The New York City Bar Association’s Lawyer Assistance Committee and Lawyer Assistance Program honored NYLAT Chair Michael A. Cooper at its Fourth Annual Volunteer Appreciation dinner held June 30.  Mr. Cooper is of counsel to the lawfirm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Committee Chair Gary Reing, pictured right, with Michael Cooper, recognized Cooper’s efforts to have the Lawyer Assistance Program established during his tenure as NYC Bar President.  LAP Director Eileen Travis thanked Mr. Cooper for his leadership and long-standing support during the ten years that the program has been serving the profession.

Mr. Cooper continues his interest and service as the Chair of the New York Lawyer Assistance Trust.

Current NYC Bar President Sam Seymour offered words of thanks to the Lawyer Assistance Committee members and staff, whose efforts have made a difference in so many lawyers’ lives since the program’s inception.  He also recognized Mr. Cooper as a mentor, colleague, friend.

In receiving the award, Mr. Cooper noted that a motivating factor was the experience of losing a friend and colleague who had suffered with alcoholism.  Subsequently, he enlisted the support of Justice Lerner, and together they advocated for the establishment of a lawyer assistance program by the City Bar, the “single accomplishment of my tenure, of which [I] am most proud,” commented Mr. Cooper.

Lawyers' Fund For Client Protection

The 2009 Annual Report of the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection has been issued.  It contains the following quote:

“In 27 years, only 944 former members of the bar have been responsible for the 6,617 awards granted by the Fund. A complete list of these former lawyers is available on the fund’s website www.nylawfund.org. There are now 253,000 registered lawyers in New york State. The Trustees’ awards in 2009 were attributable to dishonest conduct by 59 now suspended, disbarred or deceased lawyers. Of these 59 former lawyers, 23 were respondents in awards from prior years and the names of 36 dishonest lawyers appear for the first time in 2009 awards.
 

” Most thefts involve sole practitioners, the majority of which are male and middle-aged. The apparent causes of misconduct by these lawyers are often traced to alcohol or drug abuse. Other causes are economic pressures, mental illness, marital, professional and medical problems, and gambling activity.” [emphasis added]

 

There is an adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

For this very reason, the Court System created the Lawyer Assistance Trust, to support the works of the lawyer assistance programs in New York, to raise awareness in the legal profession of these issues.

Incremental progress is occurring. A recent New York State Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Committee initiative is a great example. The Committee, under Chairperson Lawrence Zimmerman, developed a “Model Policy for Addressing Impairment”, which will be discussed at the NYSBA House of Delegates meeting soon. The policy recommends parameters for law firms to adopt in addressing impairment issues among their legal professional staff. Copies are available from NYSBA LAP Director Patricia Spataro at (800) 255-0569.

Has your firm [or legal department] considered this policy?

Today’s Law.com site features an article from the Texas Lawyer Assistance Program Director Ann Foster, addressing a recent suicide by a lawyer there. In “How to Help Colleagues in Crisis” Director Foster notes, “[a]ccording to a 2009 National Institute of Mental Health fact sheet, death by suicide is reported at the approximate rate of 11 deaths per 100,000 people per year in the United States. . . Other studies discussed in “Preventing Suicide: A Challenge to the Legal Profession” in the October/November 2008 issue of the American Bar Association’s GPSolo magazine suggest that the number of lawyers who die by suicide each year may actually be six times greater than the national average.”

New York State, conservatively, has 150,000 lawyers practicing (with about 200,000 licensed to practice here, including non-resident lawyers).  Whether one may extrapolate the 11 deaths per 100,000 people to predict approximately 15 lawyers in New York may commit suicide in a given year, I am unsure.  But lawyer suicide happens. 

At a New York State Lawyer Assistance Program volunteer training event last year, the Broome County Bar Association’s Director delivered heartfelt remarks about the aftermath of a lawyers suicide there, particularly the distress felt by colleagues who had not recognized the signs of the tragedy-t0-come, or were ill-equipped to address the problem.

On March 10, the NYSBA LAP will be sponsoring another continuing legal educational program, including information on suicide prevention [among other topics], at the Queens County Bar Association.  NYSBA LAP Director Patricia Spataro is a “QPR” [question, persuade, refer] Suicide Presention Trainer, who will address this important topic.

Best wishes to all at the start of 2010 — can anyone believe it has been ten years since Y2K frenzy?  Which also means that it’s been 9 years [at least it will be as of November 1, 2010] since NYLAT was established as a program of the Unified Court System. 

It has been my pleasure to serve at the helm of the Trust since its inception.  Much good work has been accomplished, thanks to the Trustees, past and present, who give tirelessly of their time to the cause of lawyer assistance in New York State.  Of course, much recognition should go to the staff of the lawyer assistance programs — Pat Spataro, LAP Director at the New York State Bar Association, with her able assistant Linda McMahon and 4th Department Coordinator Paul Curtin; Eileen Travis, LAP Director at the New York City Bar Association, with her Clinical Coordinator Don Hewlett and assistant Meylin Mota; and to Peter Schweitzer, LAP Director at the Nassau County Bar Association.  Seventeen bar associations have Lawyer Helping Lawyer Committees, consisting of volunteers [most of whom are in recovery] willing to share their experience, strength and hope with others in the profession seeking help.

There are more than  244,000 attorneys  licensed to practice in New York State, with about 153,500 of those lawyers residing within our boundaries.  That is an enormous population to reach and to serve.  Each day is a challenge, but thankfully, we meet the challenge one day at a time.

May you be well in 2010 ~ Barbara Smith

September is Recovery Month – an annual observance to highlight the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers and promote the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible.

This year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery:  Together We Learn, Together We Heal,” emphasizes the need to use all available resources, in our communities and on the Internet, to educate about the disease and help those with substance use disorders, and those close to them, to get support.

Recovery Month also serves to educate the public on substance abuse as a national health crisis, that addiction is a treatable disease, and that recovery is possible.  Recovery Month highlights the benefits of treatment for not only the affected individual, but for their family, friends, workplace, and society as a whole. Educating the public reduces the stigma associated with addiction and treatment. Accurate knowledge of the disease helps people to understand the importance of supporting treatment programs, those who work within the treatment field, and those in need of treatment. [For more information, visit www.recoverymonth.gov]

The New York State Bar Association’s Lawyer Assistance Committee and Program is hosting an-all day Peer Assistance Volunteer Training CLE program on Friday, September 11 [10:00 am – 4:00 pm].  Registration is $25, which includes materials and refreshments.  Topics include Depression & Suicide, Substance Use Disorders, Motivational Interviewing, and Ethics.  Contact Patricia Spataro, LAP Director at 800-255-0569 or pspataro@nysba.org to register.

If you’re particularly interested in lawyers’ recovery stories, the Trust has published a compilation, which you can access on line, or order hard copies.

Michael Cooper, NYLAT Chair

NYLAT Chair Michael Cooper’s column from the LAT NEWS, summer issue, first appeared in the New York Law Journal on July 10, 2009 and appears here with permission of incisive US Properties, LLC, all rights reserved.  For information contact 877.257.3382, reprints@incisivemedia.com.

The dilemma of reaching large law firms on LAP-related issues is addressed –

Alcoholism, other substance abuse and mental illness spare no segment of society at large or of the legal profession.  Lawyers in private practice, public service (governmental and non-governmental) and academia are all susceptible to these illnesses.  The pressures that drive lawyers to drink, to use illegal substances and to overuse prescription drugs are probably greater now than at any time in the past half-century.  And those pressures, while felt throughout the legal profession, may be taking their heaviest toll in the large law firms of New York City and the State’s other urban centers.

The large corporate and financing transactions in which these firms specialize have dwindled in number and size during this economic downturn. Firms find that they are overstaffed to meet the current demand for their services. And increasingly clients are becoming more sophisticated and demanding as to how their affairs are handled and how much they will pay for legal services.  It was saddening, but not as surprising as it would have been two years ago, to read that a partner in one large law firm had taken his life, as had an associate in another major firm.

No one knows how prevalent abuse of alcohol and other substances and mental illness are in large law firms.  But it is a statistical certainty that these problems exist within their walls.  The sheer number of lawyers in an office may increase the likelihood that an individual’s problems will go unnoticed.  It is easier for an individual wishing to escape attention to do so when he or she is one of a few hundred in a multi-storied office.

There is reason to believe that the pervasiveness and seriousness of these issues are not fully appreciated.  I am the only large firm lawyer on the 21-member Board of the Lawyer Assistance Trust, and the Lawyer Assistance Committees of the New York State and New York City Bar Associations, which between them have more than one hundred members, include only a handful of lawyers who practice in large law firms.

The challenge is two-fold. First, and perhaps more difficult, the leaders of large law firms must be sensitized to the seriousness and extent of these problems; they must be made to realize that their most prized asset—their human capital — is jeopardized by the threat of these illnesses, and that a problem recognized only when an individual has injured himself, his family and/or his client, has been recognized too late.  When a lawyer—partner or associate — shows signs of inebriation at a social function with colleagues or clients, those signs may be symptomatic of an illness that cannot be shrugged off as having “one too many” or a “good time.” One sizable law firm, Hiscock & Barclay, held a two hour Lawyer Assistance Program CLE for all attorneys and staff with lunch provided.  All of its offices from Boston to Buffalo were video linked so everyone participated in the program at the same time. I hope other firms will follow that example.

Once it is realized that a lawyer may be in need of assistance in addressing alcohol or other substance abuse, help is only as far away as the telephone.  The lawyer assistance programs at the New York State and New York City Bar Associations, and the Nassau County Bar Association, can arrange for appropriate professional counseling and, if indicated, in-patient treatment, as can the Executive Director of the Erie County Bar Association. Their contact information can be found on the Trust’s website, www.nylat.org.

It was a distinguished gathering.

On June 29, Lawyer Assistance Program staff and Committee members from across the State gathered in New York City to honor Committee members, and others, who make a contribution through their support, guidance and inspiration.

On behalf of the City Bar Lawyer Assistance Committee, Chair Gary Reing honored Bar Director Barbara Berger Opotowsky and Counsel Alan Rothstein.  Both are long-term supporters of the original Lawyers Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, now known as the Lawyer Assistance Committee, and they helped spearhead the effort to launch a staffed Lawyer Assistance Program.

New York State Bar Association’s Lawyer Assistance Committee Chair Larry Zimmerman presented the Franklin Gavin Award to Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, now retired, for her “extraordinary courage in being the one willing to ‘go up the river”‘ to address the causes of alcoholism, substance abuse and mental health issues in the legal profession.

Chief Judge Kaye thanked all participants in the lawyer assistance movement whose “decades of commitment define what it is to be a member of this great profession. . . I am so proud of all of you; I shall treasure this reward. ”

For more information, see the NYLAT Summer 2009 Newsletter.

Technical issues have precluded new postings for a while, but all systems are functioning now.  Here are some LAP activities you may have missed, and others still to come –

The NYSBA LAP Spring Retreat at Silver Bay, Lake George, was remarkable.  The power of sharing by participants and the physical beauty of the setting cannot be overstated.  For those who’ve been undecided about whether to attend, try it next year, it’s worth the trip.

The Capital District Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee is hosting its first 12-Step weekend, on Saturday, June 13 at McCownville United Methodist Church, 1565 Western Avenue, Guilderland from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, led by Dave P. and Ken A.  A $10 lunch fee will be collected.  To register, or if you have questions, call Aaron B at 518)542-8251 or Larry Z. at 518) 573-5770.

The northeastern regional meeting of LAP directors will take place on Monday, June 15 in Hartford, Connecticut.  NYLAT Vice-Chair Chuck Beinhauer of Buffalo, who serves as the northeastern region’s liaison to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs [CoLAP] will host the event.  Representatives from Lawyer Assistance Programs in New York, New Jersey and New England are expected to attend.

Friday, June 19, the NYSBA Lawyer Assistance Committee will hold its mid-year meeting in Cooperstown, in conjunction with a meeting of the NYSBA House of Delegates.  New LAC Chair Lawrence Zimmerman will lead the meeting.

LAP Volunteers and honored guests will be feted at a dinner in New York City on Monday, June 29.  The New York City Bar Association’s LAP and the New York State Bar Association’s LAP are co-sponsoring the event, taking place at the City Bar headquarters, 42 West 44th Street.  Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye will receive the Franklin Gavin Award from the NYSBA LAP in recognition of her outstanding support for lawyer assistance in New York State.

Have you heard about the “red watch band” initiative started at SUNY @ Stony Brook — a campaign against toxic drinking by college students.  Learn more at www.redwatchband.org

Keep in touch.

For many of us, blogging might not be the first method we think to use for communicating with our colleagues. Yet, it’s the latest way to create a community of individuals who share interests – in this case, what’s happening in the legal profession related to lawyer assistance efforts.

With the redesign of the www.NYLAT.org website, it seemed an auspicious moment to launch a blog and see what develops.

The legal blog world is vast and varied. A quick visit to www.law.com yielded two promising links of interest to our readers – www.jdblissblog.com, a blog for attorneys seeking career satisfaction, work/life balance and personal growth; and www.legalsanity.com, a blog by our sometime-contributor Arnie Herz. The New York State Bar Association’s webpage www.nysba.org lists no fewer than 15 blogs, with links for lawyers in transitions and for law students, of particular interest. Let us know if there are other related blogs that you visit.

Those involved in lawyer assistance efforts in New York – whether NYLAT Trustees or staff, Lawyer Assistance Program staff or committee members, or lawyer-helping-lawyer committee members from county bar associations – we already have a strong sense of connection. We hope that by posting periodic messages informing you of relevant articles, policy decisions, CLE programs and meetings, we will enlighten you and refresh your dedication to the work being done.

Better still, we look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Barbara F. Smith, NYLAT Director