May 7th, 2012
Harris Federal Law Firm created the website FederalDisability.com to help inform more federal employees on the subject of Federal Disability Retirement. The best part is it’s free to use! Go explore the site and you’ll find that it is packed full of helpful information for both FERS and CSRS federal employees.
We speak to thousands of federal employees from all across the country every year and we’re always surprised at how many don’t know about Federal Disability Retirement. Unfortunately there is just not a lot of good information or help out there on this benefit. Federal employee benefits are complex and can be very overwhelming for anyone. FederalDisability.com can help you understand the benefit and your rights.
Harris Federal Law Firm is honored to fight for federal employees every day. If you or someone you know has questions or needs help, contact our offices anytime. Our team of Attorneys, Chartered Federal Employee Benefits Consultants and Support Staff understand the ins and outs of federal benefits and we can help you prevail.
Tags: federal attorney, federal disability retirement attorney, federal disability retirement lawyer, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, federal employee workers comp, Federal Government Employee, federal law firm, Federal Workers Compensation, FEGLI, FERS, harris federal, harris federal law firm, LEO, Merit Systems Protection Board, MSPB, MSPB Appeal, MSPB Attorney, MSPB Lawyer, Office of Personnel Management, OPM Appeal, opm attorney, opm disability attorney, opm disability lawyer, opm disability retirement, OPM lawyer, OPM Reconsideration, OWCP, postal disability, Social Security
Posted in Federal Disability Retirement
May 2nd, 2012
We are so happy to help such a wonderful cause. Harris Federal Law Firm is sponsoring an athlete this year and we couldn’t be more excited!
What is Special Olympics?
Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports training and athletic competition for more than one million children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The Special Olympics Oath is… “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics is founded on the belief that people with intellectual disabilities can, with proper instruction and encouragement, learn, enjoy and benefit from participation in individual and team sports, adapted as necessary to meet the needs of those with special mental and physical limitations.
Special Olympics believes that through sports training and competition, people with intellectual disabilities benefit physically, mentally, socially and spiritually; families are strengthened; and the community at large, both through participation and observation, is united with people with intellectual disabilities in an environment of equality, respect and acceptance.
Posted in Harris Federal Gives Back
May 1st, 2012
Our firm strongly believes in sharing information among federal communities so that everyone can have a better chance at successfully asserting their rights. It always amazes us at how little information and/or help there is available to federal employees. This is why we love hosting free seminars to help spread knowledge about OPM Federal Disability Retirement , OWCP Federal Workers Compensation and more.
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Harris Federal Law Firm has spend the last decade helping injured and disabled federal employees all across the country and overseas. We consider it an honor to talk with thousands of federal employees every year and help point them in the right direction.
- Harris Federal
Tags: CSRS, DOL workers comp, federal attorney, federal disability retirement attorney, federal disability retirement lawyer, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, federal employee workers comp, Federal Government Employee, federal law firm, Federal Workers Compensation, FERS, harris federal, harris federal law firm, Merit Systems Protection Board, MSPB, MSPB Appeal, MSPB Attorney, MSPB Lawyer, Office of Personnel Management, opm attorney, opm disability attorney, opm disability lawyer, opm disability retirement, OPM lawyer, OPM Reconsideration, OWCP, postal disability, Social Security, Special Provisions, TSP
Posted in General News
March 22nd, 2012
There has been an exciting new development in the way we handle federal workers compensation cases. A new service offered by the Department of Labor is electronic document submission webpage, known as ECOMP. ECOMP makes the submission of documents in an existing OWCP claim much faster and more efficient. ECOMP also has the capability to allow injured workers to file new claims using the “file a form” option on the homepage.
Traditionally, every time an injured federal worker needed to submit a document to the claims examiner in a particular case, they would have to send those documents by regular mail. This means that those documents had to be printed, put into an envelope, and mailed out to the OWCP’s central mail processing facility in London Kentucky. There, the paper document would be scanned into their computer system and forwarded to the proper claims examiner. The original paper document would then be destroyed.
This process took time, often it would be days or even weeks before a particular document would make it from the injured federal worker to the proper OWCP case file. Now, documents can be uploaded instantly through ECOMP.
To submit a document, go to https://www.ecomp.dol.gov/#/ and select “upload document.” 
You will then be prompted to enter your OWCP nine digit claim number, your last name, date of birth, and date of incident. Once this information has been submitted, simply hit the “access case” button, and then follow the instructions to upload your file.
We recommend that you upload all your files in Adobe Acrobat or .pdf format. An injured federal worker or the representative can use the service to upload written requests, medical records, and other documents. However, the service should not be used for submitting medical bills. Documents should be less than 5 MB in size. Once the document has been submitted, a confirmation number will be generated beginning with the letters “DCN.” It is good practice to record these confirmation numbers in case for some reason the file fails upload properly.
ECOMP is a great first step in making the claims handling process with OWCP faster and more efficient. We here at Harris Federal Law Firm are looking forward to taking advantage of this new service to provide our clients with the best representation possible.
Tags: DOL workers comp, ECOMP, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, federal employee workers comp, Federal Government Employee, federal law firm, Federal Workers Compensation, harris federal, harris federal law firm, OWCP
Posted in Federal Workers Compensation
February 16th, 2012
If you filed a Federal Disability Retirement claim with your agency or the Office of Personnel Management and were denied benefits, you should be able to exercise appeal rights.
If you are eligible for disability (note: the qualifications are to be determined, simply eligible means that you worked the necessary minimum of years in a career position with a federal agency and are within normal age and service parameters) you may elect to file for a Reconsideration of your claim.
Whenever a claimant is denied, they have on 30 calendar days from the date of the denial letter to file notice of their appeal. Sometimes, the claimant may elect to ask for 30 additional days to continue to collect additional evidence in support of their claim. However, the claimant should never delay the appeal notice form as instructed in their denial and appeals package from OPM.
Once the appeal is received by the OPM, they will assign it to a new Legal Administrative Specialist within the office to review the previous decision and any new evidence provided by the claimant. After reviewing the merits of the case, the new LAS will render their own decision to either uphold the initial denial decision, or overturn it and issue an approval decision.
If you are initially denied on an OPM disability retirement claim, you should immediately consult with an attorney to explore what other rights or remedies you may have. If you waste time, there may not be much that a representative can do for you. A claimant only has 30 calendar days to file the appeal and usually does not receive notice of the initial denial decision until a few days after the decision is made, the clock has already begun to tick.
Contact Harris Federal Law Firm to find out more about the appeals process.
Tags: federal disability retirement attorney, federal disability retirement lawyer, harris federal law firm, opm disability attorney, opm disability lawyer, opm disability retirement
Posted in Federal Disability Retirement
February 6th, 2012
Part 2 of 2…
After the administrative judge and both parties have satisfied all of the qualifying pleadings, the administrative judge will typically hold status hearings (prehearing conferences) to narrow down specifically the issues to be decided by the MSPB while encouraging both parties to settle their dispute, if possible.
If no such settlement can be reached, the administrative judge will proceed one of two ways. The first possibility is to have a formal hearing and issue a decision based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, or, close the record and make a decision based upon the information contained in the submitted documents.
The initial decision (the administrative judge’s decision) must: identify all issues of fact and law; include a summary of the evidence submitted by both parties; and articulate the conclusion with relevant legal authority that was used to make the decision.
Whatever the administrative judge decides, either party can then petition for review by the Clerk of the Board. The Clerk of the Board is a panel of three members who will hear the case and issue a final decision. However, the losing party of the decision by the administrative judge can elect to forgo the petition for review by the Clerk of the Board and petition the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
These concepts and proceedings are complicated and can be overwhelming if you do not have experience in these areas. We suggest talking to a professional who has a proven track record with the MSPB. Contact our office for a free consultation to discuss your claim in detail. We are here to help!
Tags: CSRS, federal disability retirement attorney, federal disability retirement lawyer, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, Federal Government Employee, federal law firm, FERS, harris federal, harris federal law firm, Merit Systems Protection Board, MSPB, MSPB Appeal, MSPB Attorney, MSPB Lawyer, Office of Personnel Management, OPM Appeal, opm attorney, opm disability attorney, opm disability lawyer, opm disability retirement, OPM lawyer, OPM Reconsideration
Posted in Federal Disability Retirement, Federal Employee Benefits
February 3rd, 2012
Part 1 of 2…
It is important for Federal Employees to be familiar with their rights and how the appellate procedure for their Federal Disability Retirement claim works. Originally, a claimant (Federal Employee applying for Federal Disability) files for Federal Disability with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Refer to prior posts to see the necessary criteria for this benefit, but, generally speaking, the original decision is based upon its examination of the submitted documents and pertinent facts.
Once submitted, and if the initial submission is denied, (based upon OPM’s claim that there is a burden the claimant is said to have not met), the next step in recourse for the claimant (now called appellant) is to seek reconsideration of the denial. Reconsideration is part of the appellate process and commonly referred to as step two. At this point, the appellant can submit additional medical evidence in an attempt to have the initial decision “reconsidered” and overturned.
However, if the reconsideration step does not overturn the initial decision of denial for Federal Disability Retirement, the appellant can submit an appeal to the Merit System Protection Board (herein referred to as MSPB). If the MSPB has accepted the appellant’s case for review, it is assigned to an administrative judge. At this point, both the agency and the appellant will be informed of MSPB’s decision to consider the appeal. The agency will receive an Acknowledgment Order and a copy of the appeal filed by the appellant.
The agency has the ability to file a response to the appeal filed by the appellant whereby the administrative judge will review the responses of both parties and direct either or both parties of any subsequent pleadings necessary to qualify this step in the appellate process.
To Be Continued…
Tags: federal disability retirement attorney, Federal Government Employee, federal law firm, FERS, harris federal, harris federal law firm, Merit Systems Protection Board, MSPB, MSPB Appeal, MSPB Attorney, MSPB Lawyer, Office of Personnel Management, OPM Appeal, opm attorney, opm disability attorney, opm disability lawyer, opm disability retirement, OPM lawyer, OPM Reconsideration
Posted in Federal Disability Retirement, Federal Employee Benefits
December 29th, 2011
As we approach the New Year, we want to thank you. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to assist federal employees across our nation every day.
We wish you a wonderful New Year filled with abundance, joy and treasured moments. May 2012 be your best year yet!
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin
Posted in General News
November 28th, 2011
We are proud to anounce and acknowledge the recent designations recieved by members of our team. Bo Harris and Grant Ostrander are now Chartered Federal Employee Benefit Consultants (ChFEBC).
A ChFEBC is a prestigious designation for Financial Advisors, CPAs, Attorneys, and certain employees of the Federal Government, who have successfully completed an intensive training course and passed a rigorous examination covering all federal employee benefits.
They are required to stay up-to-date on the ever changing Federal Government Benefits Programs. They have extensive knowledge about FERS, CSRS, Special Provisions (LEO, FF, ATC, CBPO).
So if you have questions about your OWCP, OPM, TSP, FEGLI, Social Security, or other aspects of your federal retirement benefits, we can help! Call us today for a free consultation to discuss the details of your specific situation and options.
Tags: ATC, Bo Harris, CBPO, Chartered Federal Employee Benefit Consultant, ChFEBC, CSRS, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, Federal Government Employee, FEGLI, FERS, FF, Grant Ostrander, harris federal, harris federal law firm, LEO, opm attorney, opm disability attorney, opm disability retirement, Social Security, Special Provisions, TSP
Posted in Federal Disability Retirement, Federal Employee Benefits, Federal Workers Compensation, General News
November 23rd, 2011
This Thanksgiving we remember what we are thankful for; the opportunity to work with and for federal employees. From everyone at here at Harris Federal, we wish you and yours a very special and happy Thanksgiving.
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Tags: federal disability retirement lawyer, federal employee, federal employee attorney, federal employee lawyer, harris federal, harris federal law firm
Posted in General News
Our articles regarding federal employees are offered as a public resource. They do not create legal obligations and are not to be accepted as legal advice for your particular situation. They are not a substitute for the U.S. Code, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations as the official sources of applicable law.
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