers of old possessed powers beyond human comprehension, so we hold on to the hope that such secrets of soothsayers mixing the concoction in a cauldron of expectations may boil over with fumes and aromas we can smell into oblivion.

That secret incantation; those mysterious sequence of codes (yes, which is why the Da Vinci Code was so popular – until it was made into a movie and the audience realized the farcical nature when bad literature is transformed into an ever worse media script); or perhaps it is a deal of Faustian proportions – of one’s soul for the hidden principle, the fountain of youth, the corridor down timeless ecstasy; instead, of course, in this mass-marketing world of consumer gullibility, we cling to the anticipation – despite all historical evidence to the contrary – that there exists a fortune-teller’s abracadabra comprising a happiness principle.

Principles are the foundational guidance for understanding the causal connections of events that occur in the objective world; first principles, as Aristotle liked to point out, are important in their revelatory powers to comprehend the operational mechanisms of this world of Being.  If you don’t know first principles, or the paradigmatic principles that operate behind the scenes – much like the Wizard behind the curtain —  then you will always only know that it happens, not why it does so.

And so we go through life, walking and wandering the streets, seeing others smiling, laughing and seeming to enjoy life, while we stew in the solitude of our private misery, perhaps outwardly attempting to feign such emotional brightness while inwardly decaying with each day’s tumult of angst and anxiety.

In minding the existence of the ‘happiness principle’, we are everyday falling into the statistical trap of that famous quip attributed to the 19th century Showman, P.T. Barnum, that there’s “a sucker born every minute.”  Even if everyday empirical evidence refutes the existential reality of such a principle, we nevertheless hope against fading hope for such a white knight in shining armor – that armor of protective fallacies based upon a nonexistent principle wrapped in the cloaking of hopes unearned and never to be attained.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are down in the dumps because of a medical condition, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the reality that one’s career may be cut short and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits may be a necessity, must fight against the false hope that a Federal Disability Retirement annuity is the “be-all” and “end-all” of life’s miseries.

Medical conditions may continue to remain chronic; there will likely remain many challenges in the future; but the point of filing for Federal Disability Retirement is to allow for one to attain a plateau of hopefulness where one can make one’s health and well-being a priority, without necessarily minding the ‘happiness principle’ or believing in P.T. Barnum’s secret to success.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Analogies

It is the greater concept often developed through metaphors and similes; but to the extent they are now of use depends largely upon the shared cultural context within which we live.  If Classical literature is no longer the common thread of meaningful discourse, can references to them in creating analogies work?  To share that a person’s tragedy is more Shakespeare than Milton, or that the individual’s circumstances remind one more akin to The Road to Wigan Pier than Brideshead Revisited, can such conversations take on a relevant pathway if the intellectual divide fails to be crossed?

You can, of course, always Google and quickly get the quick rundown of the literary reference through electronic Spark Notes, or some other venue of shortcutting the arduous endeavor reserved in former times; but even that may reveal an inadequacy that cannot be overcome.  For, of what part of the book or author is being referred to?  Is it any particular play or poem, or the entirety of the work itself?  Is it any specific character or scene?

Some philosophers have posited that, by and large, we comprehend and make sense of the objective world through the use of analogies, built upon by metaphors and similes; for, language itself is a conglomerate of such literary devices.  To face the universe purely for survival’s sake is to forego the need for imposing the ordering through language; animals do not require it, but in the most rudimentary of mechanisms that advance warning signs and preemptive communications; it is only in the arena of human constructs where categorical imperatives need to be assigned in order to filter the world into more palatable and circumscribed entities for processing the complexities we have created.

Analogies thus communicate through the medium of shared conceptual constructs, where we draw in the recipient and spectator, the audience of our targeted comparisons, by relating a shared, known and familiar encapsulation of linguistic constructs.  It is only when the strangeness of the metaphor, the unfamiliarity of the reference, creates further puzzlement and loss of connection, that problems occur and relationships become fissures of language games gone awry.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal employees 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 positional duties, the applicability of providing a foundational construct of relating one’s story to an “administrative specialist” at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management will often involve – and require – analogies by default.

Use them sparingly; utilize discretion; and, in writing up one’s narrative in response to the questions posed on SF 3112A (Applicant’s Statement of Disability), remember that this is not the time, the context or the best place to try out radical, untested metaphors, similes or analogies.

Thus, while those who have read Orwell’s work, The Road to Wigan Pier, as well as Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, may find a clever and appropriate place in one’s Applicant’s Statement of Disability to make some brilliant literary reference, it may be more prudent to stick to the medical facts and incorporate those supportive documents in dealing with analogies of life, health, and the nexus between the latter and one’s Federal or Postal job duties.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire