06/17/2026
"Sometimes take a chance and shed your skin. Every transition both at the front or the back offers us another chance to become someone who we want to be."
MIE joins the larger legal aid community in mourning the loss of Victor Geminiani. We're grateful for his vision and dedication, especially his decades of work with MIE.
Victor wrote and co-wrote many, many articles for the MIE Journal over the years. While we put together remembrances to honor his depth of knowledge in the field, we wanted to highlight this piece Victor penned for the Journal back in 2018, He Not Busy Being Born Is Busy Dying.
Victor brought his entire self to his work and we are all the richer for it. We hope you enjoy this selection of wisdom gained from his lengthy legal aid career and life, and get a sense of his expansive perspective and sense of humor.
Link in comments.
LAFLA mourns the recent passing of Victor Geminiani, an iconic figure in the history of legal aid who served as LAFLA's Executive Director from 2006-2007 and dedicated his life to fighting poverty across the United States.
Over an expansive and courageous career, Victor pushed for enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in Georgia, fought to protect funding for legal aid programs across the country, and championed language access in Hawaii.
He fostered collaboration and innovation in the California and national legal services communities, co-founding the Management Information Exchange and working closely with the Legal Aid Association of California. A visionary and effective leader, he served at the helm of Legal Services of Northern California and Legal Aid Society of Hawaii in addition to LAFLA.
Victor was courageous, determined, and deeply dedicated to the clients he served. Those who knew him described him as “a larger-than-life poverty warrior.” We are eternally grateful for his service.
¡Victor Geminiani, presente!
