MSPB AttorneyMerit Systems Protection Board appeals · representing federal employees nationwide
Our MSPB attorneys represent federal employees nationwide, from the proposal-stage reply through the full Board appeal. In most cases, you have 30 days from the effective date of an adverse action to file an appeal with the MSPB. What you write in the proposal-stage reply, before the MSPB even enters the picture, often decides more than the appeal itself.
Why Federal Employees Hire an MSPB Attorney
The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer represents federal employees in Merit Systems Protection Board appeals, federal-sector EEOC matters, and disciplinary actions across every federal agency. When you need an MSPB lawyer who works these rules every day, that is what we do, by their own statutory framework, evidentiary standards, and timelines.
What you get is a direct read on the strength of your case, including the parts that aren't strong, and a willingness to tell you the truth about what comes next.
Two Bites at the Apple
The cleanest exit point in an MSPB case is the one most federal employees never use.
When you receive a notice of proposed discipline, removal, or suspension, you have a chance to respond before the action becomes final. That response goes to the deciding official, not the MSPB. If the deciding official changes their mind, the case ends there. No judge, no appeal, no public record.
The MSPB appeal is the second opportunity, not the first. Most federal employees treat the proposal letter as final and skip directly to the appeal. They lose the cleanest exit point in the entire process.
There's life after the decision by the signing official. So they come to us with a proposal, and you have the opportunity to change the mind of the deciding official.
Justin Schnitzer, Esq.
A note worth flagging: there is no rule requiring two separate people for the proposing and deciding roles. The same official who proposed your removal can sign off on it. When the notice doesn’t make clear who the deciding official actually is, ask. The answer changes how you write your reply.
How an MSPB Case Is Actually Decided
Every disciplinary case answers two questions:
The Douglas Factors come from Douglas v. Veterans Administration, the case that established roughly twelve mitigating considerations the agency must weigh before discipline. There is no definitive list, but the throughline holds: federal discipline is supposed to be rehabilitative, not punitive.
In effect, you're building a profile of you as a good employee. I may have screwed up. I may have done something wrong. But what I did doesn't outweigh the profile of who I am as a person and as a federal employee.
Justin Schnitzer, Esq.
Common Douglas Factor weights: whether you’re a supervisor, whether the conduct was inadvertent or for personal gain, your past employment record, performance awards, and any mitigating circumstances at the time. A well-prepared response argues both questions in the same filing: I didn’t do it, and even if you find I did, here is why removal is excessive.
The Cover-Up Trap
A federal employee gets investigated for something small, panics, denies it, builds a defense the evidence won't support, and ends up fired for lack of candor rather than the original conduct.
The cover-up is worse than the actual crime. You're not being fired because of the initial conduct of screwing up a policy. You're being fired because you've tried to cover it up.
Justin Schnitzer, Esq.
The decision of when to admit, when to mitigate, and when to deny outright is not obvious from inside the situation. It depends on the evidence the agency has, the seriousness of the underlying conduct, and how a reasonable person reads what you say next. Getting that decision wrong can convert a written reprimand into a removal action.
A Word of Caution on Using an LLM to Draft Your Reply
We are not telling you whether to use AI. We are telling you what we have seen happen when federal employees lean on it without legal review.
A reply that reads as obviously AI-generated also signals to the deciding official that you didn't think the matter was worth your own time. That impression is difficult to recover from.
Settlement or Hearing
Settlements are the only thing that's certain. Any attorney who tells you something is going to happen at trial is lying to you.
Justin Schnitzer, Esq.
Three factors usually drive the settlement-versus-hearing decision: your tolerance for risk, what you actually want at the end of this (reinstatement, a clean separation, a transfer, a settlement that protects retirement), and the credibility of the underlying record.
There is also a quieter cost to going to hearing that the standard analysis misses. MSPB decisions are public. If a judge writes that you weren’t credible, that finding follows you into every future federal employment search. A settlement that resolves the matter privately can be worth meaningfully less in dollars and still be the better outcome for your career.
Meet Our MSPB Legal Team
The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer is led by managing partner Justin Schnitzer, who has represented federal employees since 2013. Six attorneys represent federal employees nationwide before the MSPB and EEOC.
Managing partner and federal employment attorney focused on EEOC and MSPB claims. Representing federal employees since 2013.
Read full bio Federal employment attorney with deep DOJ and federal litigation experience.
Read full bio Federal employment attorney handling adverse actions and discrimination with client-first clarity.
Read full bio Federal employment attorney representing federal employees before the EEOC and MSPB with precision and advocacy.
Read full bio Federal Employee Case Results
Documented outcomes across MSPB removals and federal-sector EEOC matters.
A physician’s removal was rescinded after filing with the disciplinary appeals board, and a $100,000 settlement was reached.
Secured a $245,000 settlement for a Human Resources Specialist by proving the agency’s failure to accommodate a telework request.
After defeating the agency’s motion to dismiss, negotiated a $230,000 settlement for an employee retaliated against for seeking reasonable accommodations.
EEOC found the agency allowed constant harassment over an employee’s Middle Eastern name. Verdict over $198,000, with an official apology.
An EEOC hearing on behalf of a nurse subjected to a hostile work environment based on sexual identity resulted in a $150,000 verdict.
After trial, the Administrative Judge awarded damages and found the employee should have been allowed to decorate the FAA office for Chanukah.
What Federal Employees Say
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. There is no federal rule requiring two separate officials for the proposing and deciding roles. The same supervisor who issued your proposed removal can also be the one who decides whether the action becomes final. When that happens, the proposal-stage reply matters even more, because the rest of the decision-making structure has been collapsed into one person.
Wait times vary by region and case complexity. The MSPB processed 9,050 cases at the regional and field office level in FY 2025, with 55.8% resolved within 120 days. With initial filings still running roughly four times the historical baseline, expect longer-than-typical timelines through 2026.
You can file a petition for review with the full Board. If the Board denies relief, you may appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit affirmed 91% of MSPB decisions in FY 2025, so the strength of the original record carries forward heavily.
You can represent yourself, and some federal employees do. But MSPB appeals run on federal-sector law, the Douglas Factors, and strict deadlines that general employment rules do not cover. An MSPB lawyer who handles these cases daily knows where the proposal-stage reply can end the matter before it ever reaches a judge, the cleanest exit point most people miss. The earlier you bring one in, the more options stay open.
No. The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer represents federal employees in MSPB matters nationwide. Filings, hearings, and evidence are largely handled remotely.
Speak with Justin Schnitzer, Esq.
Federal employees nationwide. Direct line to the attorney handling your case.
202-964-4878