Lawyer Assistance Program Support Services

California attorneys (active, inactive, or disbarred), law students, and State Bar applicants can access the Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) services, which include free presentations, short-term counseling, and longer-term support groups.

Short-term counseling

The State Bar provides free, short-term counseling for those who need help with a difficult personal problem or career transition. You can access up to two free one-on-one counseling sessions with a local therapist who specializes in working with legal professionals on any personal issue or concern impacting work productivity—stress, burnout, depression, career concerns, or relationship issues.

For information on individual counseling services, please complete this form or call 800-341-0572.

Career counseling

Please check this page throughout 2026 for new career-related resources as LAP develops materials to support your professional journey.

For individualized career assistance, we recommend contacting your law school’s career services office, which typically offers lifelong support for alumni.

“Be open-minded to it. It absolutely transformed my life. I had no anticipation or expectation of that.” —LAP Participant

Monitored LAP

Do you need to satisfy a specific monitoring or verification requirement imposed by an employer, the Office of Chief Trial Counsel, the State Bar Court, the Office of Admissions, or another entity? If so, see Monitored LAP.

For law students and applicants

After several months of monitored participation in the LAP, State Bar applicants can request that the LAP provide documentation (also known as an insight letter) regarding the applicant’s substance use or mental health issue that can be submitted to the Office of Admissions for use in the moral character determination process.

“The experience was necessary for me to have guidance through a very transitional period in my life, where I had to really examine what I was doing with myself.” —LAP Participant

More information

Contact us

For more information, please complete the LAP/OPC Support Intake Form, give us a call (877-LAP-4HELP or 877-527-4435), or send an email to LAP@calbar.ca.gov. Contacting us is confidential.