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role="none" class="mobile-only menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-399 inline-nav-item" itemprop="name"><a title="Contact" role="menuitem" class="inline-nav-link" href="https://www.nclap.org/contact/" itemprop="url" tabindex="0">Contact</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </header> <main class="main"> <section class="hero interior with-image"> <div class="container"> <div class="hero-content"> <h1 class="page-title">Frequently Asked Questions</h1> </div> </div> <div class="hero-image"><img width="2560" height="508" src="https://www.nclap.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/faqs-hero@2x-scaled.webp" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="" loading="eager" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://www.nclap.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/faqs-hero@2x-scaled.webp 2560w, https://www.nclap.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/faqs-hero@2x-300x60.webp 300w, https://www.nclap.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/faqs-hero@2x-1170x232.webp 1170w, https://www.nclap.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/faqs-hero@2x-768x153.webp 768w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></div></section> <div class="main-content faqs clearfix"> <div class="section-components"> <section class="section accordions-section"> <div class="container"> <div class="section-accordions"> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What is the Lawyer Assistance Program (“LAP”)?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>It is a confidential program of assistance, funded by the State Bar, for all North Carolina lawyers, judges and law students.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What is the cost?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>Free. It is a free service that is covered by payment of your State Bar dues.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What does the LAP actually do? How can the LAP help me?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>A LAP counselor can meet with you to discuss what’s been going on, the history of what’s been going on and to see how the LAP can help. Lawyers and judges discuss a wide variety of issues, including but not limited to, stress, burn out, career counseling, depression, anxiety, and substance use concerns. Some services the LAP can provide include: individual counseling, referrals to a private therapist, assistance with finding inpatient treatment (for you or a loved one), lawyer support groups (both in-person and online), mentoring with a lawyer volunteer, assistance when you’re concerned about a colleague or family member.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What if I don’t live in Raleigh or Charlotte?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>Our clinical staff members often drive to meet lawyers who live in distant rural areas. We regularly meet lawyers at a half-way point if it is a very long drive. We also have volunteers across the state who we work with closely and who may be located near you. Because we have support groups happening in various cities, our staff is often on the road and may already have plans to travel to a city near you. We can always find a way to make it work.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What is the LAP Committee?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>The LAP Committee is a committee of peer counselor volunteers of the Lawyer Assistance Program (formerly the “PALS” and “FRIENDS” volunteers) who have experience and/or expertise in confidentially assisting lawyers dealing with problems of depression, anxiety, codependency, work-life balance, alcoholism, drug addiction and other issues. The LAP Committee volunteers sign confidentiality agreements and receive on-going training in their role as peer counselors.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">Is the LAP really confidential?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>Yes. Your information is never conveyed to anyone outside of the LAP program without a written release signed by you. This means we do not speak to your family members, your law partners, your friends or colleagues or any State Bar staff (or anyone else).</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What is the relation between the LAP and the State Bar’s discipline function?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>The LAP is an entirely separate program from discipline. They have entirely different functions. Discipline is reactive; it responds to ethical breaches. The LAP is preventive. The LAP seeks to provide assistance for personal problems a lawyer may have that if not addressed could lead to the lawyer becoming involved in the discipline process. All communications with the LAP are confidential and protected by Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The LAP does not communicate any information to any other department of the Bar, including discipline, and discipline has no access to LAP files or communications.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">If I contact the LAP, will anything I tell the LAP be disclosed to the discipline arm of the bar?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>No.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What happens if I am involved with the LAP, but later something comes up and I become involved in the discipline process? Will the LAP disclose anything in that situation?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>No. If you later become involved in the discipline process, you may choose to disclose your LAP participation or you may choose to enter into a LAP deferral where you ask the LAP to report compliance with clinical recommendations to the grievance committee, but the LAP does not disclose it unless you ask us to do so in writing.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">I think I have a drinking problem. Am I going to get into trouble with the discipline arm of the bar if I seek help for that?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>No. Drinking does not violate the Rules of Professional Conduct and is not in and of itself an ethical violation. There is no reason not to seek help. If left unchecked, however, drinking may lead a lawyer to commit an ethical violation. Excessive drinking can also cause a lawyer to be so impaired that he or she is functionally and practically disabled and unable to practice law competently. The discipline arm of the bar only prosecutes violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct and seeks to prevent lawyers who may be disabled and unable to practice from harming the public. Again, there is no reason not to seek help. Visit our alcohol or other drug problems page for more information.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">I am worried about a colleague (friend, family member) who is a lawyer. I want them to get some help, but I am worried that if they knew I called, they would feel betrayed and it would hurt the relationship. If I call the LAP to make a referral, will you reveal to the lawyer that I am the one who called?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>No.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">If I call the LAP to make a referral about a colleague (friend, family member) who is a lawyer, what will the LAP do?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>It depends upon the situation, and one of our clinical staff will talk with you to get as much detail as possible in order to better understand the situation and how we might be of assistance. Often, but not always, we ask two volunteers who have been through something similar to reach out to the distressed lawyer. We have found most lawyers are willing to take the meeting with our volunteers even if they are not willing to accept help at that moment in time. It plants a seed, and many of our clients report that they called the volunteers back some months later at a time they were willing to get assistance.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">Does the LAP provide legal representation or legal advice?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>No.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">I am a law student and I have issues in my past that are going to show up on my character and fitness application to the Bar. What should I do?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p>Call the LAP as early as possible in your law school career so that we can assess the situation and offer suggestions about the best course of action. Visit our <a href="https://www.nclap.org/law-students/">law students</a> page for more information.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What does it take to become a volunteer with the LAP?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p><a href="https://www.nclap.org/volunteer/">Click here</a> for information about being a volunteer. Contact the LAP clinical coordinator who covers your geographic region for more information.</p> </div> </details> <details class="accordion-item"> <summary class="accordion-header"> <div class="accordion-header-grid"> <span class="accordion-title">What is the difference between the LAP and BarCARES?</span> </div> </summary> <div class="accordion-content"><p><strong>LAP</strong><br /> The Lawyer Assistance Program “LAP” is a free and confidential program offered by the N.C. State Bar. The LAP has therapists on staff and provides intake, short term in-house counseling, referral to outside therapists/counselors or other treatment providers (including therapists who are part of the BarCARES network of providers), ongoing case management and long-term follow-up and support. The LAP has a cadre of trained lawyer volunteers who have dealt with and overcome the most common issues that lawyers encounter. These volunteers serve as mentors to lawyers who reach out to the LAP and provide their own experience as to what worked for them. The LAP also hosts lawyer peer support and discussion groups across the state.</p> <p><strong>BarCARES</strong><br /> BarCARES is a separate, confidential, short-term program provided by the North Carolina Bar Association, cost-free to members of participating judicial district bars, voluntary bar associations and law schools. BarCARES provides referral for 1-to-3 free counseling sessions to lawyers in qualifying districts. All BarCARES contact is made through HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, P.A., the organization that administers the BarCARES program. If you would like additional information about the program and/or its availability in your area, please contact the BarCARES coordinator at 919-929-1227 or 1-800-640-0735 or visit <a href="https://barcares.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.barcares.org</a>.</p> <p>BarCARES and the LAP work cooperatively and cross-refer. See <a href="https://www.nclap.org/barcares-and-lap-working-in-harmony/">BarCARES and LAP Working in Harmony</a>. For example, if a lawyer contacts the LAP and is a member of the NCBA or a member of a participating judicial district bar, voluntary bar association or law school, in the event counseling is recommended, the LAP will refer the lawyer to a therapist in the BarCARES referral network for a few free counseling sessions to start the process. Similarly, if a lawyer has been seeing a therapist within the BarCARES network, and the therapist thinks the lawyer would benefit from additional support like speaking to peers who have overcome similar issues, the therapist will recommend that the lawyer contact the LAP.</p> <p>Both programs are confidential and work together for the good of North Carolina’s legal community.</p> </div> </details> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> </main> <footer class="footer"> <section class="section cta-section section-light-alt"> <div class="container text-center"> <h2 class="section-title">Get in Touch</h2> <div class="content-flow"><p>Ready to get started or simply have some questions? Reach out to the LAP Counselor who covers your area. Office hours are M-F (9:00-5:00) and in-person consultations are by appointment only. All communications with LAP staff are strictly confidential.</p> </div> <div class="section-ctas"> <a href="https://www.nclap.org/contact/" class="button" title="Contact Us">Contact Us</a> </div> </div> </section> <section class="section footer-notice"> <div class="container"> <p>If you are having a mental health crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself or others, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.</p> <p>Dial 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or visit the <a title="988lifeline - opens in new tab" href="https://988lifeline.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">988lifeline.org</a> website. 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