• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 8:00 to 9:00 AM
• NOBC Panel with M. Crowley 10:15 to 11:15 AM
• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 5:30 to 6:30 PM
• CoLAP Open Dinner at The Cumberland Club 7:00

• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 8:00 to 9:00 AM
• CoLAP Business Meeting 1:00 to 4:00 PM
• CoLAP CLE Program 4:00 to 5:00 PM
• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 5:30 to 6:30 PM

• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 8:00 to 9:00 AM
• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 5:30 to 6:30 PM

• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 8:00 to 9:00 AM
• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 5:30 to 6:30 PM

• Friends of Bill W. Meeting 8:00 to 9:00 AM

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Awards

The Palm Beach County, Florida Comprehensive Alcohol Rehabiliation Program (CARP) presented its Peter Fairclough Memorial Recognition Pioneer Award to William Kilby, former Executive Director of Florida Lawyers Assistance, Inc., at its annual awards dinner on December 13, 1997. The plaque, accepted by Michael Cohen, was for Bill's "outstanding contributions to the field of alcohol and drug abuse prevention, education and treatment".

The Lawyers' Assistance Program, Inc. of Illinois, held their Annual Dinner at the beautiful Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, on October 24, 1997. The following awards were presented: The Carl H. Rolewick Award, given each year to a member of the bench or bar who has significantly contributed to the goals and the mission of LAP, was presented to both Ralph A. Gabric, 1996 president of the Illinois State Bar Association, and Donald Hubert, 1996 president of the Chicago Bar Association. The Honorable John Powers Crowley Award, given periodically in special recognition to those members of the judiciary whose support of LAP has been outstanding, was awarded to Judge Blanche M. Manning, U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.

Weddings

Derek LeCroix, the Executive Director of the British Columbia Lawyer Assistance Program married Maureen Jack on September 20, 1997. Maureen is an event promoter for a company in Vancouver, and one of her major promotions was Rivers Canada (an environmentalist network to save rivers). Derek returned to Vancouver, a week before his wedding, after the National Workshop in DC, in time to honeymoon with his new bride for two weeks in Costa Rica.

Bill Haase and Adriana DeAngelis were married August 16th. Both are long-time friends of the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, and we were delighted to share their honeymoon with them in Washington, DC during the 10th Anniversary National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs.

Washington, D.C. National Workshop

Special thanks go out to all the registrants, exhibitors, and speakers at the 10th Anniversary National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs. It was an excellent educational program with outstanding speakers, who are experts in their field of addictions and mental health problems. Prizes were awarded at the end of the workshop, and to be eligible one had to complete the Evaluation Form. The prizes and recipients of those prizes were:

Michael Cohen - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - Floral Arrangement
William Stratford - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Floral Arrangement
Donald Pipes - Lansing, Michigan - Round Trip United Airlines Ticket
Michele-- Fitzgibbons - Montreal, Canada - Round Trip United Airlines Ticket
Ray M. Lopez - Albany, New York - The Fine Art of Feelings Silver "Self Love" Necklace
Sherri T. Gray - Nashville, Tennessee - The Fine Art of Feelings Sculpture Set

Professional Development Hours (PDH's) have been awarded for every session we requested. If you have not received the approval numbers, contact Debi Taylor at 312/988-5325. If you require Continuing Education Units (CEU's), send a check in the amount of $15.00, payable to the American Bar Association, Attention: Debi Taylor, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610. She will need your name, social security number, address, telephone and check in order to process your accreditation with Georgetown University.

11th Annual CoLAP Workshop to be Held in Montreal

The Planning Committee for the 11th Annual National Workshop is working hard on the program for the conference. Planning Committee Chair Professor Mike Distelhorst reports that the Workshop's primary focus will be on programs of interest to the volunteers who work with LAPs throughout the United States and Canada. The Committee is also planning sessions that will allow LAPs of every type to share their experiences, strengths, weaknesses, resources and needs with all of the participants.

Special attention will be paid to those states that have yet to hire a program director. The Committee is also making a special effort to shorten the Workshop so that the practicing lawyers, so vital to all LAPs, will not have to sacrifice too much time out of their offices, but will still benefit by attendng all of the sessions.

For those LAPs that have certified professionals working with their programs, who require very technical and advanced training in order to maintain appropriate continuing education credits, the Committee is considering a one-day workshop devoted to those specialized needs prior to the general sessions of the Workshop.

Make your plans now to attend the 11th Annual National Workshop. Montreal is a wonderful city and our Canadian colleagues are planning to make everyone's stay most enjoyable.

AROUND THE LAPS

INDIANA: The establishment of the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Committee has been officially ordered by the Supreme Court of Indiana. The Committee, made up of fifteen members appointed by the Supreme Court, will work through the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, to assist judges, lawyers and law students who suffer from physical or mental disabilities that result from disease, chemical dependency, mental health problems or age that impair their ability to practice. With the assistance of the Committee members, the Chief Justice will hire an Executive Director, who has sufficient training and experience to allow effective assistance with impaired judges and lawyers. Funding for the Committee, including salaries, shall be provided through a portion of the registration fee charged to each attorney pursuant to Admission and Discipline Rule 23.21.

MICHIGAN: The Michigan Bar Journal, March 1997, Volume 76, No. 3 issue has been devoted to the topic of Alcohol, Drugs and Law Practice. This is not the first time this enlightened bar has focused their efforts in this important area. Articles include: "Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program--One of the Oldest Programs in the Nation," "Alcohol Related Driver's License Suspensions--5 Concepts to Consider Before Restoration," "Drugs, Alcohol, and the Americans with Disabilities Act," "Representing the Chemically Dependent Attorney," "Chemical Dependency in Legal Education: Problems and Strategies, and two personal stories of recovery.

NEW YORK: The NYSBA Lawyer Assistance Program has recently published their seventh Annual Report. It details the many services provided by the Lawyer Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee and the Lawyer Assistance Program during 1996-97. Ray Lopez attributes the success of their services to commitment, effective teamwork, and strict adherence to confidentiality.

OKLAHOMA: Helen T. Epstein, Chair of the Oklahoma Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee, reports that the Oklahoma Bar Association has funded the establishment of a part-time director for a Lawyer Assistance Program. She said, "We have had 11 years of increasing success with a full time volunteer Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee. We need assistance now in choosing a director, determining what are the roles and functions of the part-time director, and how he or she integrates with the activities of the volunteer committew." Ms. Epstein may have already been in touch with many of you. If you have ideas to share with her, send them to Helen T. Epstein, Suite 601, 440 S. Houston, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74127 (E-mail: epstein@oscn.state.ok.us).

TENNESSEE: Tennessee Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, Inc. (TLCL) is petitioning the Supreme Court of Tennessee to create and fund a statewide program to provide immediate and continuing help to lawyers and judges who suffer from physical or mental disabilities resulting from disease, disorder, trauma or age that may impair their ability to practice law. They are asking that this service be available to the suffering lawyer or judge at no cost. CoLAP member Ed Blewer of Louisiana met with Chief Justice Riley Anderson, TLCL Chair, Stephenson Todd, and Tennessee Bar Association Executive Director, Gil Campbell, to discuss possible funding options including an assessment from registration fees. More information will be available in the next issue of Highlights.

VIRGINIA: George Hettrick, past chair of the Virginia Lawyers Helping Lawyers Program, has reported on a multi-state collaboration on a substance abuse continuing education program for law firms. It is such a wonderful, creative effort, it should be copied in other regions. The law firm of Hunton & Williams produced a two-hour program that was presented live to lawyers in its offices in New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and the District of Columbia. The principal videotape was made in Richmond utilizing live presentations by the state LAP director's in the other four offices. In other words, Don Carroll, North Carolina; David Schwartz, District of Columbia; Cynthia Jones, Georgia; and Ray Lopez, New York, were taped in their respective states doing the program director segment live at the law firm. Each tape contained a brief introduction by Mr. Hettrick and the firm's managing partner, a description of the disease by Dr. David Fluharty, the Pennsylvania videotape on "No Immunity", two recovering lawyers' stories, and concludes with a 25-minute presentation on the specific help available by the lawyer assistance program director in the state or locality of the presentation. Susan Pauley, Director of the Virginia Lawyers Helping Lawyers Program did the initial presentation that included a list of impairment signs. The other four directors modeled their presentations after hers. Additional questions should be directed to Susan Pauley at 804/644-3212. It is my understanding that copies of the five tapes should be available by the end of the year.

WYOMING: We don't often hear about Wyoming, but they do have a Lawyers' Assistance Committee, which was created by the Wyoming State Bar in 1991. It is a volunteer run committee that aids the members of the State Bar and the members of the judiciary who are, or may potentially become impaired in the performance of their profession by reason of alcohol or substance abuse or other treatable maladies. They have rules that provide confidentiality, however, there is no provision within those rules regarding immunity. The committee is currently co-chaired by James N. Wolfe of Cheyenne and Thomas Lubnau of Gillette, Wyoming. We hope to see this state represented at the next National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs in Montr‚al.

CASELAW REVIEW

by Carole Mostow

Determining the appropriate sanction was the primary issue before the Maryland Court of Appeals in Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Gittens, 697 A.2d 83 (Md. Ct. App. 1997). The respondent had already pled guilty to the charge that he had committed first degree theft against a person sixty or older in Washington D.C. and the D.C. court had suspended his license to practice law. The Maryland court considered this a case of reciprocal discipline since it was basing its sanction of the respondent on his criminal activity in D.C. During its deliberations, the Maryland court needed to determine whether to apply its own standards regarding the respondent's drug abuse as a mitigating or aggravating circumstance or to defer to the D.C. court decision regarding the issue.

Notwithstanding that the Maryland court had often imposed sanctions of facially equal severity to that imposed by a sister state, there was no requirement to do so in reciprocal discipline cases. The court decided to look not only to the sanction imposed by the other jurisdiction but also to its own cases as well, taking into account the specific facts and circumstances of this particular case in an effort to maintain consistent dispositions for similar misconduct.

In the D.C. case, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals suspended the respondent who in his plea agreement, stipulated that he had abused alcohol on weekends beginning in college, and that he later began to use drugs, and became addicted to cocaine in the late 1980's. After depleting most of his personal assets in order to purchase cocaine to satisfy his addiction, Respondent began to withdraw money from his attorney's escrow account in order to purchase cocaine. The respondent did seek drug treatment as an in-patient and then in an after-care program, and has been drug and alcohol free since 1992. He continues to actively participate in programs aimed at assisting his recovery.

For purposes of disciplinary proceedings, the Maryland court determined that the respondent, by committing the acts that resulted in his criminal conviction, had engaged in misconduct that violated the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct. In accordance with this finding, the petitioner, the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland, recommended that the respondent be disbarred. In support of that recommendation, the petitioner emphasized that the charge to which the respondent pled guilty involved "an unauthorized use, disposition, and transfer of $88,379 of money belonging to someone else, and thus was a misappropriation." The petitioner noted that the Maryland court has made it quite clear that misappropriation of funds by a lawyer "is an act infected with deceit and dishonesty" and will ordinarily result in disbarment unless there are compelling extenuating circumstances that justify a lesser sanction. The petitioner cited a list of cases where, absent truly compelling circumstances, alcoholism should not provide mitigation where a lawyer has been found to have committed a violation which would ordinarily be cause for disbarment. The petitioner then urged the court to send the same message where the misconduct was caused by drug addiction. The petitioner argued in the alternative that rather than a mitigating factor, Respondent's use of cocaine should be an aggravating circumstance in his behavior.

In response, the respondent urged the court to find that his misconduct was caused by his cocaine addiction, and to continue his indefinite suspension from the practice of law. He offered as justification for the more lenient sanction, his pre-cocaine record as a lawyer, one that was completely free of even the allegation of misconduct; the opinion of several professionals that cocaine addiction was the reason that he engaged in misconduct; his thus far successful attempt to treat his addiction, along with the opinion of the professionals that have helped him that he is not likely to use drugs and alcohol in the future; and the fact that he has been punished, including incarceration, as a result of the misconduct that is the basis for the petition for disciplinary action. The court decided to suspend the respondent from practice, citing the Maryland court's history of giving deference to the action taken by the jurisdiction where the misconduct occurred. The court noted the shared philosophy that the primary purpose of disbarment is intended not as punishment but as protection to the public. The Maryland court commented that it had not at all retreated from its prior holdings that alcoholism, or this case drug abuse, does not provide mitigation barring other compelling circumstances. The court simply did not apply that standard to this case of reciprocal discipline.

Comments from the Chair

by Michael J. Crowley

Since the August 1997 Annual Meeting, the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (CoLAP) has sponsored the 10th Anniversary National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs, developed the program for the 11th Annual National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs, continued revisions on the Model Recovery Monitoring Program, and finalized goals and responsibilities for 1997-98. One of our goals for 1998 will be to again recognize bar leaders that have been instrumental in the success of lawyer assistance programs. It may be one person or it may be several who will be nominated by their state and local lawyer assistance programs. Watch future issues of Highlights for more information.

CoLAP continues to fine tune the Model Recovery Monitoring Program with the valuable input received from LAPs throughout the United States and Canada as well as other ABA entities. This Model will provide basic guidelines for use by disciplinary and licensing agencies when they consider placing a lawyers on some form of probation. These very practical guidelines are drawn from experience in the states with existing programs and are designed to facilitate effective monitoring of sobriety in the real world. The Model will identify those elements common to all successful monitoring programs and will stress that sobriety monitors are not to be involved in the recovery program of lawyers being monitored. Plans are to submit this Model to the ABA House of Delegates at the Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Over the past 18 months CoLAP has had an increasing number of requests and a commensurate increase in favorable responses to our practice of assisting state bars with objective evaluations of their lawyer assistance programs. (ABA adopted Guiding Principle for Lawyer Assistance Programs #10 recommends a periodic review of lawyer assistance programs to ensure proper functioning of the program.) CoLAP plans to conduct nine evaluations this year, specifically for those states that have been struggling with a strictly volunteer operated program and are interested in hiring a program director, and for those states that may want to expand their services. CoLAP has completed twelve evaluations in the past fours years.

CoLAP's aim is to undertake activities that will benefit state and local bar association LAP's. We will continue to spread the word about lawyer assistance programs (LAPs) and share information to an even greater extent than we have in the past through our clearinghouse, quarterly newsletter and educational programs. Through the LAPs that have been established by bar associations in all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and Great Britain, CoLAP will continue to educate and serve the profession, as well as protect the public from harm by lawyers suffering from addiction and mental health problems.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

• Jaunary 28 - February 3, 1998: ABA Midyear Meeting, Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN
• January 29-February 3: Friends of Bill Meetings Daily, Room 3177, Level 1, Veranda Section
• January 30: 10:30-11:30 am - CoLAP Presentation to NOBC, Magnolia Section, Davidson D, Level M
• January 30: 7:00 pm - CoLAP Dinner, The Cumberland Club
• January 31: 1:00-5:00 pm - CoLAP Business Meeting, Magnolia Section, Davidson A, Level M
• February 18 - 21, 1998: Southern Coastal Conference on Treatment and Addiction, Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Jekyll Island, GA, Contact: 800/484-8700 PIN #7041
• March 28-29, 1998 Atlantic Regional LAP Meeting (open to other regions, directors, and volunteers if interested), Philadelphia, PA. Contact David Pfalzgraf (716/885-4395 or DPFALZGRAF@aol.com) or John Rogers Carroll (215/925-4100 or JRC-MPC@worldnet.att.net)
• April 29 - May 2, 1998: American Medical Association and Canadian Medical Association International Conference on Physician Health, Victoria, BC, Canada, Contact: Larry S. Goldman, M.D. or Roger Brown, Ph.D., 312/464-5066
• May 1-3, 1998: New York State Bar Association LAP Annual Retreat, Otesaga Hotel, Cooperstown, N.Y., Contact: Ray or Linda, 800-255-0569
• May 28-30, 1998: 24th National Conference on Professional Responsibility, Bonaventure Hotel, Montreal, Quebec
• July 29 - August 5, 1998: ABA Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada
• September 15-20, 1998: 11th National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs & ILAA, Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain, Montreal, Quebec, Contact: Debi Taylor, 312/988-5325 or Donna Spilis, 312/988-5359.
• February 3-9, 1999: ABA Midyear Meeting, Los Angeles, CA
• August 5-11, 1999: ABA Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA
• September 28 - October 3, 1999: 12th National Workshop for Lawyer Assistance Programs & ILAA, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA, Contact: Debi Taylor, 312/988-5325 or Donna Spilis, 312/988-5359.
• February 8-15, 2000: ABA Midyear Meeting, Dallas, TX
• July 6-12, 2000: ABA Annual Meeting, New York, NY
• July 15-20, 2000 ABA Annual Meeting, London, England
• February 14-20, 2001 ABA Midyear Meeting, San Diego, CA
• August 2-8, 2001 ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
• February 2-12, 2002 ABA Midyear Meeting, Philadelphia, PA

Updated: 10/3/2006

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