LACBA Counsel for Justice bids a grateful farewell to Laurie Aronoff for over three decades of service.
by William Winslow

The AIDS Legal Services Project was launched in response to an emergency. “The AIDS epidemic was raging, predominantly among gay young men,” Aronoff recalls. “People were dying.” The epidemic began before there was marriage equality, so there was an urgent need for basic advance planning services, such as powers of attorney, wills, and trusts. Gradually the AIDS Project developed a devoted cadre of volunteers who brought their expertise in multiple legal specialties to the assistance of the ravaged community.  

At the time the crisis exploded, LACBA already had a small project that deployed volunteer estate planning lawyers to hospices. The association was approached about expanding its volunteer force, and the AIDS Project was launched. Aronoff started there in 1990 as the only employee—a full-time Project Coordinator. About four years later she became director. Early on, many clients were very sick in addition to having planning needs. Much of the free legal assistance involved seeking disability benefits. Later, the project found volunteers to help with a range of poverty law issues affecting people living with HIV and AIDS. “Sometimes the lawyers were doing more than just legal work, like running errands for a client or looking after their dogs,” states Aronoff. There was significant stigma associated with AIDS then which, unfortunately, lingers until today. Fortunately, though, LACBA members from across the legal spectrum stepped up to help, including volunteering to make hospital and house calls to better serve their clients. The work was so emotionally challenging, some volunteer lawyers got burned out since many clients did not survive.

Many of the estate planning lawyers from the hospice project continued to volunteer through the AIDS Project for the remainder of their careers. These estate planners, as well as health law practitioners, employment law attorneys, benefit and immigration attorneys were “incredibly dedicated,” according to Aronoff. “Everything I know I learned from them.”

Its reputation growing along with the needs of the clients, people and agencies sought services from the AIDS Project from all over the greater Los Angeles area. Though Aronoff is not a lawyer, she became conversant with a broad range of legal issues facing the client base. For example, there has always been a substantial demand for volunteer immigration legal services. Until 2010, persons with HIV/AIDS, under many categories, were barred from immigrating to the U.S. because of the HIV ban that Congress put in place. Under Aronoff’s direction, the AIDS Project participated in collaborations with other community services organizations, such as Being Alive, AIDS Project Los Angeles, and AltaMed Health Services as well as legal service organization such as the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s Legal Department and Inner City Law Center. Over the years the cases have increasingly required volunteers to address a variety of poverty law problems, notably housing.

“Peoples’ lives are very complicated,” reflects Aronoff on the years of experience she gained as director. “There is a lot of trauma in our communities, and I don’t think you realize it until you’ve been brought into direct contact with people who are trying to access justice but face many barriers.” The former director is particularly proud of the range of volunteers that the AIDS Project mobilized. “We were able to get help across the range of lawyers’ practice areas. There were big firm equity partners and young associates, paralegals, legal assistants, and law students.” The explanation for much of this is clear to those who worked with her: It was Laurie Aronoff’s inspired leadership.

Fare thee well, Laurie.