Substance-Abuse of Legal Ethics

It is important for attorneys to learn about challenges to legal ethics principles posed by lawyers succumbing to alcoholism and/or addiction and the ways in which the legal profession is currently seeking to prevent, or remedy, such problems. Even attorneys not suffering from alcoholism or addiction have a professional responsibility to learn about, and apply critical analysis to, the legal profession's ongoing efforts to prevent, or attempt to remediate, problems for this profession. Attorneys who are "recovering" from either condition (or both) can contribute valuable insights in an interactive seminar on the subject such as this seminar.

The format of this course is a blend of the lecture method with the Socratic method extensively involving a high degree of interactive participation and critical analyses of a wide range of issues relevant to the subject of the seminar in a manner not limited to mere chronological description of particular topics and sub-topics. Depending on the number of participants in a particular seminar, the format usually results in most, if not all, participants verbally engaging in conversational-styled interactive discussion and/or analysis of particular topics in the seminar and also permits interruptions, questions, challenges, etc. throughout the seminar. Think of collegially enjoyable and enlightening round-table discussions. It's a form of learning by thinking in the course of interactively participating rather than learning solely by listening (the latter of which is the lecture method).

Any attorney who is required to attend a CLE seminar on "substance abuse" and any other attorney recognizing the professional responsibility to understand how the legal profession and the courts are currently seeking to (a) reduce the number of lawyers succumbing to such problems, (b) provide effective remedial assistance when needed, and (c) apply suitable disciplinary measures when necessary.

Learning Objectives: 

• Examine the effect of the Constitution's (and each state constitution's) vesting of "the judicial power" of the sovereign in its "Supreme Court" and its thereby incorporation of the evolutionary nature of the judiciary's common law inherent judicial power (i.e., sui generis power) to define, prescribe, and enforce educational, moral, ethical and civil standards for the practice of law and the status of lawyers as officers of the courts
• Explore how exercising such common law inherent judicial power (sui generis power) in an adversarial system created under common law, the supreme court of the sovereign (i.e., the U.S. Supreme Court and each state supreme court) creates structural and functional tools for the administration of justice -- i.e., rules of evidence, burdens of proof, procedural rules, and regulatory control over the conduct of attorneys
• The judiciary generally encourages lawyers to participate actively in the regulatory control over our profession generally and the conduct of lawyers individually. Therefore, each attorney has a duty to keep abreast of such disciplinary and regulatory activities and as much as possible to actively participate (pro bono, of course) in, and support, such activities
• Explore the "illness" nature of alcoholism or addiction
• Develop and implement regulatory measures to provide remedial assistance to those suffering from such illness, but do not let the goal of remediation to completely eclipse ethical (and moral) responsibility
• Analyze how the public perceives the legal profession as a "self-regulating" profession" and how this underscores the duty of the legal profession to handle  this regulatory responsibility in ways that increase, rather than diminish, the public's confidence in our legal system
• Recognize the legal profession’s duty to avoid letting compassion unduly repress the sense of responsibility to protect the justice system from the too-widespread perception among the public that lawyers can always avoid the consequences of their own shortcomings or misconduct

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Central Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Mountain Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Pacific Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alaska Time: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

This course is also being presented on the following dates:

Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Tuesday,  February 11, 2025
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Tuesday, March 4, 2025