19. Legal Community Peer Group Support Programs

State courts and bar authorities should establish and support peer support programs for attorneys suffering or recovering from alcohol or other drug abuse.

Since 1980, almost every bar journal has carried at least one autobiographical article in which an attorney reveals his personal struggle with alcohol.502 Typically, the articles begin: "Who am I? The name is not important. I am an experienced trial lawyer, but the important thing is that I am an alcoholic."503

The recent plethora of such articles indicates two things: first, they expose the existence of an alcoholism problem in the legal community;504 and second, these articles evidence the legal community's first step in acknowledging and confronting this problem. Each of these articles represents one attorney's admission of his own alcohol dependency, so as to make it easier for those who would follow. Some experts suggest that as many as 40% of the attorney discipline cases stem from alcohol and/or drug use.505 Discipline, however, has been suggested as the last resort in dealing with attorneys or judges with alcohol or other drug problems.506

Another mechanism by which attorneys can confront and cope with their alcohol or other drug problems is by contacting one of many lawyer assistance programs around the country.507 These state and local programs are not part of any state's attorney discipline system. Rather, they are independent organizations of lawyers concerned about lawyers. For example, the Illinois Lawyer's Assistance Program (LAP) exists in order to: "Aid and assist lawyers and judges in lllinois, and their respective families, with emotional and chemical dependency problems."508 All of LAP's work is conducted by volunteer lawyers and judges. This program is indicative of similar efforts in every jurisdiction in the United States.

Several of these programs concentrate on attorneys interrupting the course of attorney substance abuse by pointing the way toward treatment. Some groups expressly advocate attorney intervention. For example, Illinois' LAP has a mechanism by which an attorney suspected of chemical dependency is confronted with his problem by three of his/her peers. In order for the attorney-intervention to be made, LAP is notified, usually by the attorney's friends, family, or partners. If the caller is willing to pursue the situation, an intervention team is assigned, usually comprised of one judge and two attorneys. The intervention team conducts research into the nature and depth of the problem, meeting with all persons that are to help in the intervention. If necessary, an intervention meeting is called and the principal is invited. At the meeting the team members and others present their concerns and their options. If the principal agrees, plans are arranged; if he refuses, the refusal is accepted, but the team will present to the principal the likely consequences of continuing without help, and the door is kept open for help in the future. 509

From the perspective of the national, state and local bars, the peer group intervention models are preferable to disciplining attorneys and judges suffering from alcohol and other drug problems. Encouraging and fostering these groups is therefore being recommended, together with renewed attention to developing model disciplinary procedures to appropriately handle alcohol and other drug problems within the legal community.

499Testimony of Denis Mansman, Princeton.

5005ee eta., testimony of Robert Halford, Atlanta; and Ellen Morehouse, Princeton.

50I5ee, e.g., testimony of Ellen Morehouse, Princeton. Ms. Morehouse had developed the following program:
a)    a kindergarten through twelfth grade curriculum that provides information on alcohol and drugs, alcoholism and drug abuse and its effects on the family, values clarification exercises, and skills to resist using alcohol and drugs. The curriculum should be sequential and teachers should receive training on how to implement it. Parents should also receive training on how to talk to their children about alcohol and drugs so questions from their children can be handled with an informed response;
b)    a program and/or procedure for how to help elementary students who are living with an alcoholic or drug abusing parent; and a Student Assistance Program (SAP) for secondary schools.

502Seef eg O'Keefe, These Words Tell You Who I Am, What I Am and Where I Belong, Fla. Bar News (April 15, 1981); Anon., Concerned Lawyers, Inc., and a Battle with Booze, The Col. Lawyer (March, 1981); Anon., Lawyers and Liquor - Licking Alcoholism One Day at a Time, The Shingle 22 (Spring, 1981).

503Anon., Facing My Most Difficult Trial, 45 Ala. Law. 100, 101 (1984).

504A number of articles establish that the alcoholic-attorney problem begins even before the attorney has graduated law school. These articles suggest two responses to this phenomenon: initiate treatment sooner; increase substance abuse education, and curricula in law school. See, Evans, and Kane, Young, Smart, Successful and Drunk, Barrister 4 (Fall 1982); Sereda, Not Passing the Bar - Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Law  School, 73 111. B.J. 46 (1984); and Wolfson, Hope for Broken Lives and Careers - Lawyer's Assistance Program, 73 Ill. B.J. 20 (1984).

505Wolfson, supra note 504, at 20. But see ABA Model Assistance Programs (MAP), supra note 493, at 1.

5065ee recommendation and report relating to attorney discipline.

507The ABA MAP Program has already assembled an excellent package of sample materials on bench-bar alcohol and other drug abuse peer groups. MAP Package #1 features detailed descriptions of over a dozen existing state and local bar association organizations including those of California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and the state of Washington as well as San Diego County, Erie County (N.Y.), Dallas, New York City and Indianapolis. The Package is available from the ABA, Division of Bar Services, 750 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611.