In Alameda County, more than 7,000 people are living with HIV, including almost 3,000 living with full-blown AIDS. Men constitute the majority of HIV cases, and African Americans a majority of cases in the county, with the disease spreading fastest among women and in communities of color. In 1998, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors declared two public health States of Emergency due to the alarming and disproportionate impact of the AIDS epidemic in the African-American community and among injection drug users. The majority of people with HIV/AIDS in Alameda County are very low-income and have a myriad of interconnected legal needs.

In response to the legal needs of low-income people with HIV, EBCLC created the HIV/AIDS Law Project in September 1990. Since then, EBCLC staff and students have served more than 3,400 HIV-infected clients with over 5,300 legal matters, including benefits advocacy (SSI, SSDI, SDI, MediCal, Medicare), estate planning (wills and powers of attorney for health care and finances), family law issues (guardianships, divorces, child support), debt relief, and other basic civil legal services.

In 1997, EBCLC joined the Family Care Network, a multi-agency collaborative providing comprehensive, interdisciplinary services to women, children and families with HIV. In 2003, EBCLC launched the HIV Immigration Project to meet the growing need for services among HIV-infected immigrants. EBCLC also has played an active and influential role in local HIV policy advocacy, and many former students have gone on to found and direct HIV legal services projects in communities of need.