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The State Bar Board of Governors is seeking
applicants to serve on a 12-member oversight committee of its new
attorney diversion program.
Modeled on a program operated by the Medical
Board of California for 20 years, the diversion program is designed to
rehabilitate rather than punish lawyers suffering from drug and
alcohol abuse or addiction. The program contained in SB 479 (Burton)
was passed by the legislature this summer and signed into law by Gov.
Gray Davis in August.
Statute calls for six of the members to be
appointed by the bar's board of governors. Those appointments must
include:
Two members who are licensed mental health professionals and one
member who is a physician, all with knowledge and expertise in the
identification and treatment of substance abuse and mental illness;
One member of the board of directors of a statewide nonprofit
organization which has been established to assist lawyers with alcohol
or substance abuse problems and has been operating continuously for at
least five years; and
Two members who are attorneys, at least one of which is in recovery
and has at least five years of continuous sobriety.
Prospective applicants should contact Starr
Babcock, the bar's special assistant to the executive director, at
415/538-2070; Office of the Executive Director, 180 Howard St., San
Francisco 94105-1639; Starr.Babcock@calsb.org.
The deadline is Oct. 30. |
