Lawyers Helping Lawyers

• Citation: Vol. 37 No. 3
• Year: 2025

LAWYERS HELPING LAWYERS

Vol. 37 Issue 3 Pg. 11

South Carolina Lawyer

December, 2025

Going to the Source: LHL at CoLAP 2025

BY BETH PADGETT, LHL DIRECTOR

Each year in early autumn members of the Lawyers Helping Lawyers team head to the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs Annual Conference for three days of education, fellowship, and restoration. This year's conference was held in mid-September on the waterfront in Portsmouth, Virginia with some events a quick passenger ferry ride away in Norfolk. The first day is called "Director's Day'' though each Director usually brings one or two team members. For me, DD is the best because it encompasses education, fellowship and restoration. We hear a bit about what other state programs are doing and make notes to ourselves to contact particular LAP staffers for more information. We spend time with these colleagues discovering how and why they came to this field. It's a place where we all feel seen, heard, and supported. A couple of our colleagues are in charge of the program each year. The remainder of us get to follow their guidance and eat the lunch and snacks provided from a local cafe. We don't have to do much thinking or problem-solving, and there is absolutely no worrying allowed! By the end of the day we feel delightfully human.

We debriefed our CoLAP 2025 experience as soon as we returned to the office to capture the benefits of the trip. Here's our top 10 list:

1. S.C. Bar LHL Team members play well with others. We can use that energy intentionally in all our work.

2. Face-to-face beats Zoom any day.

3. LAP workers gladly share work products with each other. We need to leverage that!

4. LAP workers are deeply compassionate and nonjudgmental. LAP work is a calling. Treat it accordingly every day.

5. If we need a new idea for a CLE we will call Massachusetts, Oregon, or Indiana (or one of the other 47 state programs).

6. 40,000 lawyers participated in the Krill lawyer well-being survey contrasted with 13,000 in 2015. A gamechanger! Multiple articles will be published in 2026 and programing for prevention and intervention and treatment will follow.

7. We will become intentional about staying in touch with our colleagues throughout the year. Maybe invite a couple LAP staffers to South Carolina to participate in a CLE.

8. We will attend next year's conference with specific goals in mind for advancing our program.

9. We have great support from our Bar. Court, and volunteers! Maybe the greatest!

10. S.C. LHL stacks up nicely with other states, but we can and will continue to do more.

Lawyers Helping Lawyers is Now Powered by CuraLinc Healthcare!

We're excited to share that the Lawyers Helping Lawyers program is now proudly administered by CuraLinc Healthcare! This transition ensures you continue to receive the trusted support you've always known-now enhanced with expanded services, new lines of care, and access to a robust digital platform and mobile app designed to make support more accessible than ever.

Lawyers Helping Lawyers provides confidential services to all South Carolina law students, lawyers, and judges who are experiencing challenges due to stress, depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and other mental illnesses and emotional problems. You can reach Beth Padgett at 803-240-6526, Briana Suhr at 803-978-1190 and Frances Brown Anderson at 803-576-3781.

All services provided by Lawyers Helping Layers are confidential.