Lawyer Assistance Programs Outside Wisconsin

All 50 states have developed lawyer assistance programs or committees that are focused on quality of life issues, and use intervention, peer counseling and referrals to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs to assist in a lawyer's recovery process. WisLAP maintains contact with additional resources in other states, plus Canada, England and Mexico. Contact Linda Albert, (608) 250-6172 or (800) 543-2625, for more information.

The American Bar Association

The ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, (formerly Commission on Impaired Attorneys) is charged with educating the profession on chemical dependency and mental health problems and supporting the development of solutions for recovery. The Commission was created in 1988 to encourage and help bar associations in developing programs to help lawyers suffering from alcoholism. The Commission's focus later expanded to include lawyers with drug addictions. Since August 1995, when the ABA adopted the Model Lawyer Assistance Program, the Commission has been working to incorporate the education and support of lawyers facing stress, depression and other mental health problems into the focus of lawyer assistance programs throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Great Britain.

The ABA website includes a directory of lawyer assistance programs in other states and foreign countries.

Each year, the Commission hosts a national workshop on organizing, sustaining and expanding lawyer assistance programs. The workshop, which is open to lawyers and health care professionals, examines such topics as confidentiality, reentry into practice, legal repercussions of addiction, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the present state of medical and scientific research on addiction. For more information about the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, contact Commission staff director Donna Spillis, spilisd@staff.abanet.org.