NEWS RELEASE

AIDSLaw Names Recipients of Group�s Top Honors:
Teri Estrada Memorial Award, Pro Bono Publico Awards
 

NEW ORLEANS--AIDSLaw of Louisiana, the state�s only non-profit provider of free legal services to those infected and affected by AIDS, today announced that four individuals and an organization have been named winners of its community-service awards.

The awards and their recipients are:

• Teri Estrada Memorial Award: Michael Hickerson.

• Pro Bono Publico Award: Alma S. Jones; Ann E. Lowrey; John D. Rawls; and Sullivan, Stolier & Resor, (A Professional Law Corporation). �The HIV and AIDS epidemic is far from over,� said Linton Carney, executive director of AIDSLaw, �and neither are the legal needs of those whose lives have been forever altered by the disease. The award winners we honor have demonstrated untiring devotion to helping individuals improve the quality of their lives, fight both intended and unintended discrimination, and regain the personal integrity they deserve.�

ALMA S. MS. JONES, the executive director of Legal Services of North Louisiana, celebrates 30 years of practicing law this year. A graduate of LSU with a BA in political science, Ms. Ms. Jones attended the Southern University School of Law, where she was honored with the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity Scholarship Key, was Vice President of the Student Bar Association, and served as an intern at the Judge Advocate General�s School in Charlottesville, Virginia before graduation. She since has devoted her career to public service, first as a staff attorney with the Caddo/Bossier Legal Aid Society a/k/a Northwest Louisiana Legal Services, quickly being tapped to serve as Acting Managing Attorney, Senior Staff Attorney, and Managing Attorney. For five years she was the managing Attorney of the UAW-GM Legal Services Plan in Shreveport, then was in private practice until 2000 when she was asked to become Executive Director of Northwest Louisiana Legal Services. Subsequently due to mergers Ms. Ms. Jones became Executive Director of Legal Services of North Louisiana, which provides services to low-income clients in the 26 most northern parishes of the State, with offices in Shreveport, Monroe and Natchitoches. MS. JONES has served as President, Shreveport Association for Women Attorneys, as a Member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association, as Vice President, Northwest Louisiana, Association for Black Women Attorneys, as President of the Shreveport/Bossier Black Lawyers Association, and Vice Chair of the Bar�s Access to Justice Committee. She is presently the President of Southeast Project Directors Association, which covers 10 states. A Notary Public, Ms. Ms. Jones is admitted to practice before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

ANN ELIZABETH LOWREY is a native of Many, Louisiana. She is a 1987 graduate of Louisiana State University and a 1990 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. She has been an attorney in private practice for the past 17 years. She maintains a practice at Rivers, Beck, Dalrymple and Ledet, in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice and worker's compensation. Ms. Lowrey also serves as the full-time Executive Director of Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services, a position she has held for more than 7 years. CLASS is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing HIV education, counseling and testing, and supportive services to those who are diagnosed with the disease. Ms. Lowrey is married to Ronald Briley, Jr. and lives in Alexandria with her husband and 2 children, Alex, 14 and Reid, 4.

JOHN D. RAWLS, 63, is a New Orleans attorney in sole practice. Mr. Rawls graduated from Williams College, where he was a National Merit Scholar, and from Florida State University College of Law, where he served on the Law Review. Between college and law school he served four years in the United States Army, graduating from Infantry Officer Candidate School with an Armor commission, serving two years in Vietnam as an advisor to South Vietnamese forces and reaching the rank of Captain. Mr. Rawls has practiced law for 32 years, first in his native Florida and, for the past 21 years, in New Orleans. He served as a charter member of the Florida Commission on Ethics in 1974-75 and as Chairman of the Louisiana Governor's Commission on HIV and AIDS in 1994-95. Mr. Rawls has been the lead plaintiff attorney in several landmark lawsuits including challenges to both the Louisiana sodomy law and the Louisiana same-sex marriage ban. Outspoken and openly Gay, he has been a frequent and effective spokesperson for Louisiana's sexual minorities community. Mr. Rawls received the Forum for Equality Acclaim Award for Outstanding Political Activist in 1999, the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC) Champion for Equality Award in 2000, and the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award in 2005.

Founded in 1987, SULLIVAN, STOLIER & RESOR (A PROFESIONAL LAW CORPORATION) is one of the oldest firms in the Gulf South specifically devoted to the representation of health care providers. Through its staff of attorneys, SSR provides a full range of legal services to a clientele that includes some of the nation's largest healthcare companies as well as regional and community-focused institutional and professional healthcare providers and healthcare-related trade organizations. With offices in New Orleans as well as Lafayette, Louisiana, SSR provides its clients with legal assistance in a variety of matters, including new business formation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, administrative appeals, labor and employment, managed care, as well as state licensing, Medicare certification, and accreditation.

MICHAEL HICKERSON, MSW RSW, the driving force behind ITT, is the founder and executive director. He is a long-term HIV survivor and African American with years of professional experience providing comprehensive case management services to people living with HIV/AIDS. He has directed a CDC funded prevention program for African American Women and has led numerous support groups, including a group for gay men of color with HIV. In addition, he has experience in HIV housing and transportation services. One of the reasons that client demand for HIV Case Management through ITT has been so active since the storm is Mr. Hickerson �s long-time involvement in all aspects of the New Orleans community. Mr. Hickerson is directly responsible for the day-to day activities of ITT. His responsibilities include, but are not limited too, securing funding for program activities, the implementation, development, evaluation of all programs and staff related issues. He is the lead on all grant writing. Mr. Hickerson has sat on several boards and adviser committees in the community, including Chairperson - 2002 Host Committee -North American Treatment Advocates Forum (NATAF); Board of Directors - William J. Fanning Foundation Buzzy's Boys and Girls (HIV/AIDS Service Organization); President - Southern University at New Orleans School of Social Work Organization - 1997-98; Southern University at New Orleans School of Social Work Field Practice Supervisor; Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Southern University at New Orleans; School of Social Work Re-affirmation Committee Southern University at New Orleans; School of Social Work Alumni Recruitment Committee Southern University at New Orleans; Member � National Association of Social Workers and the Louisiana Association of Social Workers. He is a member of the Louisiana Community AIDS Research Program; State of Louisiana-Department of Health and Hospitals Certified Medicaid Application Center Representative; Louisiana Office of Public Health HIV/AIDS Program Certified HIV Prevention Counselor.

Through the generosity of Capital One Bank, which has also provided major underwriting for the event, AIDSLaw will host the awards ceremony on June 29, 2007 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Bank�s Main Lobby, 313 Carondelet Street in New Orleans. �Capital One Bank is very happy to support AIDSLaw�s recognition of these distinguished volunteers,� said Jim Lestelle, senior vice president and manager of the bank�s corporate communications. Master of ceremonies for the event will be Nancy J. Marshall, a partner at Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles and the assessor for the Sixth Municipal District of New Orleans. As in previous years, the awards for the ceremony are being made by Mitchell Gaudet�s Studio Inferno, a Bywater studio that produces hand blown and cast glass.

The evening will be rounded out with delicious food courtesy of The Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel, a rum bar courtesy of Old New Orleans Rum, the oldest rum distillery in the United States, piano by Jody Dickerson, dancing courtesy of Casey Kirchner, and a silent auction.

Tickets, which cost $40, can be purchased at the door or from AIDSLaw at (504) 568-1631 or toll-free at 1-800-375-5035.

AIDSLaw of Louisiana, formed in 1989, provides free legal services to low-income clients living with HIV and AIDS. It is the only organization in Louisiana dedicated exclusively to addressing the legal needs of the HIV and AIDS population.