THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Adversity

Late Saturday night, Andrew sat in his office staring into space and reflecting on his first year of practice. He and Bill had been hired for base salary plus a percentage of  billings collected. Bill did real estate work and did well. Andrew was promised criminal work which should mean good billings with quick file turnover. However, when Andrew started, he was given family law files to finish for clients of minority background. As he was himself of diverse origin with darker skin, clients would be “more comfortable” with him. He got all the family work for the firm’s diverse clientele but no criminal law. He was told not to bill some work as it would be lumped in with other billings. His portion would be adjusted. It had not been.

Andrew’s self confidence dwindled. He was not sleeping, had chest and back pains, felt tense, sad and fatigued and had silent jags of tears. But, daily, he put on his lawyer face and did his job. Surely, he could not be ill. He had a lot of responsibility. He was a professional.

One day, Bill found Andrew in a bout of tears and spoke to him as a friend, giving him OLAP’s number. Bill had successfully worked with an OLAP volunteer for his alcohol problem. Andrew called for help.

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