Vol. 34, No. 6, 8. An Insider's View.

• Author: by Sleeter C. Dover, Esq. Executive Director, Wyoming State Bar

Wyoming Bar Journal

2011.

Vol. 34, No. 6, 8.

An Insider's View

Wyoming LawyerIssue: December, 2011An Insider's Viewby Sleeter C. Dover, Esq. Executive Director, Wyoming State BarI find that one of the most ironic attributes of lawyers is that they are often so very hard-headed, stubborn, unyielding and driven, that they not only make life hard on others on occasion, but more often than not, make life even harder on themselves, their co-workers, family and friends. This is not some egg-headed psychological dissertation or observation espoused to enhance the day-to-day notion of lay persons that lawyers are the bane of life's existence. No, this is a proven fact exemplified daily in the professional and personal wreckage of far too many lawyer friends and colleagues. Who among us can truly say that they have not seen or at least heard of a colleague or two who have fallen into the very pit of despair or physical deterioration? I dare say that the number of those among us that has not in some manner come into contact with just such a depressing scenario are very, very few indeed.

Hopefully without sounding too condescending or paternalistic, I happily report to you that over the past two to three years, your Board of Officers and Commissioners (OandC) has been constantly discussing and seeking ways and means to offer assistance to the general membership at large, both with the goal of preventing and treating the maladies associated with the legal profession. Of particular note, the OandC has struggled with the concept of going beyond just assistance to our individual membership. How can we provide some type of extension of our concern and care for those family members of attorneys that must often bear the brunt of the results of the stressors that member attorneys bring home at the end of the day?

Of additional interest was and is the desire and intent of the OandC to extend the concept and efforts to protect the public at large and the legal system itself by assisting those attorneys that have fallen into the clutches of substance abuse and other debilitating stressors that negatively impact the profession and the system as a whole. In essence, it is the goal of the Officers and Commissioners to expand the benefits and assistance limited historically to those members suffering from personal and workplace impacts of...