FERS Disability Retirement: Just the Right Word

It is a terrifying thought that major events — some of which can lead to calamitous results — can turn on a word.  Diplomacy depends upon it, as well as marital harmony and a host of other circumstances.

Words possess the power of persuasion, and their salutary impact is seen by the consequences which follow.   One sees It in the faces of diplomats following lengthy discussions behind closed doors — whether certain words have really averted a crisis or have merely prolonged an inevitable consummation of intentions otherwise provoked.

Did “just the right words” avoid the breakup of a marriage, where the expectant looks of a child’s hope depended upon the soothing effects softly diminishing tempers’ destructive costs? It is the intemperate reaction in the heat of the moment which compels remorse of conscience and the recognition of the power of words.

For Federal Gov. employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from an injury or illness such that preparing, formulating, and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS becomes a necessity — or, if already filed and a Denial from OPM has already been rendered and a Reconsideration response is required — understanding that the entire administrative process is a “paper presentation” to OPM and is therefore dependent upon “just the right word” or, more accurately, multiple and voluminous words — is a daunting thought.

And furthermore, the words chosen must necessarily involve various areas of specialized disciplines — not the least of which (obviously) should include conceptual constructs of legal cases previously decided.

As such, in filing an application to OPM or in responding to an OPM denial and needing to file a responsive Reconsideration legal memorandum, it may be necessary to consult with a FERS Medical Retirement Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law to help in choosing “just the right word.”

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 Medical Retirement: The Hard Acceptance Beyond

When an expectation of a day or an event comes and goes, and suddenly the mundaneness of daily toil comes back with a vengeance of regularity, the hard acceptance beyond is suddenly what we must face.

It is similar to that ”Aha!” Moment of realization — where a gestalt explosion of awareness occurs.  But even at the highest level of enlightenment or realization, such a moment is merely a minor point in time — the hard work comes about afterward when we have to apply the realized moment to our everyday lives.

The excitement, uniqueness, or even eccentricity of a given point in time always follows with the boredom of regularity where old problems are merely replaced with different ones; that is why, whether it is a Holiday, an affair of infidelity, or some unexpected windfall, or merely a unique insight, the hard acceptance beyond is the difficult part.

Yet, the best work in life comes about during the daily grind of disciplined work, and not at the arbitrary moment of some enlightened flashpoint.  And it is the hard acceptance that life comes roaring back with a vengeance of mundaneness after that flashpoint of excitement when the adrenaline wanes and the uniqueness fades, that one either accepts with resigned submission or with renewed vigor.

Is it then seen as either a challenge or an Impossible obstacle that cannot be overcome?  How the question is framed and answered will determine the rest of your life.

Medical conditions present a similar life-altering challenge.  Whether by an accident or disabling medical event, that moment in time passes, and then we must face the remainder of life’s linear gift.  It is the hard acceptance beyond the event which must be faced.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers, that hard acceptance beyond may include the need to prepare, formulate and file an effective FERS Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — and it will surely be a fight, but one worth engaging.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and get the help needed to help you get the hard acceptance beyond.

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: The Scroll of Life

The concept of a scroll is a fascinating one — with the anticipation of unfurling deep mysteries as the contents slowly reveal themselves, unraveling the words of ancient wisdom kept hidden within the curled papyrus, seeing the light of day for the first time in centuries.

We often imagine that such an object exists for each of our lives, kept in a pigeon-hole compartment, awaiting the unraveling in parallel fashion as future events are foretold.

The scroll of life, of course, is in reality within ourselves — in the actions we contemplate, the giving of ourselves to others, and the meaning we bring to this world — in short, the works we do in the world, within the allotted time we are given.

It is no less a mystery than the actual scrolls which were written upon and stored away in deep caverns where future generations would rediscover them and read them with renewed eyes, and when discovered, are viewed with sacred awe and treated with reverence.  But that human beings, who are the living scrolls of life, should each be treated with such reverence.

For FERS Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a chronic injury or illness and who believe that their scroll of life has been impeded and interrupted because of a medical condition, it is important to understand and recognize that life is not predetermined in a hidden  scroll, already dried with the ink of predestination but is still being written every day.

What you do and how you do it is still to be determined.  As such, if a Federal employee or Postal worker needs Federal Disability Retirement for future security, you should contact a FERS Disability Pension Lawyer who specializes in Federal Medical Retirement Law, to guide and assist you in writing upon the next page of the scroll of life.

Sincerely,

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

 

FERS Early Medical Retirement: Integrity

What is it?  One definition states: A. The adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty, and B. The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.  Yes, the first one is what one expects; it is the second definition, however, which is the more relevant, and perhaps needs to be fleshed out.  For, isn’t that the true basis for the meaning of the word?

That there is a “wholeness” between the words one speaks and the actions one takes.

Take the following hypothetical: A former president (who will remain unidentified) who was almost kicked out of office for an indiscretion committed in the oval office (yes, yes, it is hard to guess who that might be, these days — but here is another hint: There were, in the salacious context of the entire affair [sic], multiple “Speakers of the House” who took the post, then subsequently resigned because they, too, were outed in retaliation by the White House) goes around the country lecturing at high schools and colleges on the following subject: “The importance of Fidelity in a marriage.”

Would you go to such a lecture?  Would you allow your son or daughter to listen to the ex-president?  Why, or why not?  Does it matter who the speaker is?  Why does it matter?  Isn’t the truth of what he says, true — regardless of who delivers the lecture?  Would it make a difference if someone else gave the lecture — say, some old geezer who has been married to his wife for 75 years?  If so, why?

Perhaps because the penumbras of integrity still haunt our society, where words and actions still require “wholeness”.

Certainly, that is the case (allegedly) in a Federal Disability Retirement case, where your Statement of Disability (SF 3112A) should match the Physician’s Statement (SF 3112C), where the coordination and connection results in a “wholeness” which will then turn into an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, when a Federal or Postal Disability Retirement application is put together in the effective manner in which it should — based upon the concept of integrity.

Contact a Federal Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make sure that the entire packet is prepared, formulated and filed with the concept of “integrity” — “wholeness” — in mind.

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: Other World’s Thoughts

Are there other worlds which think differently?  When you hear of other cultures; of other societies; of people speaking in response to questions posed — Do we suddenly become jolted by the cultural differences, of thought processes which sound foreign and alien, and think, “Wow, is it possible that they think differently than I do?”

Perhaps, it has to do with marriage — of arrangements that still lead to a happiness which we cannot fathom.  Or, of cuisine that doesn’t quite agree with what we consider acceptable staples; or even of freedom — of restrictions, of political speech which is restrained and constrained by fear, intimidation, etc.  Are there, within a reach’s distance, other world’s thoughts which appear foreign and distant?

Certainly, for Federal Gov. employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under the FERS system — the foreign language required by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in order to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits; it is, in essence, Other World’s Thoughts.  It is a language replete with legal jargon and foreign phrases; of case laws applicable and statutory authorities inviolable.

In order to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under the FERS retirement system, it is tantamount to needing to know a foreign language.

Contact a FERS Attorney who is familiar with that “foreign language” of OPM Medical Disability requirements, and understand that, yes, it is indeed Other World’s Thoughts.

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 Medical Retirement: Not for Public Viewing

Whether such a statement or declaration is actually applicable today is questionable.  For, is anything left to the privacy of one’s insular imagination, anymore?  Everyone bares all — of private, intimate details; of private parts, private affairs, private moments, private thoughts; no matter, just post it onto social mediums and allow everyone into your bedroom.

Private “gentleman’s clubs” often had rooms “not for public viewing”, and in stodgy buildings hidden away with a grim-faced doorkeeper ready to bar your entrance, one learned that nothing actually of a salacious manner (or matter) occurred behind those heavy brass doors, but merely old men who wanted to smoke a cigar and read the financial papers in peace.

Medical conditions are the exception.  They are the issues not for public viewing, and that remains somewhat valid today.  For, of the privacy which we all cherish and attempt to protect, our medical conditions remain at the top of the list.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a health condition such that the health condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the basic elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, maintaining one’s privacy in the face of preparing and submitting an effective disability retirement application may be a priority, but one which must be balanced between the voluntary submittal of a FERS Federal Disability Retirement application and the need to protect such sensitive information in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application to a large, faceless bureaucracy such as the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a Federal Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law and see whether or not preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal or Postal Service Disability Retirement application under the current Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, can be accomplished — to the extent possible — while protecting that which is Not for Public Viewing.

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 Law: Thoughts

Can they be controlled?  Or, are they independent conceptual Forms, sort of like Plato’s Ideas of Goodness, Truth, Beauty, etc.?

Aristotle, of course, thought that Plato’s Forms were a bunch of bosh; and so we have two lineages of Western Thought, neatly bifurcated: That of Aristotle’s school, leading linearly to the “scientific” methodology, and Plato’s more “artful”, cinematic approach, involving metaphorical and analogical thought-processes.  Both are legitimate ways of approaching the world, and both involve that ephemeral conceptual constructs designated and labeled as “Thoughts”.

Have you ever obsessed over things?  Worried?  Have thoughts “controlled” you throughout the day?  If you are unable to contain and control them, then aren’t they independent and separate from the “you” which “thinks” them?  Have you experienced that sensation of an “earworm”, where an unwanted “catchy” tune keeps repeating and looping itself in your mind?

Thoughts are interesting entities; for, they are the foundation of meaning in our lives; guide us in utilitarian ways, as well as in intellectual pursuits not otherwise applicable.  They are the product of worries and anxieties; of dreams and plans; of needs and wants.  They both exist independently, like Plato’s forms, and in controlled disciplines, like Aristotle’s logical analysis.

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, here is a thought: Consult with a Federal Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law, and let the worries of your health take the priority they deserve, by moving forward beyond your Federal or Postal career, thereby taking “hold” of your thoughts and applying them for the virtue of your own good.

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 Benefits: The Decision to Proceed

It is the final act of the will — of the bridge between thought and action, which will often result in burning the bridge once one has crossed it.  The thought-process which culminates in the decision to proceed involves many facets encompassing all of the steps before the finalization of the action itself.

In stealing a candy bar from a store — of weighing the consequences if caught; of the chances that anyone is looking; whether, if caught, would the police be called, your parents informed, etc.  Of whether to get married — are you ready for a commitment which may involve having children?  Is the potential partner compatible?  Can you imagine yourself being together with him/her 10, 20, 30 years hence?

Or, for Federal employees and U.S Postal workers who suffer from a medial condition and need to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — can you stay at your job until retirement age?  Is your performance suffering such that your agency may place you on a Performance Improvement Plan?  Are you on the verge of simply resigning and walking away because you cannot do your job anymore — and is that a wise decision as opposed to preparing, formulating and filing an application for OPM Disability Retirement?

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider whether or not filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS through OPM may be the best course of action in the progressive thought process leading to the decision to proceed.

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: Painting The Picture

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, under FERS, the image which must be considered is the following:  There is a wall.  That “wall” represents the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — the Federal Agency which makes a determination on all Federal Disability Retirement applications.

On the left side of the wall is an unidentified entity called, “Difficult”.  On the right side of the wall is another unidentified entity entitled, “Can’t”.  If you are on the left side of the wall, have you climbed over onto the right side of the wall?

Thus, for those Federal or Postal employees who are still working at their jobs, but who say things like, “I’m having a hard time doing my job”, or, “It is becoming more and more difficult going to work”, etc. — contact an OPM Disability Retirement Attorney, that is, a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and discuss the steps which must be taken in order to climb the wall of OPM from the left side, to the right.

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.

 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Disability Retirement: Sufficiency

There is always a measure of subjectivity involved, of course.  Following the Council of Trent, the issues which prevailed as a response to the Protestant Reformation involved Church doctrine and clarifications needed concerning issues involving “sufficiency” of grace, whether the human will could engage in acts of the “Good” without it, and so many other interesting minutiae of proper wording which is now irrelevant in this postmodern era.

What is sufficient; what qualitative or quantitative determinations meet that criteria; is there an objective set of rules and regulations requiring sufficiency, and how is it determined to have been met?

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, “sufficiency” of information is a critical criteria to be met in every Federal Disability Retirement case.

There has been no “Council of Trent” to clarify what would meet the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s criteria for what constitutes sufficiency of medical and other information; although, there have certainly been many “edicts” issued, both by OPM and the Federal Courts, as well as by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (the “MSPB”).

What is sufficient; how is it determined; who decides on the issue; what can be done to meet the criteria — these are all questions which can differ from case-to-case because of the inherent uniqueness of each case.

Contact an OPM Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits and avoid the proclamations issued concerning heresies and violations of doctrinal clarifications, whether by the Council of Trent or by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

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.