Alcohol & Drug Addiction Treatment for Lawyers: Part III State Bars Offer Incentives for Treatment Centers
Studies show that roughly 20% of all practicing attorneys suffer from addiction to drugs or alcohol and roughly 30% suffer from depression; these are conservative estimates. When an attorney practices law while actively abusing drugs or alcohol, there is tremendous potential for harm to clients, the general public, or the attorney’s future ability to practice law.
Attorneys are also less likely to voluntarily seek admission to a treatment center, fearing job-related complications, harm to professional reputations, and financial problems. Denial is also a huge problem for attorneys; because they are often looked to for assistance and strength in their professional lives, attorneys are also less likely to admit that they have a problem and to seek treatment for it.
States have acknowledged the increased incidence of substance abuse or mental illness in the legal community and have taken steps to reach out to attorneys who need help, offering incentives to enter a treatment center instead of the disciplinary system. Many states have enacted Lawyer Assistance Programs (LAP) either through the State’s attorney regulating body (called the "State Bar" in many places) or through independent organizations that are authorized to act on the Bar’s behalf.
A Lawyer Assistance Program seeks to identify troubled attorneys and help them find a treatment center for their particular problem, with an emphasis on confidentiality. How they go about accomplishing this goal, and the particular ramifications for an attorney’s career, vary from state to state. Most LAPs offer intervention, peer counseling, professional counseling, and referral to addiction treatment centers or addiction treatment professionals. In some states, participation in the LAP will help the attorney eliminate or reduce discipline for harm suffered by clients due to their addiction. In other states, treatment will not help an attorney avoid the disciplinary process but may help them retain their right to eventually practice law again.
The American Bar Association is a big proponent of the state LAP system, offering an independent LAP program evaluation process, guidance, and resources. States look to the ABA model system and other state programs when developing strategies for dealing with alcohol and drug addicted attorneys in their own states. State bars and lawyer oversight organizations have very large incentives for keeping their attorneys off drugs and alcohol. Alcoholism and drug addiction in the legal community not only cost the general public millions of dollars each year due to incompetent or inefficient lawyering, but it also reduces the public’s trust in the legal system overall.
A review of state lawyer assistance programs, such as Arkansas’, reveal that some LAPs partner with addiction treatment centers to offer customized treatment to this unique class of alcoholics and drug addicts. Some treatment centers offer specialized professional health programs (PHP), where doctors, lawyers, businesspeople and other professional individuals can receive treatment that is tailored to the issues that typically affect those in high-stress professions. These treatment centers are often more flexible with treatment protocols, schedules, and in-patient requirements than other mainstream addiction treatment programs, recognizing the need to allow the patient to participate in business matters, when necessary, to preserve his or her career and to encourage them to finish the treatment. The treatment centers also focus therapeutic techniques on those particular behavioral or personality characteristics that make professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, so much more vulnerable to substance abuse than the general population.
While the avenues now exist for attorneys to get help with their substance abuse issues, encouraging participation in the programs is still a huge hurdle. Unless the attorney has formally entered the disciplinary system, and sees the LAP as a way to reduce or eliminate discipline, attorneys have been reluctant to voluntarily enter state-sponsored LAPs either because they do not think they have a problem, do not know or trust that the program is confidential, or cannot afford the time or money it will take to get clean.
To address this problem, many states allow a colleague or judge to refer someone to the LAP, whereas before this the options were either entering through the discipline system or through self-referral. When the LAP receives a third-party referral, a counselor usually contacts the attorney to gently offer assistance or to help determine if there is, in fact, a substance abuse problem. While enrollment at a treatment center is often recommended for those with substance abuse issues, less structured treatment such as weekly professional or peer counseling sessions can go a long way in helping someone cope with the stress or depression that can result from a high-pressure career.
State bars and attorney regulatory authorities should be lauded for this important step toward addressing the issues of alcohol or drug abuse and mental illness in the legal community. In order to meet the growing need for accessible treatment for attorneys, however, more needs to be done to both educate attorneys on the benefits of voluntary participation and to provide badly need financial assistance when getting sober means having to stop earning money for a period of time in order to enter a treatment center.
Millie Anne Cavanaugh, Esq. is licensed to practice law in California and Massachusetts.She is a former insurance defense attorney and is currently an immigration attorney. The information contained herein is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as a solicitation for your business or as legal advice on any subject matter. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without seeking independent legal advice.
