The history of the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program
Since its inception in 1991, the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program, commonly referred to as MOLAP, has had largely the same goal: to provide education, prevention, confidential counseling, and referral assistance to members of the bar for issues that could affect their well-being and practice.
The Missouri Bar introduced MOLAP in 1991, expanding upon previous programs to provide preventative information along with counseling “to address personal and professional problems produced by all causes.”1
“High stress professions, such as law, produce a higher percentage of emotional problems than are found in the general population,” wrote Keith A. Birkes, then-Missouri Bar executive director, in a 1991 column in the Journal of The Missouri Bar. “Because of the position of trust that judges and lawyers occupy, it is particularly important to prevent and treat impairment in the most effective ways possible.”
Today, MOLAP still aims to help legal professionals by providing education, prevention, confidential counseling, and referral assistance to members of the bar, law students, and their families for substance use, depression, marital and family matters, stress, burnout, and other personal concerns that adversely affect personal or professional well-being.
Since some untreated problems become impairments leading to ethical and professional violations, MOLAP also strives to protect clients and the reputation of the legal profession.
The Missouri Bar created a model policy in 2013 to provide guidance for law firms to be able to competently address substance use or mental health concerns within their firms.
In the last nearly 35 years, MOLAP has helped thousands of individuals overcome personal and professional concerns.
Learn more about MOLAP at mobar.org/MOLAP. Call 1-800-688-7859 to talk about any personal or professional concerns such as substance use, depression, stress, or burnout.
If you are in an emergency situation, please call 911 or the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Endnote:
1 Keith A. Birkes, Your Bar at Work: Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program (MOLAP), 47 J. MO. B. 221 (April-May 1991).