Testimonial by Timothy Maguire
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Name: Timothy Maguire
Business Name:
(na)
Client Since: 2012
Description of Product or Service Endorsing: federal disability retirement legal representation
Timothy Maguire says...
The Law Office of Jonathan Bell represented me in my successful federal disability retirement application and I was supersatisfied with the result! I was still employed and felt able to work when I retained Mr. Bell – even though my health care professionals warned me repeatedly I was harming myself through carrying out my work responsibilities. Because I was working and wanted to keep on giving my best efforts I was not optimistic about my disability retirement application. Timothy Maguire
(Unlike perhaps some of his other clients?), Mr. Bell never made me promises of success, never gave assurances that there would be an early decision, and never cited his firm’s 98%+ winning percentage of the cases. Key in disability retirement cases is documentation, and It turned out that there was extensive documentation to back up my case. But that meant a lot of unglamorous and tedious work getting the documents and putting them together, and then briefing why the medical documentation showed I could not do my job, despite satisfactory performance evaluations. As a lawyer myself for an organizational client, I still hadn’t imagined the practical obstacles that can arise for individual claimant navigating this area. Mr. Bell’s associate Elissa Krall handled everything with patience, perseverance, and attention to detail. I admit without equivocation that I would never have been able to complete the process on my own.
Fifteen months after retaining Mr. Bell’s office, and some time after receiving the federal disability application, my agency joined in and forwarded it to Office of Personnel Management. It was then I began to see a likelihood of success. I advise anyone who is applying for federal disability retirement, with or without an attorney, to familiarize himself/herself with the OPM guidance, blogs, and any other available information on the process. The big increase in adjudication times at OPM around the end of 2013 was just one of the big surprises that had a major practical effect on me. Having said "with or without a lawyer," though, I’d also advise anyone going through this process to get legal counsel, and, as I suggested at the outset, would recommend the law office of Mr. Bell without reservation.
Timothy Maguire
Visit This Member's Website: http://www.JonathanBellLaw.com