About LAP
What is the North Carolina Lawyer Assistance Program? The Lawyer Assistance Program is a service of the North Carolina State Bar which provides confidential assistance to North Carolina lawyers to help them identify and address problems with alcoholism, other drug addictions and mental health disorders.
What We Do
The Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) of the North Carolina State Bar has the following three purposes: (1) to protect the public by assisting lawyers and judges who are professionally impaired by reason of substance abuse, addiction, or debilitating mental conditions; (2) to assist impaired lawyers and judges in recovery; and (3) to educate lawyers and judges concerning the causes and remedies for such impairments. The LAP provides confidential help to North Carolina lawyers, judges and law students. To achieve these purposes, the LAP is designed to help lawyers find a way to address a wide range of health and personal issues, including most commonly: alcohol/drug abuse, stress/burnout, depression, anxiety, compulsivity disorders of all kinds including those involving food, sex, gambling, and the Internet. The LAP trains and supports peer counselor volunteers, and the LAP provides assessments, referrals, interventions, education, advocacy, and peer support services.
The LAP has two committees of volunteer peer counselors - PALS and FRIENDS.
How We Operate
How does the North Carolina Lawyer Assistance Program operate? The program is authorized by rules of the North Carolina State Bar which established its governance under a separate Board with rules which assure the confidentiality of the program. The Lawyer Assistance Program is governed by a nine member Board consisting of three Bar Councilors, three experts in the fields of addiction and mental health, and three lawyer volunteers. The Lawyer Assistance Program is directed by three full-time professionals: W. Donald (Don) Carroll Jr., LAP Director, Edmund (Ed) F. Ward III, LAP Assistant Director, and Towanda C. Garner, Piedmont LAP Coordinator. In addition, both programs use a number of lawyer volunteers who have personal experience or training in addiction and/or mental health issues and are trained in confidentiality and how to provide peer assistance.
Confidentiality with the Lawyer Assistance Program
If you call to seek help for yourself, your inquiry is confidential. If you call as the spouse, child, or friend of a lawyer whom you suspect may have an alcohol, drug or mental health problem, and needs help, your communication is also treated confidentially and never related to the lawyer for whom you are seeking help without your permission. All inquiries, questions and conferences are privileged and held in the strictest confidence. Under Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the North Carolina State Bar, the attorney/client privilege is applied to communications between a lawyer seeking assistance with the Lawyer Assistance Program. In order to assure this high degree of trust and confidence, the Lawyer Assistance Program is, by rule of the State Bar, which has been approved by order of the North Carolina Supreme Court, entirely, separate from any ethics or disciplinary committee of the State Bar.