Tag: bar association

To support lawyers facing personal or professional challenges, the Suffolk County Bar Association (SCBA) and the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA) are collaborating on a Lawyer Assistance Program serving Long Island. The initiative is supported in part by a grant from The New York Bar Foundation.

Attorneys can face disproportionately high rates of substance use and mental health issues compared to the general population and other professionals, experts say. In response, the SCBA and NCBA are partnering to help ensure comprehensive support services are available to attorneys, judges and law students.

Peter Tamsen, managing director of the SCBA’s Lawyer Assistance Program, said that the program had grown dormant amid the pandemic.

The program, with the support of Judge John Leo, the SBCA’s president, and with that of recent past presidents, “became a priority and has been revitalized,” Tamsen said in a news release about the partnership.

“The need of our members for these essential services had become obvious and the services have now been brought back with additional offerings,” Tamsen said.

The Lawyer Assistance Program provides a range of services to lawyers, judges, law students and their immediate family members who are struggling with alcohol or drug abuse, depression, anxiety and stress as well as other addictions and mental health issues.

These free and strictly confidential services include consultation and evaluation/assessment, counseling, peer support, a weekly recovery support group, an annual 12-step retreat, wellness workshops, intervention and motivational support, treatment referrals and assistance with law practice closings.

Sheryl Randazzo, a past president of the SCBA, facilitates the monthly wellness workshops, and Robert Goldman, a licensed psychologist and attorney, leads the Lawyers Lounge. Elizabeth Eckhardt is currently the director of the NCBA’s Lawyer Assistance Program, and now provides free, confidential counseling to both bar associations through the HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform doxy.me.

Eckhardt, a psychotherapist, offers outreach and education on topics including resilience, wellness, mindfulness, stress management, suicide prevention and substance use.

“We are thankful to NCBA, Ms. Randazzo, Dr. Goldman and the individuals heading up the recovery meetings for our now robust Lawyer Assistance Program,” SCBA Executive Director Cynthia Doerler said in the news release. “We are excited to partner with them as well as add an emergency helpline to our offering. We needed 24/7 counseling services and Nassau County was able to provide that for us through Dr. Eckhardt.”