Managing Attorney
Yolanda has served as managing attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania since 1993. Since joining the AIDS Law Project, she has represented people living with HIV at their Social Security Administration disability hearings and has won hundreds of thousands of dollars in retroactive benefits, for people who were wrongfully denied SSD or SSI. In 1998, she initiated the HIV and Immigration Project at the AIDS Law Project. She has successfully represented people living with HIV in getting asylum, legal permanent residency and US citizenship. Immigration lawyers across the nation frequently consult her for advice and technical assistance about overcoming the barriers to immigration for people living with HIV. Although the majority of her work involves Social Security and immigration, Yolanda also represents people living with HIV in a broad range of issues, including discrimination, private disability benefits and estate planning. She has negotiated settlements for people living with HIV who were fired from their jobs or refused dental treatment. Yolanda lectures and provides technical assistance on the issue of HIV privacy to various stakeholders including health care providers, medical students and medical case managers. A graduate of the University of Louisville and the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Yolanda is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States of the United States.
