Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession Ross Fishman Marketing Ethics CLE

© 2019 Ross Fishman
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Ross Fishman
ross@fishmanmarketing.com
fishmanmarketing.com/blog
© 2019 Fishman Marketing, Inc.

LANDMARK NATIONAL
SURVEY

© 2019 Ross Fishman© 2019 Ross Fishman
The landmark 2016 survey
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and ABA
National questionnaire
– 12,825 attorneys, 19 states
10 questions
– 3 objective Qs re how much/often they drink
– 7 subjective Qs re “failure”
To meet expectations, caused an injury,
drank more than intended, needed a drink to
function, felt guilty, had friends express concerns…

Statistics Cited:
“The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental
Health Concerns Among American Attorneys,” 2016
– Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation/the ABA Commission
on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP)
“Survey of Lawyer Assistance Programs”
– ABA, CoLAP, 2014
“Helping Law Students Get the Help They Need,”
– The Bar Examiner, Dec. 2015
SCR Intervention

WHAT IS ADDICTION?

Addiction is a Brain Disease
Addiction overwhelms the brain’s normal
functioning
– Regulation
– Control
– Processing
Not a weakness, choice, or character flaw
– Significant genetic component
– Less stigma than before

LET’S TAKE A QUICK POLL:

Question
What percent of the general population
experiences drug or alcohol (substance) abuse?
– <10%
– 20
– 30%
– 40%
– 50%

Question
What percent of the legal profession
experiences drug or alcohol (substance) abuse?
– <10%
– 20
– 30%
– 40%
– 50%

Question
What group of lawyers has the
highest level of substance abuse?
– 1-10 years of practice
– 11-20 years of practice
– 21+ years

THE TROUBLING STATISTICS

The problem – lawyers overall
What percent of licensed lawyers
have problems with drinking?
Substantial problem drinking among licensed attorneys.

Self Reporting of Mental Health Concerns
Lawyers have much higher rates of problem
drinking (and mental health problems)
– 21% of lawyers scored as problem drinkers
– 12% of “highly educated workforce” overall
Three times the 6.4% national rate!

ABA/Hazelden-Betty Ford Study –
Problematic Drinking

Other mental health data
Lawyers and
– Depression
– Anxiety
– Suicide
Men vs. women

Question
Do lawyers have more or less substance abuse
than medical professionals?
– More than doctors?
– Less than doctors?

CLE - Substance abuse and mental health
This program qualifies for Mental Health CLE
Formerly offered, empty classes
– Attendance was a clue…
Increasingly becoming mandatory
– Helping the afflicted get info and help

States requiring substance abuse CLE
Ten states as of 2016:
– California
– Florida
– Illinois
– Nevada
– New Hampshire
– North Carolina
– Ohio
– Pennsylvania
– South Carolina
– West Virginia
Expect most states to add this requirement to
match the ABA’s updated model rules
– Check your state: http://tinyw.in/UFD8

LAW STUDENT STATISTICS

The ABA Survey of Law Student Well-Being
Measured alcohol use, drug use, and
mental health issues among law students
15 law schools
– 3,300 law students

53% of law students drank enough to get
drunk in the prior 30 days
30% of law students binge drank at least
once in the prior two weeks
Substantial problem drinking

Mental health issues
– More than 1 in 6 students have depression
– Nearly 1 in 4 have anxiety
20% have thought seriously about suicide

Why don’t law students seek help?
• Barriers to seeking treatment
• Concerns:
• Threat to bar admission ― 63%
• Threat to job or academic status ― 62%
• HALF felt hiding the problem increased
chance of bar admission
– And 72% of the more serious abusers

Question
Would LCA Fellows have a higher or lower
percentage of substance abuse?
Leaders in the profession
– Gifted at this work
– More likely to be satisfied if you’re great
But cases are bigger

WHY IS THIS SUCH A
PROBLEM FOR LAWYERS?

Question
What is it about Law that leads
to such increased stress?

Why do lawyers have this problem?
Law firms are stressful environments
– Increases risk of developing a substance-use disorder
– Conflict and competition are normal
– External sources of conflict and competition
Opposing counsel, judges, clients
– Internal conflict, competitions b/w firm’s lawyers
– Clients are stressed, unhappy
Anxious, mad, loss
Unrealistic expectations of results

Law firms don’t model positive behaviors
Help-seeking behavior disincentivized
Personal well-being activities not emphasized
– Who has time?

Question
How many firms have minimum
billable requirements?
How many require associates to bill:
– 1800?
– 2000?
– 2200?
When do they have time to stay healthy?
When can they seek help?

Question
Who has a no-alcohol policy
at firm events?

THE RISKS CAUSED
BY SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The business case for taking action
Malpractice avoidance
Ethical concerns
Firm image
Client satisfaction, quality service
Culture and morale
Attorney retention
– Turnover costs
Health care costs

SYMPTOMS OF A PROBLEM

Symptoms of substance-abuse problems
Missing obligations
– Work, school, or home
Repeated absences or tardiness
Declining performance
Neglect of important duties
Drug-related legal problems, DUIs
Hiding alcohol bottles from friends, spouse

Question
Think ― Who do you suspect at their firm
might have a problem?
Is anyone doing anything about it?
– Whose job would it be?

Question
Who evaluates the mental health
of their young lawyers?

Question
Who has an active Assistance Program
in their firm to
– Identify people with problems and
– Get them help?

GETTING HELP

Early identification is key
Lawyers don’t seek help because they fear
someone will find out and affect their license
Early treatment yields better results
By the time an attorney is referred to
a program, they are severely impaired
which may negatively impact the outcome

Suggestions for firms
Acknowledge the issues
Assess your firm’s culture, values
Create / evaluate policy and practice
Invest in education, training, guidance, support
Change
Measure progress

ABA’s “Well-Being Template”
Create an in-house initiative
Written policy, standards, expectations
– “encourage all personnel to use accrued leave time,
consider flexible work schedules, and eliminate
artificial deadlines while continuing to provide
competent, diligent representation”

ABA’s “Well-Being Template”
Train everyone, lawyers and staff
– Acknowledge the problem exists at every firm
– Ensure your firm’s commitment
– Identify your contact person
If they have a problem or suspect someone else
Ensure complete confidentiality
“Well-Being Template for Legal Employers”
– Download: http://tinyw.in/ca2L

LAWYER ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS (LAP’S)

Lawyer Assistance Programs (LAPs)
Lawyers have a unique culture
Social, personality, and work factors lead to
higher rates of problematic drinking
These may benefit from specialized treatment
programs

LAPs are designed to maintain confidentiality
and protect lawyers from negative
professional consequences for seeking and
receiving addiction treatment

All 50 states have an LAP
Most are underfunded and understaffed
– 12 LAPs do not have paid staff, just volunteers
– Half use volunteers to respond to initial inquiries
Half have budget of <$200,000
– Nine are <$50,000

Funding is needed
LAPs need real funding
– Outreach, screenings, counseling, peer assistance,
support groups, monitoring, preventive education
Create assistance fund for lawyers who
can’t afford treatment

Recovery Among Legal Professionals
LAPs have reputation for confidentiality:
– 80% of law students believed a conversation
with a LAP would stay confidential
– 58% believed it would stay confidential with
their dean of students
LAPs are often run by lawyers and judges
– Empathize with the lawyers’ situation and stress

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
For more information:
Hazeldenbettyford.org

Fishman Marketing, Inc. | 1356 St. Johns Ave | Highland Park, IL 60035 USA | T 847.432.3546 (847-HEADLINE) | ross@fishmanmarketing.com
fishmanmarketing.com
As CEO of Fishman Marketing, Inc., Ross Fishman
helps law, accounting, and other professional-services
firms dominate their chosen markets and generate rev-
enue. Regularly hired to rebrand prominent firms or
overhaul their websites, Ross is known internationally for
strategic marketing and differentiation, and the develop-
ment of the profession’s most-effective marketing materi-
als. Fishman Marketing has launched successful market-
ing initiatives for 200 firms from Istanbul to Iceland.
Fishman Marketing branding campaigns have received
countless international marketing awards, including na-
tional first-place honors from the Legal Marketing As-
sociation 17 consecutive years, for marketing that was
both innovative as well as revenue producing. Fishman
Marketing received the LMA’s grand prize, the optional
Best of Show award, five of the ten times ever presented.
FM programs also received one of Inc. magazine’s ten
Marketing Masters awards for “brilliant and successful”
marketing.
Recipient of the LMA’s first peer-selected Lifetime
Achievement award (1998), Ross was also the first legal
marketer inducted into the LMA’s international Hall of
Fame. In 2016, Ross was selected for the prestigious Law-
dragon 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists, one of
just ten international marketers “whom lawyers most val-
ued for their guidance.”
A Fellow of both the College of Law Practice Manage-
ment and the Litigation Counsel of America, Ross is
known as an “educational and entertaining” presenter
who has keynoted more than 300 retreats, training, and
Ethics CLE programs on six continents — including
once presenting on three continents within 24 hours. A
prolific, award-winning writer, Ross has published 250
thought-provoking articles, including five monthly col-
umns, and has sat on the editorial board of five national
magazines. His popular “The Ultimate Law Firm Associ-
ate’s Marketing Checklist” book sold nearly 2,000 copies
in the very first month in print. (Subscribe to his pithy
blog at fishmanmarketing.com/blog.)
An active LMA member since 1990, Ross has been LMA’s
Vice President; chair of its Ethics Task Force (2012-2015);
a member of both the Strategic Planning and Best Prac-
tice Task Forces; and founder, chair, and moderator of
seven LMA QuickStart conferences for new marketers.
He also created and hosted “Just JDs,” LMA’s first full-
day national conference for lawyers. Ross has been the
expert legal marketing witness in three precedent-setting
branding- and social media-related lawsuits.
Ross was a commercial litigator before moving to Win-
ston & Strawn to practice marketing full-time, later
becoming Marketing Partner of Ungaretti & Harris.
A 1986 member of the federal Trial Bar (N.D. Ill), he
received a B.A. in Speech Communications, cum laude,
from the University of Illinois, and his J.D. from Emory
Law School.
ROSS FISHMAN, J.D.
“Ross has a stronger sense of
what will create ‘buzz’ than
anyone else in the market.”
Rick Klau, Google, Inc.
“Ross was going to win in so many
categories that LMA created the ‘Best
in Show’ so he’d win one grand prize
instead of nearly all the trophies”
LMA’s “In The Loop,” Fall 2009
“Of Counsel” magazine wrote:
“Many people consider Ross to be the nation’s foremost expert on law firm marketing.”
Blog: RossFishman.com LinkedIn.com/in/rossfishman Google.com/profiles/rossfishman123 Twitter.com/rossfishman

THERE’S NO ONE IN MARKETING
MORE IMAGINATIVE.
MICHAEL FREEBORN, MANAGING PARTNER
FREEBORN & PETERS, CHICAGO
… A MAJOR CREATIVE TALENT.
HE DOESN’T JUST ANALYZE —
HE EXECUTES.
DIANE HAMLIN, FORMER CMO
FENWICK & WEST, PALO ALTO, CA
… AN INNOVATOR,
CONSISTENTLY DISCOVERING
THE NEXT LEVEL OF MARKETING.
WILLIAM HORNSBY, STAFF COUNSEL
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
…CREATIVE, PERCEPTIVE —AND,
MOST IMPORTANTLY — PATIENT.
ROD HEARD, MARKETING PARTNER
WILDMAN HARROLD, CHICAGO
YOUR EFFORTS
WERE EXCEPTIONAL.
ERIC N. MACEY, MANAGING PARTNER
NOVACK AND MACEY, CHICAGO
… THE BEST MARKETING
PRODUCT AROUND.
STEVEN BORKAN, MARKETING PARTNER
STELLATO & SCHWARTZ, CHICAGO
…BEYOND
STRATEGIC MARKETING,
ROSS TAKES
A FIRM’S MARKETING
FROM POLYESTER
TO BROOKS BROTHERS.
JOHN BUCKLEY, LITIGATION PARTNER
UNGARETTI & HARRIS, CHICAGO
… ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST,
MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE
IN THE BUSINESS.
NANCY MYRLAND
MYRLAND MARKETING, INDIANAPOLIS
… AMONG THE ELITE
MARKETERS WHO REALLY KNOW
WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT.
MARK T. GREENE
O’MELVENY & MYERS, WASHINGTON DC
ROSS GOT THE FIRM EXCITED,
CREATED THE BUZZ,
AND GOT RESULTS!
COURTNEY COLOMBO, MARKETING MANAGER
SANDBERG, PHOENIX, ST. LOUIS
Fishman Marketing, Inc. | 1356 St. Johns Ave | Highland Park, IL 60035 USA | T 847.432.3546 (847-HEADLINE) | ross@fishmanmarketing.com
fishmanmarketing.com

Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession Ross Fishman Marketing Ethics CLE

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Substance Abuse in the Legal Profession Ross Fishman Marketing Ethics CLE