THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

You think I Drink too Much? Look at What I do in a Day!

 Jan is a partner in a mid-sized law firm. A director of several large corporations, a past chair of a major charity, he has brought many important clients into the firm in his many years of practice. During law school, Jan was a constant drinker, eagerly attending the Friday afternoon “smokers,” being the last student to close the place down. Soon after his call to the Bar, Jan became a binge drinker - every three or four months, he would spend a long weekend at the cottage or a week in Florida drinking himself silly to relieve the pressure of work and to blow off a little steam and have fun, obviously. Jan eventually realized that he could not handle booze in public or around “the wife” so he always avoided drinking at the office or at home - except for the benders. Over time., however, the benders have become closer together and, in recent years, they happen monthly.

Jan’s partners have learned to cover for him--”he’s in hospital for tests” or “he’s away on vacation”. Part of this is true because Jan secretly checked himself into a southern hospital last year after a heavy bout of drinking. When he sobered up, he was in Chicago, not knowing why or how he got there. He was scared and thought there must be some physical problem to have caused such a blackout. But, he does not think he has a problem nor does he attribute his difficulties to alcohol. After all, “everyone he knows drinks just as much as him.” Of course they do--they are his drinking buddies who are all having the same problems with their work, bodies and relationships. Jan has cut off people who will not drink with him. His wife has stopped going anywhere with him because she is embarrassed about his behavior. His children never see him.

At the hospital, Jan was given a full physical examination plus his drinking patterns and amounts were discussed. He was told that he was an alcoholic with a fatal disease that, without treatment, will continue to deteriorate his body and mind. Jan knows that they were just trying to sell him a $10,000 28 day rehabilitation program that he doesn’t need. Anyway, he can quit anytime he wants to.

Unknown to Jan, his partners have been talking about exercising their right to expel him from the partnership, but no final decision has yet been made. Two negligence claims have recently been served on the firm because of Jan’s inability to complete files. Letters from the Law Society remain unopened on his desk. Jan’s wife has just told him that she is leaving. Jan’s solution to all this is to go on a world-class binge at home, his fortress, refusing to answer the door or the phone. He is into his tenth day of this tear.

Jan has a good friend at his firm. Philip knows the pain Jan is suffering because he has been helped to achieve sobriety. He calls the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Program. Within two hours, two senior lawyers and a judge who know Jan and are in recovery themselves enter the fortress and intervene to get Jan into treatment. Jan will eventually dry out, get back to work and try to piece his family back together. And he continues to have support from an OLAP peer volunteer. He learns to live one day at a time – sometimes 5 minutes at a time without a drink. It is hard but Jan will succeed!

If you are a Jan or know a Jan, please call OLAP for help .

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