Last Updated on September 14, 2019
Often, an approval for a Federal Disability Retirement case will come in the mail, and the client will state, “I never thought I would see it approved.” It is the job of an attorney who specializes in any area of law, to win the case. In representing Federal and Postal employees to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, the ultimate “win” is to get the approval from the Office of Personnel Management.
Some cases are harder to get approved than others; then, there are the “Lost Cause” cases — ones which, for one reason or another, seem to encounter greater obstacles: from agencies which attempt to undermine the Federal Disability Retirement application, to adverse termination proceedings prior to the filing of a Federal Disability Retirement application; to insufficient medical documentation; and multiple other reasons, there are cases which appear to be lost causes. Yet, so long as there is another stage of appeal, and so long as there is sufficient merit to a case, one should never give up. Lost causes are especially triumphant moments for the attorney representing a disabled Federal employee. For an OPM Disability Retirement case, it is especially sweet to obtain that letter of approval from the Office of Personnel Management, for that case which the client himself/herself believed as a “lost cause”.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire