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The Austin Bar Foundation is pleased to announce the development and implementation of a crisis assistance pilot program designed to assist lawyers in the greater Austin area who need to temporarily step away from practice.
A presentation about the Austin Bar Foundation Lawyer Crisis Assistance Program (“CAP”) was held at the Local Bar Leaders Conference in Houston on July 25.
The professional continuity of a law practice, whether it is the practice of a sole practitioner or a law partnership, can be interrupted by an attorney’s substance abuse, mental health challenges, physical illness, and other reasons. This program was developed as a pilot program in connection with various stakeholders in the legal community to fill the gap when the impacted lawyer needs to temporarily (up to 90 days) step away from practice.
Once the applicant’s application is accepted by CAP, the program matches the attorney with volunteer lawyers in the same or similar practice area who are willing to temporarily assist with the impacted attorney’s cases while the impacted attorney steps away to care for their mental and/or physical health. Prior to participation in the program, the impacted attorney must designate a custodian attorney with the State Bar of Texas, as well as grant the program permission to privately notify the courts in which the attorney has pending cases.
To assist in launching the program, the Austin Bar Foundation awarded CAP a $15,000 grant using funds raised at the 2025 Annual Austin Bar Foundation Gala. This money will be used to cover expenses related to the program and the impacted attorney’s practice.
The Austin Bar Association and the Austin Bar Foundation developed CAP to serve as a template for bar associations throughout the state after the need was identified by State Bar of Texas Immediate Past President Steve Benesh. The Austin Bar CAP program is currently designed to assist civil law practitioners, with plans to expand to the criminal bar in the coming year.
The Austin Bar Foundation would like to thank Justice Chari Kelly, Judge Catherine Mauzy, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, Steve Benesh, Dean Shaffer with the State Bar of Texas, Austin Bar Executive Director DeLaine Ward, Austin Bar Immediate Past President and Foundation Chair Mary-Ellen King, Doug Lawrence with the Austin Bar Foundation, Michelle Fontenot and Paul Jacobs with TLAP, and Austin Bar Summer Intern Grace Kerkbashian for their critical role in developing and launching this program in record time. The first planning meeting of the stakeholders was held in February 2025, and the first application was received in June 2025.
The Austin Bar Association and the Austin Bar Foundation remain committed to their members and are honored to offer this critical resource to impacted lawyers who find themselves needing to temporarily step away from practice to focus on their own health and well-being.
For more information on the program, please contact DeLaine Ward at delaine@austinbar.org, 512-472-0279 ext 104.
Austin Bar Foundation Chair Mary-Ellen King, middle, gave a presentation on the Austin Bar Foundation’s Crisis Lawyer Assistance Program at the 2025 Local Bar Leaders Conference held in Houston. (L-R): State Bar of Texas Immediate Past President Steve Benesh, Austin Bar President Maitreya Tomlinson, King, and planning committee members Paul Jacobs and Dean Schaffer have all been instrumental in the planning and execution of the Austin Bar Foundation’s Lawyer Crisis Assistance Program.