Pro Bono Case Opportunities: Answering the Call
The need for legal services among low-income people living with HIV/AIDS is overwhelming. At least 40% of HIV-positive people experience a legal problem each year. However, in NYC, general legal services providers- who are prohibited from handling immigration- law matters - already turn away over 80% of clients seeking assistance.
HIV Law Project provides lawyers with the opportunity to answer the call to make a difference in the lives of low-income people living with HIV/AIDS, while at the same time allowing them to develop additional skills.
Pro bono work is not just about being a do-gooder; it's about becoming a true participant in the legal profession. By volunteering your time and legal expertise, you will get a deeper understanding on how people interact with the law in their daily lives. Engaging in pro bono work with HIV Law Project, from employment discrimination to drafting wills, will enable you to experience in concrete ways, how lawyers make a difference every day.
Additionally, pro bono opportunities with HIV Law Project provides law firms the opportunity to provide professional development to junior associates by working with low-income HIV-positive clients in immigration proceedings, drafting wills, and representation in federal and state courts. In essence, pro bono work provides the kind of transformative experiences that lawyers bring to future clients, employers and communities.
HIV Law Project's Cases:
Employment discrimination
Health insurance issues
Health care proxies
HIV confidentiality
Immigration
Social security/SSI
Living wills
Wills
Long Term Disability
Medicaid
Supplemental Needs Trusts
Landlord/Tenant
Through our pro bono program, HIV Law Project can link our client's case with your law firm.
Our Partners
Interested in Joining?
If you have questions or would like to enroll your firm or corporation in HIV Law Project's pro bono program, please e–mail Cynthia B. Knox, Deputy Executive Director, or call 212-577-3001, ext. 234.
"My first day of work at HIV Law Project, I spoke to clients and received an authentic taste of working as a non-profit attorney. In the first months of working, I was trusted with a high level of responsibility in both researching and writing in a wide variety of areas of law. While the learning curve has been high, I cannot think of a better way to gain genuine legal experience during my deferral year.
The staff at HIV Law project is very friendly, professional, respectful, compassionate and highly impressive. Each employee at HIV Law Project works diligently and tirelessly to help our clients. Moreover, the staff chose to integrate me, to treat me as an associate very early on and to respect my autonomy while providing me with invaluable guidance and continuous hands-on training on matters from housing law, to immigration law, to public benefits. I am very fortunate to be working for such an amazing organization and I look forward to the remainder of my deferral year."
Nicole Lonsway, Attorney,
White & Case, Fellow at HIV Law Project
"As a deferred associate, I could not have imagined a more fulfilling way to spend my time off. I was immediately welcomed by the entire staff and given the responsibilities of a new staff attorney. From day one, I have been in contact with clients and advocating on their behalf. I have a caseload of approximately 10-15 cases with issues that range from housing and welfare to immigration and domestic violence.
Aside from providing direct legal assistance to our clients, I have also been given the opportunity to work with the women in our Center for Women and HIV Advocacy and conducted training on domestic violence. I also have been following and researching legislation before the New York State Senate which would allow HIV-positive individuals to donate their organs to HIV-positive recipients. It has been an experience unlike anything I was exposed to in law school, and the hands-on, general practice of the HIV Law Project has prepared me to hit the ground running when I start at my firm."
Kelly Karneeb, Attorney,
Fried Frank, Fellow at HIV Law Project
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