Legal Services, Health Care Policy, Regulations Focus of ABA Conference on HIV and AIDS

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2012 — Overcoming challenges representing clients with HIV and AIDS, changes to domestic policies and regulations in national HIV and AIDS issues, as well as their implications on practice are among the issues that will be discussed at the “HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference” hosted by the American Bar Association AIDS Coordinating Committee on July 20 – 21 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Lawyers, as well as health care and HIV and AIDS experts, will come together to examine key topics in the HIV and AIDS legal realm. The ABA will also honor Alexander D. Forger — who established legal services for people with HIV and AIDS in New York — with the inaugural Alexander D. Forger Awards for Sustained Excellence in HIV Legal Services and Advocacy, from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. on July 21.

The award recognizes lawyers and legal service providers who have demonstrated their commitment to the advancement of the rule of law for individuals living with HIV and to those who have provided direct legal services to individuals infected with, and affected by, HIV.  Other awardees include:

•  Scott Burris, Temple University Law School, Philadelphia
• Catherine Hanssens, Center for HIV Law & Policy, New York
• Terry McGovern, Founder, HIV Law Center, Ford Foundation, New York
• Brad Sears, Founder, HIV Legal Checkup Project, Los Angeles
• AIDS Legal Referral Panel, San Francisco
• HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance, Los Angeles
• AIDS Legal Council of Chicago
• HIV Law Project, New York
• Whitman-Walker Health Legal Services, Washington, D.C.
• AIDS Law of Louisiana, New Orleans

Additional programs include:

“HIV and AIDS: An Overview of Domestic Policies, Regulations, and Practice Implications: Looking to 2014” — Experts will provide an overview of the changes and implications of key legislation that surround the condition through the lens of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Topics will range from the Affordable Care Act, Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS and the Ryan White Care Act, to other HIV-related domestic policies.
July 21, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. 

“Overcoming Challenges of Legal Representation of Clients with HIV/AIDS” — Panelists will examine how to work collaboratively with internal and external partners to ensure that people living with HIV and AIDS have access to high-quality, culturally competent legal services, despite the challenges of significant budget cuts and AIDS exceptionalism arguments.
July 21, 9:45 – 1:45 a.m.

“’Test and Treat’ as Prevention: Implications on Practice” — Experts will describe a new public health strategy to increase HIV testing to ensure that HIV-positive individuals know their status and are treated. Panelists will examine the legal, policy and practical implications of sharing surveillance data with community providers and targeting marginalized, stigmatized high-risk groups for Test and Treat strategies.
July 21, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

A complete agenda and updated list of speakers can be found online.

For media credentialing, please contact Rabiah Burks at Rabiah.Burks@Americanbar.org.  This event is free and open to members of the press.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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