Assist In Your Community
Assist has been present in the Alberta legal community for over twenty years. To stay better connected with you and your family, we have created an on-line newsletter, Assist in Your Community. Our goal is to raise awareness of important issues affecting lawyers and help the legal community lead physically and mentally healthy lives.
Assist has reached an important milestone this year by delivering peer support to Alberta lawyers. This issue will tell you about what the program offers.
Professional counselling remains our core service, with more individuals accessing this free and confidential help, customized for lawyers. Still, we know that we are not reaching everyone who needs help. To raise awareness and affirm wellness, we have planned a walk on Wednesday, August 24th. We hope you can join us.
Unfortunately, Alberta saw first-hand the devastation of forest fires in Slave Lake. We report how Assist joined the legal community to help in the aftermath.
Thank you for supporting our vision of wellness for lawyers. We hope you are engaged in our first issue and enjoy a moment to reflect on your wellbeing.
Sincerely,
The Assist Team
Slave Lake
Upon hearing news of the fires in Slave Lake, Assist acted as a first point of contact with the lawyers in the area to inform lawyers of legal and community resources available. Together with Pro Bono Law, Legal Aid and Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Alberta, Assist helped source a roster of volunteer lawyers that lead to a toll-free hotline, offering legal information. Our thoughts are with the Slave Lake community as they re-build.
Lessons learned: if you are a rural practitioner, do you have a contingency plan for your files? What is the best trust accounting practice for small rural practitioners?
To learn more visit http://www.legalaid.ab.ca/slavelake
Slave Lake Legal Hotline News Release
Peer Support
Assist has been offering confidential peer support to the legal community for over 20 years. In 2010, the program was formalized so that official training is now offered and the program’s mandate made clear. The Peer Support program is available to all lawyers and law students in Alberta. The official Peer Support volunteer training sessions were held in November 2010 and June 2011 in both Calgary and Edmonton, with great success. The program has trained 20 volunteers thus far and continues to grow. Lawyers in Alberta who are willing to listen and share knowledge of resources may apply to become Peer Support volunteers.
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