Bench & Bar January/February 2025

ENDNOTES 1 Information regarding the submission of mate rial to be considered for publication is accessi ble on the KBA website, www.kybar.org. 2 Archived copies of the Bench & Bar are avail able on the KBA website, www.kybar.org. ABOUT THE AUTHOR EILEEN M. O'BRIEN prac tices with the firm of Osborne Family Law in Lexington and has been a long-serving member of the Bench & Bar editorial board. and members of the editorial board, I’ve come to appreciate that the Bench & Bar serves a far greater purpose in establishing and maintaining our professional commu nity. That purpose is caring for and serving the lawyers of Kentucky.

alleviate the problem from a wide variety of sources. 2 2. Kentucky has experienced signifi cant instances of lawyer suicides, and information from disciplinary cases heard by the Board of Bar Governors indicated that both addiction and mental health issues surfaced in the majority of the cases presented to the Board in formal disciplinary matters. The Bench & Bar has devoted, and continues to devote significant space to discus sion of the confidential resources available through the Bar’s Lawyer Assistance Program for attorneys dealing with issues which affect both their competency to practice and well-being. 3. After editorial board members expressed concern over the increas ing number of new practitioners who seemed to lack mentors and were, in effect, opening individual

practices with little in the way of resources or support, a deliberate effort has been made to include articles and information to assist those attorneys. Practice point ers, checklists and even a basic description of various practice areas to demystify potential opportuni ties are frequently included in the publication.

These efforts, and the individuals partic ipating in them, are examples of what a community of legal professionals does for its members: sharing information, pro viding support, supplying resources, and celebrating our unique profession while recognizing the toll it can take. When I first joined the editorial board, I saw it as an opportunity to maintain some contact with the academic community I enjoyed in law school: interesting articles authored by attorneys with specific expertise on the topic. Over the years, while that academic community is very evident with the staff

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