OPM Disability Retirement: Arguing the Case
I recently wrote an article in FedSmith.com where I argued that the process of argumentation is often just as important as the substance of the argument itself. For instance, […] Read More …
legal & foundational argument
OPM Disability Retirement: Argument by Analogy
Attorneys argue “by analogy” all of the time; cases and decisions from the Merit Systems Protection Board, and language from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, provide the fertile fodder for such argumentation. Thus, such issues […] Read More …
CSRS & FERS Disability: An Art Form
As with all effective submissions — pleadings, motions, legal memorandums and, alas, Federal Disability Retirement applications — it should never be approached in a mechanical, one-to-one ratio-like, mathematical manner. Of course it should contain the […] Read More …
CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The First Denial
Your Federal disability retirement application was well-prepared: perhaps it was prepared with the help of an attorney; the medical documentation seemed solidly unequivocal; the doctor made the necessary connections […] Read More …
OPM Disability Retirement: The Merit Systems Protection Board
An appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board in a Federal Disability Retirement case means that the disability retirement application has been denied twice by the Office of Personnel Management: at the initial application stage […] Read More …
CSRS & FERS Disability Retirements: The Office of Personnel Management
I once heard a pastor make a rather unremarkable statement, but profound nevertheless in its simplicity and truth: “Where there are people, there are problems.” To assume that an Agency will make a proper, objective and legally sufficient decision all the time, most of the time, or even more often than not, is probably asking Read More …
CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Other Stories of Success
There are obviously many, many pitfalls in the attempt to obtain disability retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management. Sometimes, I get calls […] Read More …
Federal Disability Retirement: Back to basics
The complexities surrounding preparation of a Federal Disability Retirement application are endless: concerns about the preparation of a proper medical narrative report […] Read More …
OPM Disability Retirement: Which Disabilities To List
When I look at a potential disability retirement case, I find it helpful to look at the case not only prospectively, but retrospectively. While not a “rule” cast in stone, when the Office of Personnel Management approves a disability retirement case, it will normally attach a page which identifies which disability — normally one, often Read More …
Federal Disability Retirement & the Reconsideration Process
In the process of applying for Federal Disability retirement under FERS or CSRS, it is the “hope and wish” of each applicant that it will smoothly sail through at the initial stage of the application. However, the reality of the process is that a certain percentage of applications get denied at the initial stage (Stage Read More …