Mining the POMS for Overpayment and Waiver Gold – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track I (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Linda L. Landry, Esq., Senior Attorney | Disability Law Center

Linda L. Landry is a Senior Attorney at the Disability Law Center, where she has practiced since 1990. With over 40 years of experience in legal advocacy, her work encompasses individual representation, training, impact and policy work, class action litigation, and technical assistance to a statewide network of attorneys and advocates representing Social Security and SSI disability claimants. She focuses on Social Security benefit issues and work incentives, as well as the related health benefits programs MassHealth and Medicare. A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Linda is a nationally recognized presenter and writer on disability benefits law and has received some of the field’s most distinguished honors, including the NOSSCR Distinguished Service Award and the Massachusetts Bar Association Equal Access to Justice Award.

• Education & Credentials
  • Linda earned her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law. She began her legal career at Neighborhood Legal Services in Lynn, Massachusetts in the 1980s before joining the Disability Law Center in 1990, where she has practiced for more than three decades. Her specialization in Social Security benefits, work incentives, MassHealth, and Medicare reflects a depth of expertise developed over more than 40 years of focused legal advocacy in these highly technical areas.
• Recognition & Leadership
  • Linda has received some of the most distinguished honors in her field. She was awarded the NOSSCR Distinguished Service Award in 2006, the Massachusetts Bar Association Equal Access to Justice Award in 2011, a Massachusetts Top Women of the Law Award in 2013, and the Boston Center for Independent Living Marie Feltin Award in 2018. These honors reflect her decades of impact across individual representation, systemic advocacy, and professional training and the deep respect she has earned from colleagues and organizations at the local, state, and national levels.
• Professional Involvement
  • In addition to her direct representation work, Linda provides backup, support, and technical assistance to a statewide project of attorneys and advocates who represent individual Social Security and SSI disability benefits claimants, a multiplier role that extends her impact far beyond her own caseload. She writes and presents on a wide range of topics for local and national audiences, bringing clarity and depth to some of the most complex intersections of disability law, benefits policy, and health coverage. Her engagement in impact litigation and policy work alongside individual representation reflects a comprehensive approach to legal advocacy in the disability space.
• Experience
  • Linda’s legal career began at Neighborhood Legal Services in Lynn, Massachusetts in the 1980s before she joined the Disability Law Center in 1990 — an institution where she has built a career of more than 35 years. Over four decades of advocacy, her work has spanned individual client representation, class action litigation, impact and policy work, and statewide training and technical assistance for attorneys and advocates handling Social Security and SSI matters. Her focus on the intersection of Social Security benefits, work incentives, MassHealth, and Medicare has made her one of the country’s most knowledgeable and experienced practitioners in this specialized area, and her national writing and speaking work continues to shape how practitioners across the country approach these issues.

John S. Whitelaw, Esq. | Advocacy Director, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI)

John S. Whitelaw is the Advocacy Director at the Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) in Delaware, the first person to hold that position when he rejoined the organization in December 2017. With more than 35 years of experience representing low-income and other vulnerable clients across legal aid programs in multiple states, John has dedicated his career to government benefits advocacy and Social Security representation. He has represented claimants at all administrative levels and in federal and state court, and has been a national trainer on SSI and Social Security Disability matters. He is also a member of the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, believed to be the first legal aid attorney in Delaware to hold that distinction.

• Education & Credentials
  • John is a licensed attorney with more than 35 years of experience in legal aid practice across multiple states, including Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Minnesota. He is a member of the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, a position that appears to make him the first legal aid attorney in Delaware to serve in that role. His extensive experience spans government benefits law, Social Security disability, and capital habeas litigation, reflecting a broad and distinguished legal career across diverse practice areas and jurisdictions.
• Recognition & Leadership
  • John’s appointment as CLASI’s first Advocacy Director reflects the organization’s recognition of his strategic vision and leadership in systemic advocacy. His membership on the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, a distinction he appears to hold as the first legal aid attorney in Delaware to do so, further underscores the professional respect he commands across the state’s legal community. As a national trainer for the AARP National Training Project on SSI and Social Security Disability, he built a reputation as one of the country’s most traveled and trusted educators in these practice areas, presenting at national and regional trainings throughout his career.
• Professional Involvement
  • In his role as Advocacy Director at CLASI, John works with advocates to develop creative strategies to address systemic problems faced by clients, while also providing supervision and mentorship on government benefits and SSA matters. He has been a presenter at numerous national and regional trainings and previously traveled across the country as a trainer on SSI and Social Security Disability for the AARP National Training Project. His service on the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners adds a professional standards dimension to a career already defined by mentorship, education, and systemic advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations.
• Experience
  • John’s legal career spans more than 35 years of legal aid practice. He began in Minneapolis, Minnesota (1987–1990), moved to Beckley, West Virginia (1990–1995), and then to CLASI in Wilmington, Delaware (1995–1997), before spending a year with the Federal Public Defender Association’s Capital Habeas Unit in Philadelphia (1997–1998). He then served for nearly 20 years as Co-Director of the Aging and Disabilities unit at Community Legal Services in North Philadelphia, before rejoining CLASI in December 2017 as its first Advocacy Director. Throughout his career, John has represented clients in matters involving TANF, General Assistance, SNAP, Medical Assistance, and Social Security, at all administrative levels and in federal and state court, making him one of the most broadly experienced government benefits attorneys in the country.

I. Mining the POMS for Overpayment and Waiver Gold | 11:00am – 12:00pm

Unaddressed overpayments cause claimants financial and emotional distress. When the overpayment POMS were reorganized in 2024, SSA added claimant friendly provisions that can help resolve overpayments earlier. The revised provisions on fault and ability to repay are especially helpful, if only one knows where to look. This presentation will identify and put those helpful provisions in context.