Aids centre appoints legal expert and wants two more

A legal centre dedicated to people with HIV and Aids has appointed a new head of legal services and is seeking to recruit two other lawyers.

Immunity, set up in 1988 to promote the legal rights of HIV and Aids sufferers and to provide them with free legal services, will be headed from September by Isabel Manley, the current head of Bradford Law Centre and vice-chair of the Law Centres Federation.

Manley, who took a break from her 10 years at Bradford to work in private practice for a year, said she finds the delivery of free legal services more interesting than private work.

Her specialist area of employment will be relevant to working with HIV and Aids sufferers who often encounter employment problems as a result of their condition.

The centre also covers immigration, medical-legal questions, homelessness, insurance and confidentiality.

Manley said: "My work in private practice was useful because it gave me an insight into the employer's side."

As part of the centre's general expansion policy it is looking for two qualified lawyers to develop its immigration, medical-legal and community care practices.