As amended through December 30, 2024
Rule 58.3 - Director of the Program(A) Appointment/Hire: The commission shall recruit, hire, retain, supervise and may terminate the LAP director.(B) Qualifications: The director shall have sufficient experience and training to identify and assist members of the legal profession affected by the conditions described in Rule 58.1(A) above, as well as sufficient administrative expertise to competently manage a human services organization. A lawyer is preferred.(C) Duties and Responsibilities: The director's duties and responsibilities shall include but not be limited to the following: (1) To work with the commission to develop a vision and plan to ensure that the LAP becomes a vital and credible resource for the New Hampshire legal community;(2) To act as the initial contact point for all referrals to the LAP, whether voluntary or involuntary. The director should always remain accessible to current members or to any attorney seeking help, and should never be insulated from the telephone or from personal contact. The position will require that the director be ready, either alone or together with a program volunteer, to travel within the State to meet with an attorney in need of the LAP;(3) To help members of the legal profession and their families to secure counseling and treatment for chemical dependency and mental conditions, by maintaining current information on available treatment services, both those that are available without charge as well as paid services. In this regard the director will be responsible for evaluating referral resources such as individual health care providers (physicians, counselors, therapists, etc.) and treatment programs, and developing a resource listing that is available for members or prospective members needing evaluation, treatment, or aftercare;(4) To establish and maintain regular contact with the New Hampshire Bar Association, the Professional Conduct Committee, the Complaint Screening Committee, the Committee on Judicial Conduct and their staff, and other agencies or committees that serve either as sources of referral or resources in providing help;(5) To help lawyers, judges, law firms, courts and others to identify and intervene with impaired members of the legal profession;(6) To establish and oversee monitoring services with respect to recovery of members of the legal profession for whom monitoring is appropriate under Rule 58.7 and 58.5(E). In furtherance of this duty, the director should work with the organizations listed in Rule 58.3(C)(4) above, as well as the commission, to create and maintain a working relationship that respects an appropriate balance between the goals of the LAP and those of the disciplinary committees and the New Hampshire Bar Association;(7) To recruit, select, train and coordinate the activities of volunteer lawyers and judges who will provide assistance, and provide for their identities and addresses to be generally known to the courts, bar and other appropriate referral entities. In furtherance of this duty the director should assist in coordinating volunteer support meetings and attend the meetings on a periodic basis to address questions or concerns of the volunteers;(8) To work to establish and maintain a confidentiality policy that ensures confidentiality as an essential component of the LAP. Included in this duty will be the establishment of rules or policies relating to maintaining the confidentiality of those seeking assistance (whether voluntary or involuntary), as well as the confidentiality of LAP volunteers. Also included is the development of rules or policies necessary to implement the immunity protections granted under Supreme Court Rule 37(1)(e);(9) To plan and deliver educational programs to inform the public, the judiciary, state and local bar associations, law firms, and civic organizations of the advocacy of early intervention and prevention and the assistance that is available to those in need;(10) With the cooperation of the University of New Hampshire School of Law, to plan and deliver educational programs and materials bringing to their curriculum a substance abuse component informing students of the nature and effect of substance abuse, its risks to those in the legal profession, and the resources available through LAP;(11) To be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the LAP, including the development of job descriptions for LAP staff personnel, and the hiring, training, and assessing of such individuals, including clinicians, assistants, and office personnel, as budgetary considerations allow. The director will also be responsible, with the oversight of the commission, for the LAP's annual budget and oversee its fiscal management;(12) In appropriate situations, i.e., where no issue of confidentiality exists or has been waived in accordance with state law, to appear at bar disciplinary, court, or bar admission proceedings to provide testimony regarding a legal professional's progress or lack of progress in meeting the purposes for which the LAP was established;(13) To act as the liaison with the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs and with lawyer assistance programs throughout the country;(14) To establish private and public sources of funding for LAP; and(15) Such other duties and responsibilities established by the commission.