by Michael E. Kennedy, Esq.
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Odds are, we have a problem.
It is a problem that we must face. Some
of us must face the problem to ensure our
own health. Others of us must face the
problem to ensure the health of colleagues.
Together, we must face the problem to en-
sure a healthy and vibrant association.
I am referring to mental health disorders,
addiction and substance abuse, and cogni-
tive impairment related to aging.
This edition of the Journal includes ac-
counts of lawyers who have confronted
these problems. Amy Davis shared sever-
al vignettes shared by young lawyers who
have confronted depression and addiction.
Andy Delaney shared an intensely personal
story regarding alcohol.
Back to the odds: Andy and the lawyers
in Amy’s piece are not alone.
In February 2016, the American Bar As-
sociation and the Hazelden Betty Ford
Clinic released a study on attorney sub-
stance abuse & mental health. According
to a press release issued by the ABA, the
study found “substanti al and widespread
levels of problem drinking and other be-
havioral health problems in the U.S. legal
profession.” 1
The report opens with a “discussion”
section that lays out the numbers, albeit
in a wordy, scientific fashion. 2 Fortunate-
ly, our friends in the Granite State stated it
succinctly:
“Study: Lawyer Drinking
Rates Staggering”
That’s the title of an article that ran in the
February 2016 New Hampshire Bar Asso-
ciation’s Bar News. 3 The opening sentence
is as clear:
“Lawyers drink two to three times
more than physicians, and nearly three
times as much as the general popula-
tion, according to the results of a new
national study.”
Vermont did not participate in the ABA/
Hazelden study. However, I am not aware
of any reason to conclude that the problem
is any less staggering in Vermont than na-
tionally. Extrapolating from the ABA/Ha-
zelden study, if Vermont’s numbers mirror
those reported in the study, then approxi-
mately:
• 500 active Vermont attorneys are prob-
lem drinkers.
• 500 active Vermont attorneys exhibit
signs of problem anxiety.
• 720 active Vermont attorneys struggle
www.vtbar.org
with some level of depression.
Here’s a real number, not an extrapola-
tion: over the past two years, three Ver-
mont attorneys have taken their own lives.
Moreover, the PRB and its hearing panels
have seen a marked increase in the num-
ber of respondents who are facing mental
health and impairment issues.
We can no longer bury our heads. I un-
derstand the reluctance and I am familiar
with the thought process. These state-
ments might ring familiar:
• It’s not my business.
• I don’t know for sure, maybe she was
just having a bad day.
• It can’t be THAT bad. She’s getting her
work done.
• It helps my client that he isn’t doing his
job.
• The firm doesn’t need the bad public-
ity.
As bar counsel, I’ve blogged on the ABA/
Study 4 and on the extent to which sub-
stance abuse and mental health disorders
trigger the mandatory reporting rule. 5 I am
not using this column to make the same
points again. Rather, the point of this col-
umn is that, in my view, the VBA needs to
play a significantly larger role. At the next
meeting of the Board of Bar Managers, I
will ask the Board to begin to study ways
that the VBA can help to address the issue.
Here’s one.
Josh Simonds is the Director of the Ver-
mont Lawyers Assistance Program (“VT-
LAP”) 6 . The program “provides confiden-
tial, meaningful assistance to lawyers, judg-
es, law students and their families in coping
with alcoholism and other addictions, de-
pression, and other personal or profession-
al crises.” As some of you might be aware,
John Webber ran the program for years.
VTLAP receives almost no financial sup-
port. Two years ago, the VBA paid for Josh
to attend the ABA CoLAP Conference. 7
Other than that, the VBA does not provide
any financial assistance to VTLAP.
You might wonder: isn’t this a job for
the Court and the PRB? Maybe. In fact,
the PRB has considered whether to recom-
mend that the Court use attorney licensing
fees to provide financial support to VTLAP.
However, there is a drawback to that ap-
proach.
Use of attorney licensing fees is gov-
erned by 4 VSA § 908. The statute makes
the funds available to “offset the cost the
operating” the Court’s licensing programs:
the PRB, the Board of Bar Examiners, the
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2016-17
Character & Fitness Committee, and the
Continuing Legal Education Board. Fold-
ing VTLAP into the PRB would provide VT-
LAP with access to the attorney licensing
fund.
Here’s the drawback: Josh does not rec-
ommend housing VTLAP within the PRB.
His reasoning makes sense: housing VTLAP
within the PRB would serve to deter law-
yers from seeking help. To be clear, Josh
didn’t reach that conclusion blithely on his
own. Rather, it’s a recommendation from
the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance
Programs: lawyers will not contact a LAP
if they fear that information will be shared
with the disciplinary authorities.
Interestingly, Josh does not recommend
housing VTLAP within the VBA. Josh ar-
gues that VTLAP should operate indepen-
dently of both the Judiciary and the VBA.
That being said,
VTLAP provides services to lawyers, their
staffs, judges, and law students. In other
words, VTLAP serves our members.
And the problem spans our member-
ship. Addiction does not discriminate by
age 8 or gender. Nor do burnout or depres-
sion. They are equal opportunity offenders.
Shouldn’t we support a group that helps
our members to address serious health
problems?
The answer is “yes, we should.”
As an association, we do so much to help
others. To ensure that we remain able to
help others, we must help ourselves. In
that sense, this is an access issue.
Healthier lawyers are more competent.
Healthier lawyers provide better services to
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