Beating the bottle

Hard-pressed lawyers are increasingly finding solace in a glass.

More disturbing, is when this turns into addiction.

Jackie Lewis looks at how firms are calling time on alcohol abuse

Absenteeism and poor work performance owing to alcohol abuse cost the workplace upwards of 2 billion annually and the NHS 5 billion annually.

This shows no signs of decreasing.

While 5,000 deaths a year are directly attributable to illicit drug abuse, this pales considerably when viewed against the staggering 33,000 deaths that are 'alcohol implicated'.

About one in five patients attending a doctor's surgery are excessive drinkers.

And it is hardly a surprise that in a job that can be very stressful, solicitors are turning to the bottle in increasing numbers.

Recent research from LawCare, the support service for lawyers, found that levels of alcohol abuse steadily increase the longer a solicitor has been qualified (see [2002] Gazette, 14 February, 1).

LawCare co-ordinator Barry Pritchard says he has seen a 'massive increase' in alcohol-related calls in the first two months of this year alone.

Some callers say they have moved from the 'occasional drink in the evening' to downing a half pint of whisky twice a day.

Although calls about drug abuse are rare, treatment centres increasingly report treating lawyers with class A drug dependency.

Mr Pritchard initiated LawCare - renamed from SolCare after it was extended to barristers last year - in February 1997.

Five years on, the organisation, a telephone counselling service offering solicitors health support and advice, has also branched out into Scotland, and appointed another co-ordinator in England - part-time locum solicitor Hilary Tilby, based in Shoreham-by-Sea.

Mr Pritchard - a former solicitor himself - is based in Porthmadog, Wales.

The telephone lines are confidential and run seven days a week.

Mr Pritchard says there is 'not much doubt' that there is a problem out there.

'I don't know how we're going to get at it...

even though alcohol is legal and lawyers can talk about it freely, they seem reticent to do so.

It's much more difficult getting them to talk about drug abuse...

as it's illegal they are afraid they will jeopardise their careers'.

He is 'constantly hearing from other lawyers' that there is a significant drug problem within the profession.

The calls were received from both barristers and solicitors; one sole practitioner was struggling to run his practice while 'both stoned and high'.

Deaths from liver failure among lawyers are twice the national average.

LawCare has only had 13 contacts with drug-addicted lawyers in five years, some of those being 'cross-addicted' to both cocaine and alcohol, but Mr Pritchard's expertise leads him to maintain that this figure is unrepresentative.

Taking the day off work because of a hangover or regularly finding yourself embroiled in a domestic or workplace arguments, are all warning signs of alcoholism.

Being drunk in the evening when you need to be on particularly good form the next day, or having the sweats or shakes are other danger signs.

If people tell you they are worried about your drinking, if you are secretly uncomfortable about your drinking or if you drink alone, you may well be on the road to alcohol addiction.

Alcohol Concern is a national charity that advises clients to start to monitor how much they are actually drinking and when.

The first line of workplace help with issues relating to alcohol and drug abuse falls to human resources departments in larger firms.

A head of human resources in one of the largest City firms, who did not want to be named, said: 'We do not have any policy in place at present...

we would treat each case individually.

We have an in-house doctor and access to counselling help.

We obviously carry cover for private health insurance...

I think we would send people in that direction.'

She says she 'genuinely believes that drinking at lunchtime has been severely cut back', adding: 'It used to happen a lot in our profession, business lunches were de rigueur, but now I think people are sticking to mineral water.'

This would seem to belie the figures and LawCare's findings.

Jonathan Fox, chief executive at City firm Collyer-Bristow, says: 'You have to be grown up about these things...

while we do have a fairly strict policy towards alcohol and drugs, we would try to be supportive.

I would hope that if a person had such a problem, it wouldn't be a dismissable offence.

'I know not every firm feels like this...

it's not an easy world we operate in.

If someone is willing to be helped we would help them.

Lawyers are very expensive animals and I would hope we could work through the problem.'

Mr Fox maintains he knows how things get out of control, explaining that 'it's a hard world out there'.

Collyer-Bristow has a work manual that covers drunkenness at work, but contends that if someone is consistently drunk there has to be a reason.

Mr Fox says: 'There are a lot of firms who would like to think they have gone along the American route of a light lunch and mineral water, but it's often not what the client wants.' So, it appears the pressure is still there to drink with the boys.

CMS Cameron McKenna says it takes a holistic approach to potential addiction, and views it as a workplace 'medical' issue.

It features in the firm's staff handbook in a 'health and wellbeing' section.

John Renz, Cameron's human resources director, acknowledges that these issues will crop up, so the handbook covers many subjects, not just about whom to call when they are unwell.

The firm tries to look at the whole person.

Last year, it introduced a confidential well-screening health programme to which staff refer themselves.

The screening covers any issues that worry staff about their own health and lifestyle.

If a member of staff thinks he has a problem, or if Camerons considers the staff member has one, there are confidential telephone lines and face-to-face expert counselling in place to help.

'We explicitly state we will support anyone who acknowledges they have a problem - we will respond to that,' Mr Renz says.

Training lawyers is expensive and every firm wants to see a return for the money invested.

The optimum balance must be in ensuring billing hours are maximised while addressing the pressure lawyers find themselves under on a daily basis.

This underscores the need for access to good workplace counselling services and effective staff training in stress management techniques.

The problem is that the law readily fosters and encourages a macho image and continues to encourage a work hard and play hard culture.

The support systems in big firms are all very well, but how do sole practitioners cope?

Ian Lithman, who chairs the Law Society's Sole Practitioners Group, says alcoholism is less likely to affect sole practitioners.

'They have made a conscious decision to manage their own hours, and do not have the pressure of a large organisation bearing down on them,' he says.

Nonetheless, he acknowledges that sole practitioners can be affected.

Support among sole practitioners comes on a local level, he says, explaining: 'Local lawyers will notice if one of their number is having problems and offer help.' And the group is also on hand to offer advice.

Mr Pritchard says the number of cases that LawCare has dealt with has more than doubled since it began in 1995.

In its first year it handled 60 cases, last year it dealt with 135, and this year cases are up 35% on 12 months ago.

So, it seems that lawyers under stress are either facing up to their habits more readily, or just that there are more lawyers drinking.

If more lawyers are confronting the demons in the bottle, that can be no bad thing.

But regardless of whether lawyers are drinking too much with clients - or because of clients - it is better to seek help than leave it too late.

l For more information, contact, LawCare freephone 0800 279 6888 or visit the Web site: www.LawCare.org.uk.

The SPG's Web site is: www.spg.uk.com

Jackie Lewis is a freelance journalist

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