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may avoid intervening on behalf of the lawyer if they feel the timing of the event wouldpose economic concerns for the firm, such as the delay of a matter set for trial.C. What's Being Done?While alcoholism and substance abuse have been major causes of negligence claimsand disciplinary complaints in the legal profession for quite some time, it is only inrecent decades that bar associations have directly dealt with them. While the AmericanMedical Association began a program for impaired physicians in 1972, it was not until1988 that the American Bar Association set up its Commission on Impaired Attorneys. 25Just as national bar associations have begun examining and focusing on the disease ofaddiction, so have state and provincial bar associations begun examining what they cando for lawyers. Todd C. Scott, Vice President of Member Services and RiskManagement at Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, notes that a lawyerassistance program or committee now exists in every state, whereas 25 years ago only15 states had programs for lawyers who abuse drugs and alcohol. 26 Lawyer AssistanceProgram (LAPs) now have an impressive array of resources to provide services andsupport to lawyers and law students in need, backed by an army of recovering lawyersand counselors sympathetic to the stresses and difficulties of trying to make it in thelegal profession.25 See note 9, supra.26 See note 4, supra.11