Impaired Lawyers Can Find Confidential Assistance from Clhl

• Publication year: 2004
• Pages: 41
• Citation: Vol. 33 No. 4 Pg. 41

33 Colo.Law. 41 Colorado Lawyer 2004.

2004, April, Pg. 41. Impaired Lawyers Can Find Confidential Assistance from CLHL

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41

Vol. 33, No. 4, Pg. 41

The Colorado Lawyer
April 2004
Vol. 33, No. 4 [Page 41]

Departments
Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers:
Impaired Lawyers Can Find Confidential Assistance from CLHL
by John Holt

Articles in this quarterly department are presented by Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers (formerly known as the Colorado Lawyers Health Program). Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers is a program approved by the Colorado Supreme Court It is a volunteer-based, independent, non-profit lawyers' assistance program providing statewide confidential peer support and resource/referral information to all Colorado attorneys, judges, and family members who are dealing with substance and alcohol abuse, mental health issues, and other destructive behaviors or impairments. For questions or comments, please call: (303) 832-2233 or (800) 432-0977 Those interested in contributing an article on lawyers and mental health/substance abuse problems should contact Frances Smylie Brown at (303) 620-4888 or frances.brown@state.co.us

In the January 2004 column, Joan Mounteer discussed the pernicious effect that depression can have on lawyers.1 Lawyers are reputed to have the highest rate of depression among professionals. In addition to depression and other mental health issues, alcohol and substance abuse are prevalent in the legal profession. This column focuses on how the profession has responded to the needs of lawyers suffering from alcoholism, substance abuse, and mental illness. First, a word about Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers.

Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers

Addictions experts generally agree that peer support is an important component of sustainable recovery. Colorado has offered peer support to lawyers since 1993, when the Colorado Bar Association ("CBA") launched the Colorado Lawyers Health Program, Inc. ("CLHP") as a non-profit entity dedicated to helping lawyers deal with their alcohol, substance abuse, and mental health problems. Previously, the work in this area was handled by a CBA committee known as the Committee on Alcohol and Related Concerns.

On February 17, 1993, the Colorado Supreme Court made CLHP an approved lawyers' assistance program, as defined in Rule 8.3(c) of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. Between 1999 and 2000, CLHP operated under the umbrella of the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel and was funded from a portion of the attorney registration fee. That relationship ended in December 2000, at which time CLHP resumed operations as an independent organization.

Financial support for CLHP originally came from the CBA and the CBA-endorsed professional liability insurance carrier. That support continues today. In 2003, Colorado Lawyers Health Program, Inc. was renamed Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers ("CLHL") to reduce the confusion between its services and those offered by health insurance providers.

The primary focus of CLHL is to offer confidential peer assistance, education, and outreach. Since its inception CLHL has provided peer assistance through...