I drank my first full beer at age 9. It was decades ago, but I remember it vividly. My parents were having a party and my childhood best friend and I stealthily looted two Coors Lights from the cooler and retreated to a back room.… Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. Law school made me an alcoholic, or to be fair to law school, it was during law school that I crossed over to alcoholism. In college, … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. What did I do last night? Who is mad at me? What did I do at work yesterday afternoon? Did I commit malpractice? Surely, a … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. My name is _____________. I am almost 60 years old, eight years clean in NA, and this is my first time in recovery. I thought … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. On the good days, I just felt like I was going to throw up at the courthouse. On the bad days, I would excuse myself … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I walked out of my first AA meeting confident I was not an alcoholic. The meeting was a speaker meeting, and the speaker told a … Continue Reading
The 30th Annual Texas Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Convention will be held from May 31 to June 2, 2019, at the Austin Marriott South. The convention will feature national speakers discussing current research on mental health, substance abuse recovery, and how to maintain a more balanced professional life. Attendees will be able to earn up … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post, which has been updated, was originally published on June 15, 2015, as the 12th story in the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery blog series, featuring attorneys in their own words. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: State Bar of Texas President Joe K. Longley sent the following message to members Wednesday. As we celebrate the holiday season and prepare for 2019, I offer this update on some recent happenings at the State Bar of Texas. 2019-2020 Budget Update The State Bar Board’s Budget Committee met December 13 to hear … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on January 16, 2014, as part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery blog series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org.… Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on July 3, 2014, as part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery blog series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. The first time I got intentionally drunk … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery blog series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. I started drinking alcohol at about age 6. Surrounded by military fighter pilots, alcohol … Continue Reading
Bree Buchanan, a national leader in the movement to address substance abuse and mental health issues in the legal profession, is retiring October 31 as director of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program (TLAP) of the State Bar of Texas. Staff attorney Chris Ritter will succeed her as director of the program. Buchanan will continue as … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The following “Stories of Recovery” post was originally published in September 2017. We are republishing it in recognition of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. Another … Continue Reading
More and more people are focusing on wellness and well-being, a movement that has been around for decades and gained mainstream media attention in the past couple of years. In fact, the July issue of the Texas Bar Journal focuses on lawyer wellness and well-being with articles on brain health, how meaningful work boosts well-being, … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. I started drinking in high school and immediately liked the way it made me feel. … Continue Reading
By Raul Ayala, Esq. You may vividly remember the time when you decided to pursue a legal career, a moment filled with passion and a desire to be of service to others and your community; however you may have defined it. Many of us wanted to directly tackle issues most affecting our Latino population-poverty; education, … Continue Reading
By C. Kelly Rentzel Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. According to a recent study, those who score top grades in … Continue Reading
The 29th Annual Texas Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Convention will take place on June 1-3 at the Austin Marriott South. The convention will feature national speakers sharing their thoughts about current research on mental health, substance abuse recovery, and maintaining a more balanced professional life. Attendees will also have a chance to earn at least 6 hours … Continue Reading
A new video from the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program, featuring TLAP Director Bree Buchanan and Austin psychiatrist Robert Cantu, focuses on identifying post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, after Hurricane Harvey. In The Trauma of Harvey: Identifying PTSD in Yourself and Others, Buchanan and Cantu discuss the symptoms of and treatment for PTSD after a natural … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. I am a lawyer celebrating my first year as a solo. I am a horse … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. I am supposed to be dead! I weighed over 350 pounds, had high blood pressure, borderline … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance abuse or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org. I feel like alcoholism just appeared in my life overnight. Logically, however, … Continue Reading
Three Texas attorneys were included on the annual Fastcase 50 list, which honors top innovators in the legal field. Cameron Vann, senior staff attorney for the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program; Cisselon Nichols Hurd, senior counsel to Shell Oil; and T. Jason Smith, senior director and legal counsel to software company Apttus, received the honor alongside attorneys, professors, … Continue Reading
