Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. My story starts in high school where I was introduced to drugs and alcohol. Where it went off the rails was the fall … Continue Reading
The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program has created a one-hour video and educational program that seeks to educate the legal community about the signs that someone may be suffering from depression and vulnerable to suicide. Lawyers can earn one hour of free ethics continuing legal education credit for watching the film Just Ask: How We Must … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on September 22, 2015. Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. My first experience with clinical depression was at 13. It wasn’t called … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, February 19. Dear Member, We know many of you have been dealing with extended power outages, water service disruptions, and other emergencies. This time of hardship is stressing our families and our livelihoods. Warmer temperatures are coming, but recovery from this hardship may … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, February 12. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order The Texas Supreme … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on February 5, 2021. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order The Supreme Court … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I had been a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Texas since 1984, almost 35 years. Then, in March 2019, I … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, January 15. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order and OCA Guidance … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The following message was sent to all members on January 5. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Orders The Texas Supreme Court … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I remember a number of years having terrible experiences with New Year’s Eve and drinking too much, doing something that was humiliating or that … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post was originally posted on July 25, 2018. Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. A little over four years ago, I believed my life was over. Not … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, November 13 regarding Supreme Court emergency orders and other items related to the pandemic. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas … Continue Reading
The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program has launched a video counterpart to its “Stories of Recovery” that are featured on the Texas Bar Blog. “This ‘Stories of Recovery’ will be one with diverse stories but many of the things about these stories are similar, which is the path to recovery,” TLAP Director Chris Ritter said. “I … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I attended my first recovery group meeting on January 27, 1968. I was 10 days past my 27th birthday. I had been an attorney … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar updates was sent to all members on September 18. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other State Bar updates. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. Every Friday, I drove thirty minutes to the liquor store to purchase my week’s libations: a handle (1.75-liter bottle) of Johnnie Walker Black Label … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to State Bar of Texas members on August 21. This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other State Bar updates. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. 2021 State Bar of Texas Election The Nominations and … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP), text TLAP to 555888, or find more information at tlaphelps.org. As I write this on July 28, 2020, at 7:30 a.m., I am at the courthouse square in a small central Texas … Continue Reading
The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program will present “Well-Being for Law Students and Grads Studying for the Bar Exam,” from noon to 1 p.m. CDT on July 29. The webinar can be viewed on Zoom and will be recorded for later viewings. Additionally, TLAP recently produced a program for law students and graduates dealing with anxiety … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP), text TLAP to 555888, or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I spent my whole life before law school achieving great things academically and trying to be perfect—and to somehow prove to myself … Continue Reading
Registration is now open for the 2020 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting On Demand—the State Bar’s first virtual annual meeting—on June 25-26. The June 25 session will feature a full day (up to 8 hours) of on-demand CLE from State Bar sections for the low rate of $150. A full list of CLE offerings … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP), text TLAP to 555888, or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I have always struggled with the feeling of “not enough.” Not smart enough. Not nice enough. Not worthy enough. I could go … Continue Reading
I grew up in Midland in the ’90s and early 2000s. Depression was out there, and people were starting to have normalizing conversations about it, but it was (and still is) something very misunderstood by a large number of people. When I was young, it was talked about as a defect or some fault in … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on June 29, 2018. Editor’s note: TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP), text TLAP to 555888, or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I started drinking in high school and immediately liked the way … Continue Reading
