THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

John Starzynski

The Ontario Lawyers' Assistance Program (OLAP) began in 1978 with two lawyers who had struggled to achieve sobriety. They set out to help other lawyers on a volunteer basis. OLAP now has over 100 volunteers throughout Ontario who help other lawyers with many issues including mental health, stress, suicide prevention and addictions. Over 1,000 lawyers are assisted each year to find the help they need – practices improved, relationships and careers salvaged and lives saved.

John Starzynski is the Volunteer Executive Director of OLAP. Since 1996 John has reached out to many judges, lawyers and law students through his presentations, workshops, written material and individual contacts. John contributes regularly to the Ontario Lawyers Gazette and his articles are reprinted in this booklet.  The experiences are real, the names are not. 

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.

John Starzynski is a tireless promoter of OLAP.  In between his many presentations, John finds the time to write many articles on OLAP as well as issues specific to the legal profession.

John has published two booklets - Experiences of Lawyers Helping Lawyers Volume 1 and Experiences of Lawyers Helping Lawyers Volume 2.

To access John's articles, simply click on the desired topic in the list below.

Articles

• How Do I Know I Need Help?
• Law Firms Can Help Lawyers Deal With Depression
• Resilience
• Do I Think and Act Like a Lawyer or a Normal Person?
• OLAP Providing No Cost Counseling to the Profession
• Life and the Practice of Law After Suffering a Professional Burnout
• Resilience (originally published in TLOMA Today)
• Teaching Lawyers to be in the Now- (originally published in the January 29, 2010 issue of the Lawyer's Weekly)
• The Imposter Syndrome- (originally published in the Lawyer's Weekly)
• Overcoming Negativity - (originally published in the Lawyer's Weekly)

Experiences of Lawyers Helping Lawyers Vol 1

• Finding balance between your personal and professional lives
• Volunteering- Lawyers Helping Lawyers
  -How Can I Help?
• Mental Health
  -Depression
        -What Should I Do?
        -A Lawyer's Journey Through Peaks and Valleys
        -I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can
        -My Name is Bob
  -Stress / Anxiety
        -Alone? Lonely? Isolated?
        -What Else Can Go Wrong?
        -Personal and Confidential
• Eating Disorders
  -Suffering for Appearance's Sake
  -I'm Fed Up With My Life
  -I Lived To Eat- a Lawyer's Story
• Diversity
  -The Glass Ceiling
  -Who Will Be There For Me?
  -Where Do I Go For Help?
• Suicide / Suicide Prevention
  -In The Downward Spiral
  -Down But Not Out
  -This Lawyer Will Be Missed
• Relationships
  -A Letter To My Lawyer Spouse
• Addiction
  - A Drowning Lawyer Gets A Chance
  -You Think I Drink Too Much
  -Just Say NO
  -Sober and a Top Practitioner
  -It's Only Marijuana
  -Are You a Workaholic
  

Experiences of Lawyers Helping Lawyers Vol 2

• Lawyers Helping Lawyers
  -Adversity
  -Assistance, Mentorship, and OLAP
  -Giving Back- OLAP Purveyors of Hope
  -Keeping The Profession in Top Shape
  -OLAP Problem Overview
  -Personal and Confidential
  -Personal Life as a Profession
  -Professional Regulation, Personal Management
  -Red Mass Speech- Speech to Thomas Moore Society
  -Trying to Keep Up
  -What Can You Call OLAP For?
  -Who Will Be There For Me?
• Stress
  -A Checklist for Balance
  -Balance At Any Age
  -Collegiality Can Equal Friendship
  -Coping When You Are On Your Own
  -Focusing During Stress
  -Setting Boundaries
  -Surviving Being Sued or the Complaint Process
  -Tips for Wellness and Balance for the Sole Practitioner
• Addictions and Mental Health
  -Burnout- What is it and what to do about it
  -At the end of your rope? How to deal with stress
  -How do I know if my co-worker is depressed?
  -Alcohol and you
  -Getting a handle on money
  -Should I ask for help?
  -Workaholism
  -Resilience
• Resources

BACK TO ARTICLES PAGE

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