§221. Bar Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Judges and Lawyers Assistance
Program; privilege, confidentiality, and immunity
A. Statement of public policy.
(1) Judges and lawyers are no less susceptible than any other citizen of Louisiana
to mental health issues, including but not limited to alcoholism, drug addiction, depression,
burnout, and dementia. These impairments pose serious health and ethical issues for
members of the Louisiana State Bar Association.
(2) Successful treatment for mental health issues can be initiated years earlier than
might otherwise be possible, by the use of counseling by peers or an intervention process.
Intervention in cases of alcoholism and drug addiction involves peer counseling and
confronting the person with specific instances of misconduct or abnormal behavior caused
by alcohol or drug use, as recited to the subject of the intervention by fact reporters such as:
family members, peers, friends, coworkers, employers, or other concerned individuals who
have first-hand knowledge of such incidents and who are acting under the guidance of a
trained intervenor.
(3) Recognizing that members of the judiciary and Louisiana State Bar Association
have a strong interest in securing the competent administration of justice for citizens of
Louisiana, and in upholding the dignity and respect of the judicial branch of government and
legal profession, the Louisiana State Bar Association has created the Judges and Lawyers
Assistance Program, Inc., and the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the purpose
of providing counseling and intervention services for judges, lawyers, law students, and other
members of the legal profession who may suffer from mental health issues. Members of the
legal profession and the judiciary are encouraged to seek out the counseling and intervention
services of the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., and shall feel confident that
their participation in the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., will be confidential
and privileged in all respects and shall not be divulged to the public in any way.
(4) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the state of Louisiana to promote
and encourage the use of counseling by peers and the intervention process in order to initiate
successful treatment of mental health issues among members of the legal profession. The
intent of this Section is to further this goal by providing for a privilege, confidentiality of
information, and tort immunity for the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Louisiana
State Bar Association's Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Judges and Lawyers
Assistance Program, Inc., the Louisiana Bar Foundation, their officers, directors, agents and
employees, and persons who furnish information and who participate as volunteers in the
programming offered by the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc.
B. Privilege and confidentiality.
(1) Any information, report, or record, whether written or oral, that the Committee
on Alcohol and Drug Abuse of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Judges and Lawyers
Assistance Program, Inc., or any member, or employee, or agent of either generates, receives,
gathers, or maintains is confidential and privileged. No member of the Committee on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse, or agent, or employee of the Judges and Lawyers Assistance
Program, Inc., may disclose that information, report or record without written approval of
the subject judge, lawyer, law student, or other member of the legal profession. No person
shall be required to disclose, by way of testimony or otherwise, privileged information or to
produce, under subpoena, any records, documentary evidence, opinions, or decisions relating
to such privileged information:
(a) In connection with any civil or criminal case or proceeding.
(b) By way of any discovery procedure.
(2) Nothing herein shall prohibit members of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug
Abuse or any employee or agent of the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., from
sharing among themselves information, reports, or records about a judge, lawyer, law
student, or other member of the legal profession for the purpose of helping the judge, lawyer,
law student, or other member of the legal profession recover from problems with alcohol,
drug abuse, or any other mental health issue.
(3) This law is supplementary to any other law or statute or rule of the Supreme
Court of Louisiana relative to a privilege and confidentiality for such information.
C. Civil immunity.
(1) Any licensed lawyer, and his supporting staff, shall be immune from civil liability
for, or resulting from, any act, decision, omission, communication, writing, report, finding,
opinion, or conclusion, done by or made in good faith while engaged in efforts to assist
judges, lawyers, law students, or other members of the legal profession in connection with
substance abuse or mental health counseling or intervention pursuant to the programs of the
Louisiana State Bar Association's Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse or the Judges and
Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., or in the performance of his or her duties as a member
or agent of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse of the Louisiana State Bar
Association or agent or as an agent, employee, or officer or director of the Judges and
Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., which function primarily to provide assistance in the form
of counseling and intervention for any judge, lawyer, law student, or other member of the
legal profession suspected of having an impaired ability to function professionally because
of his or her abuse of the use of alcohol or other drug, or due to any other mental health issue.
The Louisiana State Bar Association, its Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the
Louisiana Bar Foundation, and the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., and their
officers, directors, committees, employees, servants, and agents shall also be immune from
civil liability for any acts or omissions made or done or resulting from any of the following:
(a) The program of the Louisiana State Bar Association's Committee on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse or the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc.
(b) Any act, decision, omission, communication, writing, report, finding, opinion,
or conclusion of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, or the Judges and Lawyers
Assistance Program, Inc., or any of their members, agents, or employees.
(c) The establishment of programs or activities of such committee or corporation or
the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
(2) A person who in good faith reports information or takes action in connection with
any program of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse or the Judges and Lawyers
Assistance Program, Inc., is immune from civil liability for reporting information or taking
any action set forth in Paragraph (C)(1) of this Section or participating therein and in
particular any counseling or intervention effort under the auspices of the Committee on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse or the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc. This
immunity shall not protect a person who makes a report known to be false, or with reckless
disregard for the truth.
(3) The civil immunity provided by this Section shall be liberally construed to
accomplish the purposes of this Chapter.
(4) Any persons or organization claiming immunity under this Section is presumed
to have acted in good faith in the performance of legitimate duties. A person alleging a lack
of good faith or its opposite, bad faith, has the burden of proof on that issue beyond a
reasonable doubt. Bad faith, or lack of good faith, shall mean conduct which is capricious,
arbitrary, or the result of prejudice, and which is without any rational basis.
(5) In any civil action against any party claiming immunity hereunder, the
complaining party shall proceed in accordance with the following:
(a) By verified petition.
(b) By clear and fact-specific allegations, in the absence of which, an action shall be
dismissed.
(c) Issues of immunity are issues of law and must be disposed of preliminarily as a
matter of law.
(d) The plaintiff shall have the burden of establishing the defendant's lack of good
faith, or bad faith, and lack of good faith, or bad faith, must be proven beyond a reasonable
doubt. Lack of good faith, or bad faith, shall mean conduct which is capricious, arbitrary,
or the result of prejudice and which is without any rational basis.
(e) In the event a claimant shall be unsuccessful, said claimant must pay any
successful defendant's reasonable attorney fees.
(f) By discovery, no claimant may compel any defendant to disclose information or
the sources of that information which are privileged or confidential.
(6) The immunity provided by this Section is in addition to any other immunity
provided by law.
(7) Any liability insurer of any party entitled to civil immunity hereunder shall be
entitled to the same immunity as that to which its insured shall be entitled.
(8) The immunity granted under this Section shall be retroactive.