AIDS Legal Referral Panel Awarded the 2025-2026 Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship

Two-year fellowship will help provide free legal services to hundreds of HIV+ immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco, CA – The AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) announced today that it has been awarded the 2025-2026 Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship, which will enable ALRP to add an additional full-time immigration attorney to its staff.

“The Shartsis Friese LLP Fellowship could not be coming at a more critical time,” said ALRP’s Executive Director Matt Foreman. “The federal administration’s new policies and pronoucements have resulted in more HIV+ immigrants coming forward for legal advice than ever before, and this fellowship will dramatically increase our capacity to help these individuals navigate a constantly shifting landscape and secure protections from deportation—which would be a literal death sentence for most of them.”

ALRP said that during the first four months of 2025, it had opened 95 immigration cases, double the same period last year and higher than any similar period in the immigration program’s 20-year history.

“Our Firm is proud to renew its commitment to the Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship and excited to support ALRP’s important work,” said Shartsis Friese LLP’s Managing Partner Neil Koren.

The Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellow will work alongside two immigration staff attorneys and a paralegal to help clients apply for and secure asylum, work authorization, permanent residence, naturalization, and other forms of legal status. The fellow will also connect clients to vital healthcare, food, and housing resources while their cases proceed and conduct Know Your Rights trainings and other outreach activities, particularly as shifting enforcement practices and priorities endanger our communities. Individuals interested in the fellowship may view the full job description and apply at https://www.alrp.org/get-involved/careers/.

ALRP’s immigration clients—80% of whom are also LGBTQ—face unique challenges. Most have come to the Bay Area to escape physical and sexual violence and discrimination based on their HIV status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and because of limited access to HIV treatment in their home country. Here in the United States, they continue to face discrimination and familial ostracism because of their HIV status, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity. Many also struggle with mental and physical health challenges due to traumatic life experiences and the impact of HIV disease.

About the AIDS Legal Referral Panel

Founded in 1983, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) is dedicated to protecting the rights, dignity, and health of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area. The organization serves approximately 1,300 clients each year, offering direct legal representation by a team of 11 Staff attorneys; careful placement of clients with one of its 150 Pro Bono Panel attorneys; and connections to non-legal service providers to secure other vital resources. In 2024, 78% of ALRP’s clients were living on an annual income of $30,000 or less; 60% were people of color; and 83% were LGBTQ+.

In 2003, ALRP launched its immigration program to help clients with immigration-related legal matters, including asylum and naturalization. Since then, ALRP has provided legal services to over 2,400 community members in what is now ALRP’s the second-largest practice area (after housing).

About Shartsis Friese LLP and the Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship

The Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship was established in 2004 to help meet the legal needs of San Francisco Bay Area community members who cannot afford legal services. The Fellowship subsidizes a staff attorney position focused on direct legal services at a selected organization for a two-year period. In the past, the Fellowship has been awarded to Root & Rebound, Swords to Plowshares, Open Door Legal, East Bay Community Law Center, Bay Area Legal Aid, Centro Legal de la Raza, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, and the Family Violence Law Center.

Founded in San Francisco in 1975, Shartsis Friese LLP has over 70 lawyers in nine major practice groups and has achieved excellent results for its clients in major local, national, and international litigation. The firm’s lawyers and staff support numerous organizations throughout the Bay Area with their contributions of time and money, and the Firm is proud to have been listed among the Top Corporate Philanthropists in the Greater Bay Area by San Francisco Business Times each year since 2007.

ALRP Executive Director Matt Foreman shares news about the Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellowship with a group of Board members and donors, May 8, 2025