God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Who do we want to be? What attorneys do when we are at the top of our game

Another way of thinking about ethics Ethics as describing a pattern of identity: What “sorts of people” are we becoming?

Oscar Wilde: “The thing about sin is not really what we do; it is who we become.”

Who am I? Who do I want to be? How do I get there?

The joy of stats! Conservative estimate: One in five attorneys suffer from alcoholism or other substance abuse.

Alcoholism/ Addiction: a disease Manifested by Physiological components Genetic predisposition Defined psychological aspects and patterns of behavior.

Attorneys and Addiction Much more difficult time getting and staying sober than rest of population.

Attorneys and Depression Per Johns Hopkins Study: – Attorneys lead country in rate of depression – As of 1996, attorneys overtook dentists as profession with the highest rate of suicide

Model Rule Reporting professional misconduct. (a) A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

Functional Alcoholics Great workers. Lousy people.

NEBRASKA LAWYERS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 1-(888) (NLAP)

What do we take from this? Law is your job, not your life; Don’t confuse the two

We are problem solvers. We just need the courage to change the things we can.