FERS Disability

Last Updated on November 9, 2022 by FERS Disability Attorney

The problems inherent in filing a Federal Disability Retirement application are multi-fold and multi-tiered.  Even today, after years and years of practicing in this particular area of law, there is rarely a day which goes by that I haven’t learned something new — whether a slight wrinkle in OPM Disability Law; whether in a nuance of a description of a particular disabling medical condition; or in simply how a doctor has described a specific condition and its particular and unique impact upon a patient.

Experience comes from making mistakes; mistakes can be human, technical, or a combination of both.

Unfortunately, for the Federal employee or Postal Service worker who is filing, or contemplating filing, for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, the process itself is essentially a “one-time” endeavor.  Yes, a person can theoretically file, then refile at a later time (side-stepping the issue of res judicata, which can, in most instances, be gotten around); but for the most part, a Federal employee or Postal worker who is filing for FERS Disability Retirement benefits is doing it once, and only once.

As such, it is NOT the time to obtain “experience” — i.e., there is little room for “learning” from “mistakes”.  There is “good experience” and “bad experience”, but both are experiences nonetheless.  In filing an application for FERS Disability Retirement benefits, however, it is the former which needs to be experienced, and not the latter, and in such a filing process, there is indeed a difference between the two.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire