Washington Lawyer - January/February 2025 - 9

TOWARD WELL-BEING
The Hidden Threats
of Problem Drinking
By Denise Perme
O
ne hundred years ago it was
illegal to buy champagne to
toast the New Year. What a
difference a century makes.
Today Americans are drinking
more than they were right before
Prohibition, consuming 2.5 gallons
of ethanol annually.
Our relationship with alcohol has always been
fraught, however. The negative effects of excessive
drinking on families and society concerned
many in the 1800s, when per capita
consumption peaked. Churches were already
preaching abstinence, and by 1833 the temperance
movement was well under way. The
movement led to passage of the 18th Amendment
banning the manufacturing and sale of
alcohol, which went into effect two weeks after
New Year's Eve in 1920.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, alcohol
consumption rose. Alcoholics Anonymous held
its first meetings in the mid-1930s, and early
employee assistance programs began to help
people whose drinking was affecting their
work. In 1956 the American Medical Association
officially recognized alcoholism, now
called " alcohol use disorder " under the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
as a disease.
In the 1970s, employers began offering workbased
programs to help their employees whose
drinking negatively impacted their performance.
Employee assistance programs were successful
and widely adopted, and similar programs were
developed for doctors and other professionals.
In 1980 Maryland created the nation's first lawyer
assistance program (LAP). The D.C. Bar followed
suit five years later, and most states had
lawyer-specific programs by the 1990s.
LAPs were created and funded primarily to protect
the public because lawyers with alcohol
use disorder can harm their clients by violating
rules of professional conduct. The latest studies
indicate that almost 21 percent of lawyers
engage in hazardous drinking, compared to
about 10 percent of the general population.
LAPs provide free and confidential evaluations,
referrals to treatment, aftercare monitoring, and
connections with other lawyers in long-term
recovery. Many LAPs like the D.C. Bar LAP also
offer support groups, educational programming,
and other resources designed to help
lawyers be proactive in maintaining their wellbeing,
so their fitness to practice is less likely to
be impacted in the first place.
Alcohol use disorder
is like an iceberg:
Most of the threat is
hidden from everyone.
Alcohol use disorder is like an iceberg: Most of
the threat is hidden from everyone. Even the
one with the drinking problem can't see it because
denial, a powerful psychological defense
mechanism, interferes with the perception of
reality. Over the years, weekly happy hours
morph into daily drinking or drugging, DUI
charges pile up, deadlines get missed, colleagues
become resentful, marriages fail,
friends give up, and eventually a client complains
to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Kevin Shepherd, a criminal defense attorney
practicing in Kansas, thinks it is a miracle he
kept his license to practice. " It wasn't open and
obvious that I was a drug addict and alcoholic, "
he says. " I lied to judges about where I was.
I had bad relationships with my secretaries.
I had no empathy for the clients. When I really
looked at what I was doing, it hurt way too
much. "
Shepherd says it became too much for him to
keep up. " It was like putting layers of Saran
Wrap over a nine-day-old tuna salad sandwich, "
he says. " I was trying to keep out the
stench, but I really just wanted to die. "
Fortunately, alcohol and drug use disorders
are treatable, and many lawyers get the help
they need through LAPs. Shepherd's license
was suspended twice before he sought help
from the Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program
(KALAP). He has been clean and sober for
seven years now, his license was reinstated, and
he rebuilt his life and career. In September
2024, the Kansas Supreme Court appointed
Shepherd to the KALAP board.
Shepherd has a dog, Mia, which he found at
a pet store two weeks after he stopped using
drugs and alcohol. " I was in bad shape; the
withdrawals were killing me. I was just whiteknuckling
it, " recalls Shepherd.
Mia was an 11-month-old Shiba Inu puppy that,
it turned out, needed help, too. She had contracted
a life-threatening bacterial infection at
the store. Nursing the puppy back to health
was a balm for Shepherd's mind and spirit. " I
was helping her, and she started to trust me, "
he says, choking up. " I think she saved my life. "
LAPs save lives, too. The D.C. Bar LAP is a free
and strictly confidential resource. We are here
to help no matter what the problem is. If you
think you might benefit from an evaluation for
substance use, mental health symptoms, or just
stress, please contact us at lap@dcbar.org.
Denise Perme is associate director of the D.C. Bar
Lawyer Assistance Program.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 9
Washington Lawyer - January/February 2025

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