The Board of ASSIST strongly believes that funding for the hiring of an Executive Director in Alberta is in the interest of the profession and the public for a number of reasons:

Experience in other jurisdictions, such as British Columbia and Ontario, indicates that utilization of their ASSIST programs by lawyers experiencing problems increased substantially after the appointment of a full time executive director. This results from increased organization of volunteers, presentation of wellness programs to lawyers, provision of earlier assistance to lawyers experiencing significant problems and an increased profile of the lawyers assistance program.

Lawyers are substantially more at risk than the general population to suffer from a number of serious personal problems. A publication of the Legal Professional Assistance Conference sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association, indicates that lawyers and judges are 3 times more likely to be clinically depressed, 3 times more likely to suffer from addictions, 6 times more likely to commit suicide; women lawyers are 3 times more likely to give up and quit the law as a profession and women lawyers are 5 times more likely to take lower stress, less remunerative and less satisfying positions, just to survive.

Common sense suggests, and empirical studies in other jurisdictions show, that getting lawyers with serious personal problems into recovery saves lives and a great deal of money as a result of significant decreases in disciplinary complaints and malpractice lawsuits.

The ASSIST Program also wants to be in a position to raise more funds privately. With the kind assistance of Felesky Flynn, ASSIST is making an application to CCRA to obtain charitable status. We hope to convince officials at CCRA that bringing help and assistance to lawyers who are experiencing significant personal problems can and will benefit the general public.