Use Ethical Rules to Start and Maintain Productive Relationships with Clients – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track I (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Ann Biddle, Esq., Litigation Supervisor, Mental Health Project | Urban Justice Center

Ann Biddle is the Litigation Supervisor for the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center and has served as a statewide coordinator for New York State’s Disability Advocacy Project for more than 25 years. A graduate of Emory University and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, Ann has dedicated more than 30 years to civil legal services, specializing in Social Security disability issues and matters affecting the elderly. She is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the Courts of Appeals for the Second and Federal Circuits.

• Education & Credentials

Ann holds a Bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Federal Circuits. Her multi-court admissions reflect decades of active federal litigation in Social Security disability matters at both the district and appellate levels.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ann’s more than 25 years as a statewide coordinator for New York State’s Disability Advocacy Project represent one of the most sustained leadership contributions in the state’s disability legal services community. In her role as Litigation Supervisor at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, she provides strategic and supervisory leadership for one of New York City’s most prominent public interest litigation teams. Her three-decade career in civil legal services, combined with her long-tenured statewide coordination role, has established her as a foundational figure in the network of advocates serving New York’s disability claimant population.

• Professional Involvement

Ann’s professional involvement spans direct litigation, statewide coordination, and organizational leadership within New York’s civil legal services community. As a statewide coordinator for New York’s Disability Advocacy Project for over 25 years, she has helped build and sustain a network of attorneys and advocates representing Social Security disability claimants across the state. Her Litigation Supervisor role at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project adds a direct supervisory and strategic dimension to a career already defined by broad systemic engagement in disability and elder law advocacy.

• Experience

Ann has worked in civil legal services for more than 30 years, concentrating her practice on Social Security disability issues and matters affecting elderly individuals. She has served as a statewide coordinator for New York State’s Disability Advocacy Project for over 25 years, a role that has given her a panoramic view of the disability legal services landscape across New York State. As Litigation Supervisor at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, she brings that depth of experience to bear in supervising complex disability litigation and guiding her team through the administrative and federal court appeals process. Her federal court admissions in both district and appellate courts reflect an active litigation practice at the highest levels of the Social Security appeals system.

Shandanette Chase, Esq., Supervising Attorney, Disability Advocacy Project, Mental Health Project | Urban Justice Center

Shandanette Chase is a Supervising Attorney in the Disability Advocacy Project at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, where she represents Social Security disability claimants in administrative appeals and federal court proceedings. Prior to joining the Urban Justice Center, she worked in Bronx Legal Services’ Disability Advocacy Project. A graduate of Hunter College and the George Washington University Law School and School of Public Health, Shandanette brings an interdisciplinary academic background to her advocacy. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, multiple federal district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

• Education & Credentials

Shandanette holds a Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and earned her Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School, where she also studied at the School of Public Health, a dual academic background that reflects her commitment to understanding the health and systemic dimensions of disability advocacy. She is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey; the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and the Supreme Court of the United States, a breadth of admissions that speaks to the scope and ambition of her federal litigation practice.

• Recognition & Leadership

Shandanette’s admission to the Supreme Court of the United States, alongside her admissions to multiple federal district and circuit courts, reflects a litigation profile of exceptional reach. As a Supervising Attorney at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, she holds a leadership role at one of New York City’s most respected public interest organizations, guiding the representation of Social Security disability claimants at the administrative and federal levels. Her career trajectory, from Bronx Legal Services to a supervisory role at the Urban Justice Center, reflects the professional recognition she has earned through her commitment and expertise in disability advocacy.

• Professional Involvement

Shandanette’s professional involvement is centered on expanding access to justice for Social Security disability claimants in the New York metropolitan area and beyond. In her supervisory role at the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, she oversees disability advocacy work and contributes to the organization’s broader mission of serving marginalized individuals navigating complex legal and government systems. Her prior experience at Bronx Legal Services and her academic training at GW’s School of Public Health inform a practice philosophy attentive to the intersecting legal, health, and social challenges that disability claimants face.

• Experience

Shandanette’s career in Social Security disability advocacy began at Bronx Legal Services’ Disability Advocacy Project before she joined the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, where she now serves as a Supervising Attorney. She represents claimants at the administrative level and in federal court, with admissions spanning the District of New Jersey, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Her GW Law and Public Health education gives her a distinctive analytical lens on the intersection of disability, health policy, and legal rights, one she brings to bear every day in her advocacy on behalf of some of New York’s most vulnerable residents.

I. Use Ethical Rules to Start and Maintain Productive Relationships with Clients | 1:30pm – 2:45pm

We use the model rules, blended with SSA’s conduct regulations, to cover best practices for starting off a productive relationship and then maintaining it. We will consider how to decline a potential client, how to work with clients who have diminished capacity or mental impairments, and how to address the all-evidence rule. We will also look at how the ethical rules can help when communicating with clients and even with setting boundaries with clients. Note: This session has a later, related workshop on How to Have Difficult Conversations with Clients.