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Financial Support

Often, lawyers who come to TLAP have depleted both personal and financial resources.  These issues present considerable challenges to TLAP staff, volunteers and the lawyers in crisis as we try to find solutions, treatment options, mental health professionals, medical care and other local resources to help.

Thankfully there are several sources of possible financial support for Texas lawyers in crisis:

The Pat Sheeran Memorial Trust Fund: In 1995, a group of Texas lawyers created The Pat Sheeran Memorial Trust to provide financial assistance to Texas attorneys who need treatment for substance abuse, chemical dependency, and mental health disorders and who do not have the financial means to pay for necessary medical care. The Trust is administered by a volunteer Board of Trustees who are members of the Texas Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, Inc. (TLCL), a non-profit and sister organization to The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program.

Currently, the trust is funded solely by contributions from individuals. Assistance is provided in the form of a grant, made payable to the specific treatment or service provider. To help protect the corpus of the Trust and to give applicants a significant stake in their own recovery, all applicants are asked to make a moral commitment to repay the grant.  No applicant may be allowed additional grants unless previous grants have been repaid.

For a Sheeran Trust Application and guidelines, click here.

To make a tax deductible donation to the Sheeran Trust, click here.

The Mack Kidd Fund:  Established in January of 2005 as part of the Austin Bar Foundation, the Justice Mack Kidd Fund provides financial support for counseling and medical treatment on a short-term basis for lawyers in the Austin area whose practices have, as a result of depression or a related illness, declined to a point that they can not afford to pay for treatment themselves.
               
For more information, contact DeLaine Ward, Executive Director of the Austin Bar, 512-472-0279 or TLAP, 512-427-1453.

To donate to the Justice Mack Kidd Fund, please send a check payable to the Austin Bar Foundation (with "Justice Mack Kidd Fund" in the memo line) to the Austin Bar Foundation, 816 Congress Ave., Suite 700, Austin, TX 78701.

The Houston Bar Foundation:  The Houston Bar Foundation provides limited temporary financial assistance through to attorneys who qualify and are approved by the Foundation's Board of Directors as being in need of financial assistance.  Contact Houston Bar Association Executive Director, Kay Sim (kays@hba.org or 713-759-1133) for more information.