The Lawyers' Assistance Program, now in its 25th year of helping lawyers and judges deal with impairing addictions, has taken a major step toward bringing light to the dark realm of debilitating depression.

A clinical director was added to the small LAP staff in October to handle assessment and case management for legal professionals with serious mental health problems, and to coordinate volunteers to provide peer support and intervention.

Susan C. Riegler, who has a master's degree in sociology, will balance this vital responsibility while pursuing advanced degrees at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She will receive a master's degree in clinical psychology next year, and is a candidate for a doctorate in 2007.

Her prior experience includes drug-free workplace education and intervention for SCR Consulting in Chicago, and evaluation of addictions and mental health needs of musicians through MusiCares.

Riegler joins the LAP staff at a time when the program is experiencing a daunting increase in new cases and an indication that suicidal tendencies are growing among lawyers who have extreme addictions to alcohol, drugs and gambling.

“Our new cases were up 61 percent during the past fiscal year,” said executive director Janet Piper Voss, “and we continue to experience significant increases.”

The whirlwind of tests and tasks that faces Riegler at LAP is likely to resemble the challenges she encountered in a visit to New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Both ventures involve alleviating human suffering.

The addition of a clinical director follows the appointment earlier this year of Joseph R. Bartylak of Alton as downstate associate director. These enhancements of LAP services were made possible by an annual $7 attorney registration allocation.

For more information, call (312) 726-6607 in Chicago or (618) 462-4397 in Alton, or access the Web site, www.IllinoisLAP.org. For emergency assistance, call (800) LAP-1233 or send an e-mail to gethelp@IllinoisLAP.org.