Finding aid of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel Records
Josue Hurtado
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
657 Mission Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94105
Phone: (415) 777-5455
Fax: (415) 777-5576
Email: info@glbthistory.org
URL: http://www.glbthistory.org/
© 2007
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Finding aid of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel Records
Collection number: 2000-46
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California
- Processed by:
- Josue Hurtado
- Date Completed:
- July 2005
- Encoded by:
- Rebekah Kim
© 2007 The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: AIDS Legal Referral Panel Records
Dates: 1983-1995
Collection number: 2000-46
Creator:
AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Collection Size:
4.5 linear feet
9 manuscript boxes
Repository:
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94105
Abstract: Records of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, an organization that connects people with AIDS (PWA) and volunteer lawyers willing
to donate time and expertise in order to assist them. It has been a significant resource for PWA's since its inception. Also
Included in this collection is materials from the Women's AIDS Network.
Physical location: Stored at the Archives of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco, California.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], AIDS Legal Referral Panel Records, 2000-46, The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
Acquisition Information
Donated by representatives of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in 2000.
Organizational History
The AIDS Legal Referral Panel was founded in 1983 by attorneys Frederick Hertz, Steven Richter, Mark Senick, and Gary James
Wood. It was originally a committee of the LGBT organization Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF). Hertz, Richter,
Senick, and Wood understood that many gay men in the Bay Area were near death from complications of AIDS and were without
the knowledge or resources to create wills, durable powers of attorney, and other legal paperwork necessary to die with dignity
intact and with wishes about health care and disposition of assets in place. The four began by publicizing a phone number
where people with AIDS could call to receive legal help and by recruiting other attorneys to join them.
The legal community leveraged its skills and resources through ALRP to respond to the crisis by providing those dying with
AIDS the right to die with peace of mind. As Hertz recounts, "[preparing emergency wills] was wrenching. But if people asked
me how I kept my sanity, it was through using my legal skills in a way that really helped people. I was doing something productive
and meaningful and focused my grief on making a difference in people's lives."
The vision and activism of this small group: four founders and ten original Panel members, sustained the organization for
several years without any other infrastructure. First led by BALIF co-chair Steve Richter with a list of telephone numbers,
then by Gary James Wood when Richter developed AIDS in 1983, the organization operated solely as a volunteer-staffed organization
until 1986, at which time ALRP hired attorney Clint Hockenberry.
With Hockenberry at the helm the ALRP grew from a grassroots community of concerned attorneys to an established lawyer referral
service. Fundraising efforts excelled and extensive recruitment, training, and supervision of ALRP's pro bono attorneys began.
ALRP also partnered with the Bar Association of San Francisco's Volunteer Legal Services Program, a move which increased the
legitimacy and visibility of the organization.
Hockenberry expanded outreach to better serve people of color, children, women, injection drug users, non-native English speakers,
and the homeless. During his tenure, ALRP hosted the first national AIDS Law Conference and published the first AIDS Law Manual;
extended outreach to other counties; garnered Ryan White CARE Act funds; founded ALRP's Public Policy Project; and became
an independent organization in 1990, separate from BALIF, with a formal Board of Directors.
In March 1992, Clint Hockenberry passed away from AIDS, but under his leadership the ALRP had grown from an organization that
formed in reaction to a crisis to an agency creatively and proactively responding to and anticipating the ever-changing needs
of the HIV/AIDS community. As those with HIV/AIDS began living longer, Kristin Chambers, ALRP's second Executive Director,
and her successor, Irwin Keller, continued Hockenberry's model of dynamic client services.
Under Chambers' and Keller's tenures, the 1990s saw an expansion of services and public policy efforts and an improved client
referral system that better served the legal needs of the HIV/AIDS community. Full-time housing attorneys were hired when
rising real estate prices left many in the HIV/AIDS community confronting homelessness.
In addition, "Working in the Cycle of HIV," an educational manual published in conjunction with AIDS Benefits Counselors (now
Positive Resource Center) and the Employment Law Center, was created to respond to the large numbers of people with HIV/AIDS
wanting to return to the workplace after experiencing positive outcomes from new treatments. On the public policy front, ALRP
advocated for national health care reform; continued and improved HIV privacy and confidentiality protections; and argued
for Social Security reform to provide expanded, fair, and adequate access to benefits.
By 2000, when Bill Hirsh became ALRP's fourth Executive Director, ALRP had grown from solely serving patients at San Francisco
General Hospital to serving clients in seven Bay Area counties, from preparing emergency wills and powers of attorney to providing
legal assistance to clients in all areas of civil law, and from a lawyer referral service to an organization providing both
direct legal representation and personalized attorney/client referrals.
The ALRP is the first organized legal outreach effort for those with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and many original Panelists
from 1983 remain active in the organization to this day. Initially formed to draft emergency wills and other necessary documents
for terminally ill clients, the ALRP has shifted its focus to issues illustrative of the fact that those with HIV/AIDS are
living longer lives than ever before and facing more complex legal needs.
Today, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel continues to function primarily as a referral service for people with legal problems
related to AIDS. Callers are interviewed over the phone by ALRP staff to determine what issues are involved and what kind
of help is needed. Clients are then matched with one of the hundreds of ALRP volunteer attorneys, paralegals, or notaries.
Services are generally low cost or free. In 1992, 2,900 of the several thousand callers were referred to volunteers. ALRP
also has a public policy arm which advocates for change in the legislative arena, in government entitlement programs (such
as Social Security), and in other government agencies. The ALRP has been the sole agency dedicated to providing legal services
to the HIV/AIDS community in all areas of civil law. What started in 1983 as a small circle of attorney friends has grown
to a full-time staff of ten and a Panel of over 600 volunteer attorneys donating close to $1,000,000 each year in pro bono
legal services.
This collection also includes materials from the Women's AIDS Network. The Women's AIDS Network (WAN) was informally established
in June of 1983 at the second National AIDS Forum in Denver. In March of 1984, women involved in AIDS services in the Bay
Area began meeting as a support group. From this initial support group, WAN evolved into an advocacy organization and informational
resource, both for women affected by HIV and for the providers who serve them. Since 1984 WAN has held information sharing
meetings (referred to loosely as Board Meetings) for Bay Area members and has provided monthly informational mailings to members.
It has sponsored three major educational forums and numerous speaking engagements; advocated and organized to support a legislative
climate responsive to HIV-affected women's needs; provided informal technical assistance and review to other agencies; distributed
information worldwide in response to hundreds of direct requests; developed a model policy on perinatal AIDS antibody testing;
and sponsored social events and small financial grants to HIV-affected women.
*Most of the information in this history comes from Jill DiGiovanni's and Patricia Dunn's article "When a Community Needed
a Will, ALRP Found the Way," http://www.alrp.org/article.php?id=34
Scope and Content of Collection
These records are potentially useful to researchers investigating subjects related to the subject of the legal rights of HIV
positive persons and other legal issues surrounding AIDS. The collection contains ALRP Annual Reports for the years 1987-1991
and subject files that include correspondence, notes, and reports.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into ten series:
- Series 1. Policies, 1985-1991
- Series 2. Referral Panel List, 1985-1990
- Series 3. Administration, 1985-1993
- Series 4. Reports, 1986-1991
- Series 5. Clients, 1991
- Series 6. Advocacy, 1986-1995
- Series 7. Awards Recognition, 1993-1998
- Series 8. Publications and Manuals, 1986-2000
- Series 9. Visual Materials, 1986-1995
- Series 10. Women's AIDS Network, 1984-1992
Indexing Terms
AIDS
San Francisco (Calif.)
Pro Bono Advocates
Attorneys
Collection Contents
Series 1. Policies
1985-1991
Physical Description: 5 folders
Series Description
The series contains documents relating to the structure, rules, and organization of the ALRP.
Box: Folder 1: 1
Audit (restricted)
1988-1992
Box: Folder 1: 3
Procedures and Rules of Operation
1985-1986
Box: Folder 1: 5
Staff Evaluations (restricted)
1991
Series 2. Referral Panel List
1985-1990
Physical Description: 4 folders
Series Description
This series contains lists of attorney's and law firms who were willing to take pro bono referrals from the ALRP. There is
also a list of Honorary Board Members from 1991.
Box: Folder 1: 7
Referral panel list
1985-1986
Box: Folder 1: 8
Referral panel List
1987-1988
Box: Folder 1: 9
Referral Panel Lists
1990
Series 3. Administration
1985-1993
Physical Description: 6 folders
Series Description
This series consists of internal documents, memos, meeting minutes, staff evaluations, various proposals, as well as
documents from an audit. A folder containing staff evaluations has been separated from the collection and is restricted.
Box: Folder 1: 13
Minutes and notice of meetings
1990-1992
Series 4. Reports
1986-1991
Physical Description: 3 folders
Series Description
This series contains annual reports, manager's reports and a treasurer's report documenting the organizations activities and
progress. The annual reports are only for the years 1986 and 1987.
Box: Folder 2: 4
Management reports
undated
Series 5. Clients
1991
Physical Description: 2 folders
Series Description
This series contains a collection of client stories (labeled "tear jerkers") as well as client statistics from 1991. These
materials illustrate the real impact that the attorneys of the ALRP have had on the lives of persons with AIDS. .
Box: Folder 2: 6
Miscellaneous Clients Stories (Tear Jerkers)
1991
Series 6. Advocacy
1986-1995
Physical Description: 8 folders
Series Description
This series contains materials documenting the ALRP's public policy advocacy on behalf of persons with AIDS over the years.
Also found in this series is an analysis of Proposition 64, the "AIDS Initiative." This initiative statute would have added
AIDS to the list of communicable diseases. The ALRP opposed this measure and it was defeated by a margin of 71% to 29%.
Box: Folder 2: 8
AIDSlaw Conference
1988-1991
Box: Folder 2: 9
Comments/Testimony SSA HIV Disability System
1992-1993
Box: Folder 2: 10
Comments/Testimony before Judicial Council of California
1995
Box: Folder 2: 11
Counterpart Conference on Legal Services - Executive Summary
1993
Box: Folder 2: 12
Joint Task Force on the HIV Epidemic
1990-1994
Box: Folder 3: 2
"Prop 64: The AIDS Initiative in California"
1986
Series 7. Awards Recognition
1993-1998
Physical Description: 3 folders
Series Description
This series contains various awards and recognitions that the organization has garnered over the years. Included in this
series is an invitation to President's Clinton's Second Inaugural Ball.
Box: Folder 3: 5
Invitation to President Clinton's Second Inaugural Ball
1996
Series 8. Publications and Manuals
1986-2000
Physical Description: 20 folders
Series Description
This series consists of publications and internal manuals produced by the organization. These publications were meant to
provide legal information and education to persons with AIDS and those caring for person's with AIDS. Internal operations
manuals, newsletters, and a personnel manual intended for the members of the ALRP are also found in this series.
Box: Folder 3: 7
Advance Medical Directive
1990
Box: Folder 3: 8
AIDS Assistance Panel
1986
Box: Folder 3: 9
AIDS in the Workplace
undated
Box: Folder 3: 10
AIDS Medical Training for Non-Physicians
1989
Box: Folder 3: 11
AIDSLaw: A Manual on Providing Legal Services to Persons With HIV Infection
1990
Box: Folder 3: 12
Guardianship for Parents with HIV
1993
Box: Folder 4: 1
Information Pamphlets
1992-1994
Box: Folder 4: 2
Introductory Training Simple Wills, Power of Attorney for Health Care and Property
undated
Box: Folder 4: 3
"Just Say No to Creditors..."
1990
Box: Folder 4: 6
Medical Privacy for the HIV-Infected Individual
1990
Box: Folder 4: 7
Morrison and Foerster Pro Bono AIDS Panel Forms and Procedures Manual
1989
Box: Folder 4: 8
Operations Procedures Manuels
1992
Box: Folder 4: 11
Sacramento AIDS Legal Referral Panel Training Manual
1988
Box: Folder 4: 12
Social Security Appeals for HIV Disability: An Advocates Manual
1994
Box: Folder 4: 13
The Benefits Game
undated
Series 9. Visual Materials
1986-1995
Physical Description: 2 boxes, 16 videocassettes
Series Description
This series consists of videos produced by the ALRP. These videos were meant to provide legal information for persons with
AIDS. There are two sub-series, based on format. The first sub-series is VHS video cassettes and the second sub-series is
U-matic video casettes.
Box : Folder 5: 1
AIDS Changing the Rules
undated
Box : Folder 5: 2
AIDS Panel, Bankruptcy Training, #1
November 15, 1986
Box : Folder 5: 3
AIDS Panel, Bankruptcy Training, #2
November 15, 1986
Box : Folder 5: 5
BALIF AIDS Panel, Dr. Baker, M. Griffith
undated
Box : Folder 5: 6
Diva Las Vegas, Saturday
October 21, 1995
Box : Folder 5: 7
Government Benefit Case (Related to Social Security Self Help Manual)
August 1, 1988
Box : Folder 5: 9
Pro Bono in the AIDS Epidemic
1992
Box : Folder 5: 10
Social Security Appeals Training, Gary Wood
July 23, 1988
Box : Folder 5: 11
Vivian Hammill Discrimination/ Gary Wood Disability
undated
Box : Folder 6: 1-4
U-matic videocassettes
Sub-Series Description
These U-matic videocassettes are all Sony KCA-60K.
Box : Folder 6: 1
Melinda Griffith AIDS Panel
undated
Box : Folder 6: 2
Vivian Hammill employment discrimination
April 12, 1986
Box : Folder 6: 3
Gary Wood disability
undated
Box : Folder 6: 4
BALIF AIDs Panel #1 with Dr. Baker and M.Griffith
undated
Series 10. Women's AIDS Network
1984-1992
Physical Description: 18 folders
Series Description
These records document early and continuing advocacy work for women with HIV infection. Included are founding papers, bylaws,
Board minutes (9qqq84-1992), other Board records, goals and planning documents, correspondence, contract and grant applications,
subject files, and information on Women's AIDS Networks in other cities.
Box: Folder 7: 7
Women to Women HIV Transmission
1996
Box: Folder 8: 2
Board of Directors Retreat
1994-1997
Box: Folder 8: 3
Board of Directors
1993-1994
Box: Folder 8: 6
Historical Documents
1988-1997
Box: Folder 9: 1
Board Retreat, bylaws, articles of incorporation, non-profit status
1192-1996
Box: Folder 9: 2
Board of Directors nominees
1990-1996
Box: Folder 9: 3
Board of Directors
1994-1996
Box: Folder 9: 4
Board of Directors
1987-1996
