Allison Nichol receives 2016 Alexander Forger Award for Excellence in HIV Legal Services and Advocacy
CHLP Co-Director Allison Nichol was awarded the 2016 Alexander Forger Award from the American Bar Association's AIDS Coordinating Committee. She accepted the award at the Committee's HIV/AIDS Law & Practice Conference on February 4 in San Diego. She is being recognized for her decades-long commitment to advancing the rights of people living with HIV.
Prior to joining CHLP in 2015, Nichol served the Department of Justice with the highest distinction for 21 years. She was the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division where she oversaw litigation, policy, regulatory and technical assistance development related to the ADA and served as counsel in Bragdon v. Abbott, the first case under the ADA dealing with HIV discrimination to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. She was a founder and long-time member of the Division’s GLBTQI Working Group and was a 2002 recipient from DOJ Pride of the James R. Douglas Award for her work on behalf of those with HIV. In 2012 she became Special Counsel for Disability Resources in the Office of the Associate Attorney General, where she was in charge of efforts to increase the hiring, retention and accommodation of individuals with disabilities within the Department. In 2012 Nichol received the Attorney General’s Award for Equal Employment Opportunity, the Department’s highest award for performance in support of it’s Equal Employment Opportunity program.
The ABA established the Alexander D. Forger Awards to recognize and celebrate lawyers and legal service providers who have demonstrated both a sustained commitment to legal advancements for individuals living with HIV and to the provision of direct legal services to individuals infected with, and affected by, HIV. The award was named for Alexander Forger, who provided crucial leadership in the early days of the AIDS epidemic in establishing legal services for people with HIV/AIDS.
Previous award recipients include CHLP Executive Director Catherine Hanssens, who received the award in 2012, its inaugural year.