| THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION A. WELCOME TO OLAP VOLUNTEERSThis handbook is prepared for you as peer volunteers with the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP) to provide you with the information you need to carry out your responsibilities and to help you to know where to find answers to your questions and concerns. We value the contribution of volunteers. Indeed, there would be no program without you, the volunteers. It is your efforts that make the program one of truly “lawyers helping lawyers”. Your knowledge of the profession and its pressures combined with your personal experiences makes this a unique and powerful way to help. It is our goal to provide help when there is need. However, a major focus of OLAP is prevention of problems and dealing with small problems before they become major issues. Our emphasis on wellness and balance reflects this focus. Peer volunteers make a commitment to CONFIDENTIALITY. This is an essential component of the program and without this assurance many lawyers would not request the help they need. OLAP volunteers are exempt from rules of reporting misconduct to the Law Society under Section 6.01(3) Rules of Professional Conduct. The exception for OLAP volunteers states that they are exempt from reporting “save for serious misconduct or criminal activity related to the lawyer’s practice.” A copy of rule 6 is in the appendix B. As peer volunteers you work closely with OLAP staff, Volunteer Executive Director, John Starzynski and Program Manager, Leota Embleton. You will also work with other volunteers as well as those who need help. If in doubt about a situation or what to suggest there is always support available. Your comments and opinions are important to us. Please keep us informed of your suggestions and your challenges. We hope that you will find the experience of volunteering a rewarding one. We look forward to working with you.905-238-1740 Office Location: 5025 Orbitor Drive, Bldg 2, Suite 220
B. A BIT OF HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF OLAPLawyers and judges have read the testimonials printed in publications and have asked for information about the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program. Some have asked why an organization such as OLAP with its Peer Volunteers and access to counselling, assessment and treatment is necessary. Most of us have known someone in our life who has experienced serious personal problems who would have benefited from counselling and support. In fact, alcohol abuse and addiction, clinical depression, stress, burnout, personal and family problems are all too common in today’s world. Most of us know someone who has had these problems, maybe even a law partner or a member of our own family. Maybe even yourself. Most legal practitioners, judges included, will suffer a serious impairment in the course of a legal career. Lawyers and judges are three times as likely as the general population to become addicted to alcohol. We are three times more likely to become clinically depressed and six times as likely to commit suicide. Over half of all serious discipline complaints involve lawyers who have mental health or addiction issues. The Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program Lawyers helping Lawyers began as the Ontario Bar Alcoholism Program (1978) and the founding lawyers were committed to helping other lawyers who were struggling with alcohol and/or drug abuse and they had a strong commitment to self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. OLAP has grown over the years with peer volunteers who can offer help with a range of experiences and self help knowledge. OLAP has a permanent professional staff with clinical qualifications in counselling and addiction. OLAP can help you find the help you need—assessments, treatment, rehabilitation. We work with other sources of help available through the Law Society of Upper Canada, Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company, Ontario Bar Association, and the Legal Profession Assistance Conference. Our Peer Volunteers are lawyers and judges who live in the real world and have found solutions and recovery from their own problems. The caller has the support and benefit of talking to another lawyer who “has been here” and understands and will listen to what the caller is going through. For over 25 years we have found that the power of our program is described in the motto “Lawyers Helping Lawyers” Our peer support volunteers truly make a difference. There are many roles that a Volunteer may take on. They may accompany a caller to self-help group such as Alcoholics Anonymous, listen and provide encouragement, provide suggestions for resources or professional help, write articles about their personal struggles to help others, or present at seminars or conferences. In all cases, our volunteers share experience, strength and hope. Our volunteers respect the confidentiality of those they speak with and we provide training for them to increase awareness of resources and help available. We are sometimes asked if these issues are getting worse in the modern world. Many of the problems we face have been with us for centuries. Other problems such as stress, burnout, isolation and alienation appear to be increasing. Happily, awareness within the legal profession is growing so that help can be made available before problems become overwhelming. Certainly, the lives and careers of many judges and lawyers have been saved through the help available from the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program. John G. Starzynski Leota Embleton C. WHY AN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM? THE PURPOSE OF A LAWYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IS TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF PERSONAL DISTRESS AMONG MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION The Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP) reflects the commitment and acknowledges the responsibility of the legal profession to assist its members—lawyers, judges, law students and their families—who experience personal and/or professional distress. We live in a world of rapid change. Law practice is an exacting profession. In this competitive and stress filled world of rapid change, practicing law carries many challenges. The pressures can take a toll on personal and professional life. Illness, burnout, chronic stress, marital conflict, alcohol or drug misuse/dependency and other difficulties may affect lawyers and those around them. There are many ways to get help and one of the most effective is through lawyers helping lawyers programs. The help and encouragement of a peer can be very empowering. Research has shown that getting help early can prevent small problems from becoming large problems. The role of the volunteer lawyer is very important and OLAP is the key to finding the right help for problems, to preventing problems and to maintaining wellness and balance.
OLAP UNDERSTANDS LAWYERS. OLAP REACHES OUT TO LAWYERS.
Legal Profession Assistance Conference (LPAC) |Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) | Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia (BCLAP) | Nova Scotia Lawyers Assistance Program (NSLAP) | Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) | The Lawyers Assistance Program (LINK) | The Alberta Lawyers Assistance Program | Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (Saskatchewan) | The Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company (LawPRO) | Law Practice Consulting |
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