Laughter on the 18th floor. It’s a coffee break, right?
Wrong. It’s a light-hearted moment in a heavy-hearted discussion at the Lawyers’ Assistance Program office. It’s the weekly meeting of lawyers who are facing depression and want to interface with kindred souls.
The area of psychological problems among lawyers and law students is a current focus that officers and staff of LAP were not able to address in years past. Funds simply were not available until the modest $7 annual assessment was applied in 2002 to registered lawyers.
LAP reported last year that for the first time in its 29-year history, the number of lawyers impaired by psychological problems such as depression had surpassed the number who were dependent on alcohol or drugs.
The upward trend is reflected in LAP’s annual compilations of problems of lawyers who seek help voluntarily or as the result of interventions.
Executive director Janet Piper Voss wrote in the 2008 report that LAP helped 44 percent more legal professionals than in the previous year. She’ll cite current experience in her presentation to the ISBA Assembly on June 27.
“We saw more complex issues than in the past,” she reported, “and we added some new services to meet the needs of our clients.”
In the fiscal year ending in June 2006, LAP opened 190 cases; 93 of them involved psychological issues, including 40 with depression and five with suicide ideation or attempts.
In fiscal 2007, the 222 opened cases involved 103 with psychological issues. Among them were 45 with depression and six with suicide ideation or attempts.
In fiscal 2008, among 272 new cases, 142 involving psychological issues included 75 with depression but only one with suicide ideation.
Through April of the current year, the partial numbers were 183 cases, 110 psychological, 50 with depression and six with suicide ideation or attempts. One suicide was reported.
As more lawyers are laid off, many others face the stress of heavier workloads, longer hours and fears of client cutbacks. Career issues that are beyond control cause a continuum that begins with sleeplessness and continues through substance dependencies and despair.
“More people are coming to LAP,” Voss said recently. Of 183 cases opened in nine recent months, 127 of the new clients were self-referrals. Requests for interventions are comparatively lower, but relapses are a growing problem.
Weekly facilitated group encounters are held in the LAP office. One involves six lawyers who have experienced depression. Two others are 12-step recovery sessions attended by a total of 25 people.
The organization has come a long way since it was incorporated in 1980 by the Illinois State Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association. Essential confidentiality and immunity were provided by Illinois Supreme Court rules.
Volunteers, some of whom were recovering alcoholics, became committed to step in with assistance to colleagues whose legal careers were jeopardized by addictions.
With support from the Supreme Court and legislation that created the Lawyers’ Assistance Program Act seven years ago, LAP could begin budgeting with stable funding.
The annual fees are collected by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and handled by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.
LAP was able to open an office in the Metro East area in 2003, and in 2004, after sharing space with the ISBA in Chicago for several years, moved into independent offices on the 18th floor at 20 S. Clark St.
With yet a small complement of only two full-time staff and two part-time employees, LAP has greatly expanded its facilitated group counseling, clinical recovery efforts, training for volunteers, and pertinent legal education programs around the state for lawyers, judges and law students.
LAP will hold its annual awards and installation dinner on Friday, Oct. 30, in Chicago. Former Illinois attorney general James Ryan of Wheaton will be keynote speaker.
For more information about the program or volunteer opportunities, call Voss at (312) 726-6607 or access www.illinoislap.org. For immediate assistance, call (800) LAP-1233 toll-free or e-mail gethelp@illinoislap.org.