What's New:

Attorney Robert R. McGill will be answering questions about Federal Disability Retirement in a new forum at Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyers.com.

Latest Articles:

Federal Disability Retirement: Thanksgiving 11/24/2008 by Federal Lawyer This year has seen a tremendous amount of changes: a seeming meltdown of the economy; a coming change of the Presidency; vulnerability of the [...]   CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The Physician II 11/22/2008 by Federal Lawyer This blog is written in response to a question posed: in the event that an individual is unable to have a medical report written by a treating physician for circumstances beyond [...]   CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The Physician I 11/17/2008 by Federal Lawyer Initial inquiries concerning filing for Federal and Postal disability retirement benefits often ask the following question: Do I have a doctor to whom I can refer the individual? [...]   CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: First Steps 11/15/2008 by Federal Lawyer Before you even think about filing for disability retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, there is often a psychological component which must be overcome [...]   Federal Disability Retirement: Further Basics 11/10/2008 by Federal Lawyer In tough economic times, it is often difficult to find that "silver lining". This is even truer for my clients who obtain disability retirement benefits from the Federal Government, as well as [...]   CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Other Stories of Success 11/10/2008 by Federal Lawyer There are obviously many, many pitfalls in the attempt to obtain disability retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management. Sometimes, I get calls [...]   Federal Disability Retirement: Back to basics 11/03/2008 by Federal Lawyer The complexities surrounding preparation of a Federal Disability Retirement application are endless: concerns about the preparation of a proper medical narrative report [...]   read all blogs »

Approval of Disability by the Social Security Administration
Legal Analysis of Non-Statutory Laws

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Approval of Disability by the Social Security Administration: In Trevan v. Office of Personnel Management, 69 F.3d 520, 526-27 (Fed. Cir. 1995), the Federal Circuit Court found that in making a determination of eligibility for disability retirement under FERS, the Board must consider an award of SSA disability benefits together with medical evidence provided by the appellant to OPM, and other evidence of disability. This is because the Federal Circuit Court wanted a consistency of determinations concerning disabilities, by all governmental agencies and departments. Social Security obviously has a stricter standard, and requires that an applicant be "totally disabled" in order to award benefits. I have effectively argued that similar determinations by other governmental agencies (such as the Veterans Administration) should also be required to be considered by the Office of Personnel Management.

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