OPM Disability Retirement Law: Of the Bad Today

One often pauses in today’s climate and asks, Is it worse, today?  Is the “badness” more prevalent today than in epochs past?

Then, the pause and the question itself must be contextually “filled in”, like the gravedigger who digs a rectangular hole but stops and asks the absurd question, “What if there is no body today?”  Then, of course, you are digging a hole just to dig a hole, and the entire context and purpose suddenly disappears.  So, what is the context?  Well, for starters, Worse in what way?  And worse, for whom?

Certainly, if you were in prison at Auschwitz in 1944, there is no comparison worth making.  Or, if you were a Native American forced from your ancestral home to march the Trail of Tears, or an American soldier on the Bataan Death March in 1942 — surely, the “badness” perpetrated upon those people (answering the 2 questions, For Whom? and, Worse in What Way?) cannot compare to today?

And, in retrospect, it may be that America reached its pinnacle as a world power sometime during the 2 decades after WWII; for, surely there was no greater world dominance than the American specter following the Allied Victory against both Japan and Germany?

But even then — of the 1950s and early 1960s, the question still looms, For Whom?  Many African Americans who fought bravely in WWII thought that, having faithfully served their country against the forces of fascism and Germany’s genocidal racism against the Jewish population, surely — this time — things were going to change “back home”?

But no, they found that the post-war economic boom was not all inclusive, and that they would have to fight not only Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but within the borders of their own country, just to reach some status of equality.  And so we turn full circle and ask, Of the Bad Today, was it ever this bad?  Well, it depends….

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition where that medical condition no longer allows you to to continue in your Federal or Postal career, the Bad of Today has been your chronic and debilitating medical condition, and yes, it is worse than the Bad of Yesterday — if only because you are no longer the young and healthy whippersnapper you once were.

Contact a FERS attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let not the Bad Today extend into the badder of tomorrow.

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 Benefits: Other Languages

Learning another language is an interesting phenomena — one requiring difficult dedication, a capacity for memorization (even with access to Google and the easy tools of translation, vocabulary, etc.) and a requirement of patience.  Perhaps you studied the language in college, or grew up in a foreign country where, as a child, speaking it was a natural way of life, somewhat like the process of osmosis.

Each language, of course, has its subtleties; some are more foreign than others.  French uses many words similar to English; Japanese or Chinese, on the other hand, are languages which do not share a common origin, and thus are often considered more difficult to learn.

Pronunciation of any foreign language is another matter altogether.  In some ways, the process of learning a foreign language is akin to learning a new “language game” — to understanding and comprehending terms and concepts in a different field or discipline.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS is somewhat like learning a new language, and the fluency with which one masters the concepts and legal strategies will often determine the pathway of success or failure.  Contact an OPM/MSPB Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and leave the learning of this “language” to an expert who speaks it fluently.

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: Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

Much of life is an experience of repetition.  It is the act of habituation which allows for the sustainability of life.  If every experience — each day, each hour, every day, every hour — is a new experience, it would be tantamount to the antithesis of sustainability: Chaos would prevail.

Then, there are once-in-a-lifetime experiences — perhaps of an astrological event where certain planets align themselves once in a million years; or of a “Supernova” that is witnessed; or of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Yes — that, too, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, inasmuch as it is unlikely you will file for the benefit more than once in a given lifetime.

Being such a unique event, it is advisable to consult with an OPM Disability Lawyer who has performed the chore of legal representation more than once, in order to obtain the experience of wisdom and advice which is, indeed, a once in a lifetime experience — but not for your FERS Attorney.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Apparent Neutrality

Can a person, country, nation, community, individual, politician, etc., ever be “neutral”?  Or, as recent events have postured, do we all have inherent preferences, biases, “systemic” characteristics of natural or artificial preferences which guide our thoughts, words and actions?  Is it more dangerous to pretend to be “neutral” on a matter, as opposed to openly expressing one’s biases and preferences?

To express “apparent” neutrality, of course, is either to hide one’s preference on an issue, or at the very least to act “as if” — as if one has no interest, either personally or professionally; to act as if there are no “leanings” one way or another.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management in a Federal Disability Retirement case does this — expresses apparent neutrality, as if their decision on a Federal Disability Retirement application is purely based upon “the law” and therefore is tantamount to a computer software program or an automaton which expresses pure neutrality on the matter and is merely applying the objective criteria of legal standards.  Bosh!  For, wherever interpretive input is required, by necessity one’s biases will ultimately come to the fore.

Contact a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer when considering applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, and make sure that any “apparent neutrality” on the issue is decided in your favor; for, in the end, neutrality is merely a pretext to hide behind, and in preparing, formulating and filing an effective disability retirement application under FERS, it is best to have a legal expert as an advocate on your side.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Employee Disability Retirement: The Steps

There are many of them; throughout, even in a small village or town; steps to enter a restaurant; steps to get to the front door; steps down the back porch; then there are baby steps, giant leaps and small steps; hesitant ones and confident strides; steps that are loud and stomping; steps which are heavy, evoking images of a haggard day full of dashed hopes and downtrodden emotions.

Then, there are metaphorical steps — as in what steps you must take in order to “reach your goals” or the steps that have to be endured in order to “climb up the corporate ladder”.  Steps are many; some are few; and whether in a metaphorical sense or in a pragmatic statement of reality, they either take you up or down, and sometimes merely on a plateau of equilibrium where gravity and reality pulls at you in either direction.

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, the steps you take at the initial stage of the process are important in establishing where you want to go, how you want to go about it, and whether or not you will make any progress in reaching your destination point — a receipt of an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Consult with a Federal Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest the steps you take lead you backward, instead of forward, in the complex administrative process of Federal Disability Retirement.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Postal & Federal Employees Disability Retirement: The Obituaries

Why are they published, and who reads them?  Is it when a person reaches a certain age and wants a sense of security that death and age are relative issues — that there is not a necessary connection between the two?  Was mortality ever questioned?

When we come across an octogenarian’s obituary, we may merely marvel at such longevity and perhaps with some admiration declare, “At least he lived a long life”; but when we view a young person’s description on the next page, we wonder with sadness at the suddenness of it all.  Was it necessary or inevitable?  How must the parents feel —for that is the horror of every parent, is it not, to bury one’s child before one’s self?

Obituaries provide some level of comfort — of a final testament and declaration to the world that seemingly never cared; on a practical level, to provide whatever social or legal notice to surviving beneficiaries; and as a reminder to us all that life should be celebrated and not mourned — at least for those still living.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from ill health and where health becomes a daily reminder that there are some things in life which are not worth sacrificing, reading the obituaries should jar one into realizing that being a sacrificial lamb at the altar of a Federal Agency or the Postal Service is never a worthwhile goal.  If your health is deteriorating and you have a medical condition which prevents you from performing all of the essential elements of your Federal or Postal job, it may be time to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

In the end, you do not want to read your own obituary and shake your head saying, “Too young, too foolish, too late.”

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Percentage Game

We all play it; whether in calculating the chances of success (most of us are not knowledgeable enough to be statisticians, not having paid close enough attention in high school or college to that mathematics course regarding the numerical analysis of a numbers-based algorithm), or in merely keeping an eye on interest rates in the housing market, or perhaps taking note of how likely it is to be attacked by a shark before we step into the polluted waters of the Atlantic.

OPM certainly plays the game — one needs only to look at a Denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to realize that, the manner in which the Denial of a Federal Disability Retirement application is written, there will be a certain percentage of people who will read it and say, “Gee, I never stood a chance.  I might as well not even go any further.”

The Denials are often written in unequivocal terms, stating with a tone of certainty that there was never any basis for filing, and that any further efforts would be fruitless and futile.  And from that language of certainty, a certain percentage of Federal Disability Retirement applicants will simply give up and walk away.  That is what the percentage game is based upon.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have received a Denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is wise to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law to perform an objective-based evaluation of a Federal Disability Retirement claim.  Better, yet, consult with such an attorney even before you begin the process, to ensure the best chances in this “percentage game” which OPM plays.

Sincerely,

Robert R.McGill, Esquire