The Intersection of Professionalism, Ethics, and Substance Abuse

In the legal profession, there is a difficult balancing act when it comes to managing a situation in which a lawyer is impaired. While on the one hand, there must be efforts made to maintain confidentiality, there also exists a duty for other lawyers to report any misconduct they are aware of. In a profession that has long been considered high stress, and has seen a rise of problematic behavior in recent years, it is important that lawyers learn about how to best handle substance abuse issues in a way that is professional and ethical. This course covers misconduct, reporting duties and general information about substance abuse through the lens of ethics and professionalism. It will discuss how disciplinary actions for misconduct are handled when substance abuse is involved by outlining several relevant cases. The instructor will cover topics such as red flags for misconduct, developments in how the ABA manages impaired lawyers, and give various examples of misconduct resulting from substance abuse or other addictive behaviors.