THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Sober and a Top Practitioner

In a dozen years of practicing law, Phillip had attracted a loyal national, and international clientele, producing substantial annual billings with an income at the top of the profession. Apart from his role as a lawyer and as a single parent, he had no personal life. It would never have occurred to any client, friend or family member to describe Phillip as an alcoholic. If someone had made such an allegation, his clients, friends, colleagues and judges of the profession would have been outraged at such a slur and they would have defended Phillip and his reputation.

Unknown to anyone other than himself, Phillip would put in a full day at the office, come home and make supper for the children and put them to bed. When they were in bed by nine o’clock, he would begin to drink and would routinely consume the equivalent of six ounces of hard liquor each and every evening. Drunk by his own bed time, he would go to sleep to repeat the same process the following day. Over the three years between age thirty-five and thirty-eight, Phillip’s drinking would become more systemic, and it would increase to the twelve ounce per day level. Drinking would become more important in his life and he would plan vacations and time off around opportunities to drink. Although aware that any consumption of alcohol in excess of five or six ounces per day was a serious health hazard, Phillip would block out this knowledge and convince himself that his drinking was a suitable cure for his loneliness, lack of self-fulfillment, pain from arthritis or any other excuse he could rationalize and justify.

Occasionally, Phillip would go on the wagon and abstain from alcohol. He noticed that he rarely lasted as long as he had planned. As soon as he did resume drinking, he would revert to his previous level of consumption within days. He believed that he couldn’t have a drinking problem, however, since he never suffered withdrawal symptoms.

On return from a week long vacation in which he drank constantly, Phillip allowed himself to see where he was going and the dangers he was taking with his health and with his life. After delaying for several weeks, he contacted the Ontario Lawyers’ Assistance Program and left his name and telephone number. Within an hour, three lawyers contacted him by telephone and one agreed to meet with him the following day.

The next day Phillip met with Jim, a lawyer who had been sober for over twelve months following years of heavy drinking that had cost him dearly and nearly resulted in his expulsion from the profession. Jim talked about his compulsion to drink and Phillip quickly understood the similarities in his own drinking pattern. Jim offered a perfect example of where Phillip was going and Phillip realized that his decision to remain sober temporarily would have to become permanent. Phillip joined a self-help recovery group and began a program of personal recovery that put him in contact with other recovering sober alcoholics in the legal profession and elsewhere. Ten years later, Phillip is sober, healthy, happy and he is a top practitioner.

OLAP provides ongoing volunteer peer support to lawyers, judges and law students who suffer from addiction, eating disorders, stress and mental illness. If you are depressed to the point of suicide or know of someone that you are concerned about, do not hesitate to call.

(November/December 1997)

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