Consistency, in addition to coherence, is an important element which must always be recognized and reviewed in filing an application for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS. Coherence of an application has to do with the element of “fitting all the pieces” together so that everything coheres in a rational, logical, and often sequential manner. Coherence often has more to do with form, than with substance. Consistency has to do with the substantive issues — the actually claims and statements made by a doctor; the opinions rendered in relation to the knowledge obtained; and whether everything “agrees” with everything else, in the very substance of the statements and claims made.
Inconsistencies are precisely what the Office of Personnel Management aggressively searches for, in determining the validity of a Federal Disability Retirement application. Coherence can often be ignored; indeed, in many Federal Disability Retirement applications filed without an OPM Disability Attorney at the First Stage of the process, I have often found that, when it has been denied and people come to me at the Second, Reconsideration Stage, that the application prepared by the applicant is almost entirely incoherent.
The narrative prepared is often illogical; the doctor’s report often takes a “shotgun” approach, without the coherence of a methodology of addressing the essential issues which OPM is looking for. Either by form or by substance, it is always better to have problems with form, rather than substance. But if you ask me, it would be “best” (good, better, best) if both form and substance are carefully prepared — meaning, that a Federal Disability Retirement application is both coherent and consistent.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package | Tagged: a rational approach to opm disability retirement, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, building a credible disability retirement application, building a strong disability retirement case, consistency in all the parts of the OPM application package, consistency in the whole federal disability retirement package, disability claims for federal employee, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement for federal employees, distractions that peripheral issues can cause to your federal disability retirement application, doctor's opinion should be sound rational and logical, doctor's statements of disability, federal employee disability, federal employees with several disabilities, federal medical retirement, FERS disability retirement, FERS medical retirement, focusing on the substance of your fers disability claim, important and peripheral medical issues in the fers csrs disability application, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, logical consistency in the whole fers disability retirement application, medical narrative for federal disability claims, nationwide representation of federal employees, one coherent federal disability retirement application, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM disability attorney, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement consistency, OPM First Stage Disability Application, OPM Initial Stage in federal disability, OPM Reconsideration Stage in federal disability, Postal Service disability, postal service disability retirement, pragmatic methodology, preparing a federal disability retirement application, representing federal employees in and outside the country, the applicant's medical narrative report, The Denial at the First Stage, the incoherent federal disability application, the substance of your disability retirement claim, USPS disability retirement, usps injured workers, what the opm searches for in the disability application, why all the forms and documents of your fers disability claim must be logically connected | Leave a comment »
Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: Coherence
A Federal Disability Retirement packet must be coherent. This may appear to be “self-evident”, but there have been many disability retirement packets which, upon a denial and a review at the Second, Reconsideration Phase of the process, lack the coherent coordination which results in a credible disability retirement packet. Coherence results from the simple review of the entirety of the information submitted to the Office of Personnel Management: The applicant’s personal statement; the medical records and reports; the position description; any additional statements or attachments.
Now, there are certain elements of a Federal Disability Retirement application which cannot be controlled — such as the Supervisor’s Statement (SF 3112B) and the Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts (SF 3112D). However, while one may not be able to “control” the coherence of those elements which are the purview of the Agency, there are certain steps which can be taken to preempt such uncontrollable injections from the Agency.
Regardless, it is normally not the SF 3112B or 3112D which makes for the incoherence of a Federal Disability Retirement submission; more often than not, the culprit is the Applicant him/herself.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, agency's influence in disability retirement, agency's influence on the opm disability claim is limited, assessment for postal disability retirement from supervisor, beware of the applicant's statement of disability, building a credible disability retirement application, civil service disability, consistency in the whole federal disability retirement package, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disability retirement for federal employees, federal disability and the agency's certification of accommodation, federal disability attorney, federal disability law blog, federal employee disability, fers disability application supervisor comments, fers disability blog, getting a solid foundation from which to build your fers disability case, importance of the narrative report on opm disability, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal representation for injured federal workers, nationwide representation of federal employees, one coherent federal disability retirement application, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM disability lawyer, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement consistency, OPM Reconsideration Stage, owcp disability retirement, Postal Service disability, pragmatic methodology, preparing a federal disability retirement application, representing federal employees from any us government agency, resources for injured federal workers, Second Step OPM Appeal, the applicant's control of the opm disability application and process, the limited power of a supervisor in the fers disability retirement process, the most important form in the federal disability retirement package: sf 3112a, USPS disability retirement benefits, why all the forms and documents of your fers disability claim must be logically connected, why the applicant's statements is such an important document in a fers disability claim, your supervisor and federal disability retirement | Leave a comment »