Monday, January 19, 2009

New: Lawyer Addiction Blog

For a change of pace my colleague Steve Matthews, known for hard-core legal information blogs such as LegalPubs.ca, Canadian Law Blogs, Florida Lawyers Blog Watch, and the DUI Lawyer Blog Watch, is now giving back to the legal community by using his skills to create and run the new Lawyer Addiction Blog. Billed as "Information Supporting Recovery", this blog pulls together resources in the U.S. and Canada for Lawyer Outreach and Lawyer Assistance Programs (LAP). It is already a great little resource, and gradually will be built up as Steve reviews the various programs available in the states and provinces.



In his Stem Legal news release, Steve explains:
According to the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, the rate of addiction amongst lawyers is estimated to be 50% higher than the general population.
Steve is teaming up with his newest client, The Meadows Addiction Treatment Center in Arizona, to work toward these goals with the Lawyer Addiction Blog:
  • to increase general awareness of Lawyer addiction problems;
  • to raise the profile of related web content sources, including the growing network of Lawyer Assistance Programs based in North America and around the world;
  • to help align The Meadows brand and professional staff with the modern web publishing and the flow of information to the legal profession.
I remember blogging about mental health over on Slaw a couple years ago. It is easy to ignore (or try to ignore) health issues in ourselves or others. If you are seeking information about lawyer addiction, the new blog makes a great starting point.

Congratulations to Steve on a significant addition to the Stem Legal roster.

6 comments:

Steve Matthews said...

Many thanks for this post Connie. Unlike law blogging & web 2.0, it's obviously not a 'fun' topic. But that's ok... life isn't supposed to be 'fun' all the time, and there is a sense of reward in highlighting a facet of the industry that often gets avoided.

Connie Crosby said...

I think it is a very worthwhile cause. Thank you for raising it.

Sheila Blackford said...

Nice!

Be sure to check out the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP)http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/colap/ for resosurces, including referrals to local lawyer assistance programs. I am a Practice Management Advisor (PMA)from Oregon, helping with the business of practicing law. When seeing attorneys with addiction issues, I make sure to let them know about our Oregon Attorney Assistance Program (OAAP) www.oaap.org which is confidential and free and can help in the initial crisis period.
May all lawyers who suffer get the support they need to recover. The fellowship among the recovery community can really make a big difference.Sad to see lawyers suffering with addiction, alone and in despair, making bad choices for ending the pain, such as by suicide.

At the ABA Midyear Meeting in Boston, I visited an open AA meeting sponsored by the CoLAP and it was heartening to see the long-time solid recovery of lawyers who struggled with their addiction and are now clean and sober.

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Ares Vista said...

Thank you for raising awareness to this very interesting issue.

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