IS THERE HELP FOR THE ALCOHOLIC LAWYER?

BY

ALISTAIR RHIND

INTERNATIONAL ADDICTION TREATMENT CONSULTANT

Alcoholism  is an illness. It is described as a chronic and progressive illness, which although incurable is highly receptive to expert intervention and help.

Each year thousands of Alcoholics in the UK alone enter rehabilitation and begin the long journey of recovery. A high percentage of the lucky few who receive the correct help are professionals and high achievers. Few Alcoholics are down and outs or jobless and homeless. Most are like you and I.

In any given company at least 10% of employees are active alcoholics. In a legal firm the percentage is likely to be as high as 24%.

In their publication “Drug, Alcohol abuse and Addiction in the Legal Profession”, The Canadian Bar Association advises:

“Millions across North America and worldwide suffer the effects of alcohol abuse and addiction. It is a disease that knows no social or economic barrier. Lawyers and judges are no exception. In fact, the legal profession has a rate of alcoholism significantly higher than the general adult population. Addiction to prescription and illegal drugs is much less common as alcoholism appears to account for 95% of addictions in lawyers and judges.

The recognition of alcoholism as a major health and personal problem within the legal profession has spurred many bar associations throughout North America to become involved with this issue over the course of the last two decades. The Canadian Bar Association and the American Bar Association have adopted recommendations urging provincial and state bar authorities to institute alcohol programs to assist in education, identification and rehabilitation. Lawyers Assistance Programs have now been established in all Canadian Provinces and in most American States.”

Britain  and the rest of Europe are lagging behind in our attitudes and policies in relation to Alcoholism. European Commerce and Industry in general, at best pays lip service to the view that Alcoholism is present in all companies; that it is an illness requiring specialist help for the sufferer and that it is a problem worthy of our considerable attention and care.

In the legal profession in Britain, the realities of Alcoholism seem largely ignored, as are the extreme Stressors inherent within the profession that undoubtedly contribute towards its development. It is this writers experience that the legal profession in the UK seem obliviously ignorant, in denial if you like, that the problem of Alcoholism is alive and thriving behind the closed doors of the legal establishment. It must therefore be effectively blind to the extent of the problem of Alcoholism and the inevitable effects it has on all sectors of the business.

Further evidence from the US and Canadian experience suggests that there is a correlation between malpractice and discipline. Studies have shown that over 60% of malpractice and discipline prosecutions have involved Alcoholism. A further recent study indicates that 90% of serious disciplinary matters involved Alcoholism. It is not hard to contemplate how Alcoholism might affect output to clients and whether unrecognized and untreated Alcoholics may put the Firm at risk from their inevitable tendency towards negligent work.