LAP dinner speaker bet everything, and lost

By Stephen Anderson

The successful outreach of the Lawyers’ Assistance Program into new areas of service resulted in a 22 percent increase in the number of cases opened during the 2007-08 year.

In addition to broadening its scope beyond alcohol and substance dependencies, to mental health problems and compulsive disorders such as gambling, LAP became a certified MCLE provider for seminars that were attended by 14,000 lawyers last year.

While the organization has reason to celebrate its achievements during the annual dinner next month, the reality is that the growing need for services is exceeding the supply of staff and volunteer hours for fulfillment.

The establishment of a secure funding base in 2002 - the $7 fee collected annually through the attorney registration process - signaled stability for LAP’s mission, but it has turned out to be inadequate for growing responsibilities.

The issues will be on the minds of participants in the dinner on Friday, Oct. 17, in the Palmer House Hilton, where new officers will be installed and exceptional volunteers will be honored. Call (312) 726-6607 for reservations or information about LAP services.

The keynote speaker will be former Michigan attorney Michael J. Burke, who chronicled his insidious personal compulsions in a book, “Never Enough: One Lawyer’s True Story of How He Gambled His Career Away.”

Proceeds from sales of the book, published by the American Bar Association, help Burke provide restitution to the clients whose trust accounts he tapped to squander $1.6 million on drinking and gambling.

Also wasted were the three years he spent in prison and the position of respect he had enjoyed with his wife, his two daughters and the community in which he practiced law for 25 years.

According to Burke, he started gambling after seeking treatment for alcoholism – trading one addiction for another. He says 18 percent of lawyers have similar problems, compared with 10 percent of the general population.

The Lawyers’ Assistance Program was established in 1980 by the Illinois State Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association to help such lawyers and judges deal confidentially with addictions.

In 2001-02, the year before LAP began to receive regular funding, 68 new cases were opened. Last year, 272 new cases were opened, up from 222 in 2006-07 and 190 in 2005-06.

The staff six years ago consisted of two full-time employees. Today, two full-time and two part-time staff members handle four times as many cases and try to meet an unexpected demand for free training and education programs.

“LAP is faced with financial challenges because our level of activity now requires an additional staff position … that our current budget cannot support,” said executive director Janet Piper Voss in the LAP annual report.

“We continue our vision as we look for practical solutions to enable our progress to continue.”