Welcome to the Legal Profession
Read an overview of the LAP
Law Student Listserve
For Law Students in Recovery: A Listserv has been developed by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) to provide a confidential email vehicle for law students who want to get, or stay, clean and sober while in law school. This is a chance for students to connect with and ask questions of their law student peers throughout the US and share their experience, strength and hope. To be added, interested law students should contact Towanda Garner at 1-877-570-0991 (tgarner@ncbar.com) or email Donna Spilis, CoLAP's Director, directly at spilisd@staff.abanet.org.
Students should be prepared to talk a bit about their history and about their need and desire to communicate with other law students facing similiar challenges. Ms. Spilis will make the final determination to add the student to the Listserv and will provide each student with the rules and regulations regarding use of the "Students in Recovery Listserv." When a student graduates and is admitted to the bar, he/she should notify Ms. Spilis in order to be removed from the Listserv."
Law School Outreach
Towanda C. Garner, the Piedmont LAP Coordinator, works with law schools and law students throughout the state of North Carolina to educate students on the extent of substance abuse, alcoholism and/or other chemical addictions and mental health problems within the legal profession. On college campuses and within the law school environment, substance abuse may initially begin with the recreational or social use of alcohol and/or other drugs, or as a coping strategy to relieve stress. Due to factors such as genetic predisposition, environmental stressors, peer influences, a lack of healthy coping strategies, etc., the continual use of alcohol and/or other drugs may place law students at risk for the disease of addiction. The abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs promotes significant dangers for law students who may develop a dependency upon alcohol and/or other drugs. As the disease of addiction progresses, chemical addiction typically isolates addicts from others. Isolation in addiction occurs as the individual's involvement with the substance of abuse becomes an obsession that obscures reality and promotes either withdrawal from previously enjoyable relationships and/or greater association with individuals with similar abuse patterns.
Practicing law can be an exceedingly stressful profession due to strict deadlines and enormous workloads that promote an over-commitment of the lawyer's time and energy. Because of the adversarial nature of the legal profession and the need to uphold client confidences, lawyers often experience isolation from family and colleagues. Isolation and stress place lawyers at risk for depression and substance abuse. The National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse estimates that 10% of the population of the United States is alcoholic or otherwise chemically addicted. Chemical addiction within the legal profession may be as high as 20%. One of the primary goals of the LAP is to provide assistance to lawyers, judges, and law students before the problems of substance abuse, chemical addiction and/or mental health problems become debilitating and cause adverse consequences to the lawyer and his or her clients.
The LAP provides assessments, referrals, interventions, education, advocacy, and peer support services to law students throughout North Carolina. For confidential assistance, please contact Towanda C. Garner at 1-877-570-0991.