A Texas attorney had been clean and sober for many years but eventually dropped out of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and the recovery process. While going through a messy marital situation, he turned to hard street drugs to cope with the emotions of the moment. After that, he started losing things—first his practice, then his home, then his car. He was living on the street. A lifelong friend in London happened to reach him on his cellphone—he hadn’t pawned it yet—and she contacted the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program. A referral for outpatient treatment was made, and the trustees approved a request for payment for such treatment. However, the attorney changed his mind and didn’t attend. He went further downhill—and lost everything. He even pawned his watch for drugs. He ended up in jail multiple times on drug-related charges. From there, the friend, TLAP, and a recovery facility worked out a deal for long-term treatment. The facility took a significantly reduced amount, the trustees approved payment of the trust’s in-patient limit, and the friend paid the rest. Today, the attorney is alive, employed, filled with life, and working heavily with other lawyers in trouble. And he is employed as an attorney—something unimaginable a mere three years ago.

A Texas attorney was severely depressed and overtly suicidal. LCL members began aggressively working with the attorney, getting a commitment from the attorney to stay alive until the June Texas LCL convention. At the convention, LCL members and TLAP staff convinced the attorney to go into treatment and to stay alive until treatment; TLAP staff worked with an out-of-state facility to accept the attorney for very long-term care and for a fraction of its regular fees, and the trustees approved payment of those charges. LCL members drove the attorney the several hundred miles to the treatment facility. The attorney successfully completed the acute treatment phase and was transferred to a halfway house. The attorney is working again and is seeking legal employment. Most important, the attorney remains alive, something that seemed like a long shot that April afternoon.