Answering the Call – The ABA YLD 2005-2006 National Public Service Project Addresses Legal Services to People Living With HIV/AIDS

by Julia A. Bahner

Each year the ABA YLD promotes a National Public Service Project. This year's National Public Service Project, known as the “Answering the Call” project, focuses on enhancing the delivery of legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS. There is no doubt that such services are in need across the country and here in the Northwest. In 2001, in a first-of-its-kind recommendation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized the critical role that lawyers have to play in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic, indicating that a referral to legal services is among the very first things that should be provided to people when they learn that they are HIV positive. Answering the Call is the Young Lawyers Division's response to this call to action from the public health sector.

The ABA YLD's Public Service Project features both an educational component and a hands-on component. Through its educational component, the project will deliver programming at national conferences (including one in Portland, Oregon) and through a series of publications that will raise awareness of the many legal issues affected by HIV/AIDS, including employment discrimination, public benefits, bankruptcy, immigration, criminal law, and others. As detailed in this article, the ABA YLD will focus on these efforts at the upcoming fall and spring conferences.

In its hands-on component, the Public Service Project will promote efforts by affiliates (such as the WYLD) and individual young lawyers alike to reach out to the HIV/AIDS community, both in connection with legal representation and in broader ways. All such efforts are encouraged, whether they involve establishing an HIV/AIDS pro bono program or participating in a local AIDS fundraiser. The project's featured hands-on program is HIV Legal Check-Up, a diagnostic legal needs assessment program in which an attorney provides a brief consultation to identify the legal needs of someone living with HIV/AIDS. Once those needs are identified, the attorney refers the person to appropriate resources. HIV Legal Check-Up is a tremendously flexible program that can be tailored to the needs of any community, be it a large urban setting such as Seattle with an existing AIDS legal services provider, or a rural community with no resources whatsoever for people living with HIV/AIDS.

The educational and the hands-on components will be highlighted at the ABA YLD Fall and Spring national conferences. The ABA YLD fall conference in Louisville, Kentucky occurs October 6-8, 2005, and the featured speaker is one of the pioneers in the field of HIV law, David Schulman, Supervising Attorney for the AIDS/HIV Discrimination Unit at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. Mr. Schulman enforces Los Angeles's landmark AIDS discrimination law, which was the first in the world, and advises the mayor, city council and city departments on a wide range of AIDS law and policy issues. Mr. Schulman has spoken extensively on HIV and AIDS issues, and he originated the concept of the HIV legal checkup to assist newly-diagnosed HIV-positive people to prevent discrimination. His concept was adopted by the CDC in its 2001 Revised Guidelines for HIV Counseling, Testing, and Referral, and will be a key component of the 2005-06 YLD National Public Service Project. Written materials and a video that individual young lawyers can use to reach out to individuals and HIV/AIDS legal services organizations in their communities will be provided at the fall conference and attendees from Washington will ensure that the WYLD has a copy of this video (and any other materials) for those interested in viewing it. Much closer to home, the ABA YLD spring conference will be held May 18-20, 2006 in Portland, Oregon. This conference will be a joint conference with the ABA AIDS Coordination Project's Third HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference.

In short, the mission of the Public Service Project is to elevate lawyers' understanding of HIV/AIDS, and, based on that understanding, improve the scope and quality of legal services available to people living with the disease. The need for this message has been sent out loud and clear from the public health sector. The time has come to answer the call and the ABA YLD is doing so in an effort to serve those in need.

Julia A. Bahner is a WYLD King Country Trustee and is an associate at Lane Powell PC. She can be reached at 206-223-7436 or bahnerj@lanepowell.com.