Event touts program to aid lawyers, judges in recovery
Advocate: (n.) A person who argues or works for a cause or policy, or another person in a court of law; (v.) the act thereof.
And “advocate” is an especially appropriate word to describe that person who’d support an organization that helps lawyers and judges who are suffering from addiction or mental illness.
Jim Smith, chairman of the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program Foundation board, welcomed about 170 guests to the body’s 2014 Advocates Dinner on Oct. 30 at the Governor’s Mansion. Making the award presentations were 2013 award winners Patrick Wilson, representing Wright, Lindsey, & Jennings, and retired state Supreme Court Justice Annabelle Imber Tuck.
Paul Prater, director of continuing legal education for the Arkansas Bar Association, served as master of ceremonies.
Thomas L. Barron received the 2014 Justice Robert L. Brown Community Support Award for more than a decade of service and dedication to the program. The Pulaski County Bar Association, represented by Melanie Martin, and the Pulaski County Bar Foundation, represented by Judge Herb Wright, received the program’s 2014 Humanitarian Award for outstanding service and dedication.
An estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of Arkansas’ lawyers and judges have addictions or mental illness, according to the website for the assistance program, which was created in 2000 by the Arkansas Supreme Court. The program provides funding for medical, therapeutic, and recovery support to these individuals — including law students — and their family members, including scholarships for treatment, Camp JLAP, a spring retreat and seminars. — Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams