Last Updated on March 24, 2020 by FERS Disability Attorney
Whether an OPM Disability Attorney is necessary at the initial stages of filing for FERS Disability Retirement is a question which each individual must answer. One thing is clear, however; there are very few cases where a disability retirement application is “clear-cut” based upon the medical evidence.
The reviewing personnel at the Office of Personnel Management are not doctors — though they have a “contract doctor” to review applications. It is the job of an attorney to be the advocate for the client; as such, the tools which the attorney utilize are: words, and the power of words.
In taking over cases at the Reconsideration Stage, or the Merit Systems Protection Board, the mistakes that I see which clients have made prior to representation always involve ‘words’ — either too much, or too few, or stated in the wrong way, or not at all.
Verbosity is rarely an asset or advantage; being succinct is almost always the better way; wise choice of words is a must; the order of delineating the medical disabilities, creating the nexus between the medical disability and the inability to perform one’s job — all of those must be stated forthrightly, descriptively, and with a touch of creativity.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
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