Last Updated on April 13, 2011
In the busy lives we lead, it is often a temptation to simply adopt a generic approach to each event, for purposes of ease and convenience. It is easy to think that most distinctions in life do not contain relevant differences — at least not enough to make much of an impact.
In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, it is certainly useful to utilize the paradigm of successful past filings, and there is enough information “out there” by multiple attorneys and “specialists” (whatever that may mean) to gather a composite model of a Federal Disability Retirement application which has a good chance of becoming approved.
However, one must always remember that each individual case is unique because of the multiple factors which must interact, and the uniqueness of the approach must match and be tailored to the distinctions which are inherent in each case. Not only are the medical conditions different; the job description, the essential elements of a job, the symptoms which manifest themselves; whether the Federal Disability Retirement application should be based upon a single medical condition or a combination of multiple conditions; whether psychiatric conditions are primary or secondary; the intersecting impact between the medical conditions and the essential duties of one’s job; and, beyond all of this, if a Federal Disability Retirement application is denied at the First Stage of the process, or even at the Reconsideration Stage, the methodology and approach of responding to such a denial is important.
Generic approaches are sometimes useful, but in preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, it is important to recognize that most distinctions do in fact make a difference.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire