BarCARES Seeks Nominations for Board Members

Ann, a white woman with short blond hair, wears a white blouse and teal jacket.By Ann Anderson

Do you care about the mental health of lawyers, law students and paralegals? Would you like to serve on a board that works towards making a variety of mental health services readily available for colleagues? BarCARES does that and is seeking nominations for Board members.

For those who don’t know, BarCARES is designed to offer no-cost assistance in dealing with problems that might be causing distress and can be used to help with such matters as personal issues, anxiety, substance use, financial concerns, family matters, work issues, professional stressors, and provide help with case-related stress as well as student coaching on all matters including time management.

The BarCARES Board generally meets four times a year and has objectives as described in the ByLaws as follows:

  1. To encourage and enhance the conditions that enable attorneys to successfully practice law in their increasingly complex and competitive profession and achieve personal satisfaction in their professional and personal lives.
  2. To study, explore, make recommendations, and implement programs designed to increase attorneys’ effectiveness in their profession and personal life.
  3. To contract with providers to the end of rendering services to attorneys designed to increase their effectiveness in their profession, and to oversee and administer those contracts.
  4. To provide counseling and lawyer assistance services.
  5. To receive the benefit of any and all privileges recognized by law with respect to confidential communications in the course of rendering attorney effectiveness and counseling services.
  6. To make available career re-evaluation services to attorneys.
  7. To educate and inform on issues dealing with attorney effectiveness and related issues of career and risk management, mental health assessment, counseling, referral and other such services as may from time to time be required.
  8. To improve the system of justice, the practice of law, and the reputations of the justice system and the legal profession through attorney effectiveness enhanced by the encouraging of the improvement of the professional and personal well-being of attorneys and their families.
  9. To implement the above goals consistent with the policies and governance of the North Carolina Bar Association and The North Carolina Bar Foundation.

If you are interested in serving or know someone who would be, please contact Ann Anderson by March 30.

/by