LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – David Mann of “The Other Bar” will address members of the legal profession on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at noon in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes, Lakeport.

Mann will examine the brain chemistry of addiction and alcoholism, will discuss the behavioral and health consequences of the disease, and will discuss the unusually high incidence of alcoholism and drug addiction found among members of the legal profession, estimated to be 7 to 8 percent higher than the incidence found in the general population.

In over half the cases in which lawyers face disciplinary charges, alcoholism and/or addiction is involved.

The presentation is sponsored by the Lake County Bar Association as part of its on-going series of seminars that provide Continuing Legal Education to members of the local legal community.

The seminar is $15 for attorney-members of the Lake County Bar Association and for paralegals and $35 for non-member attorneys.

David Mann is a graduate of Ohio State University and Stanford Law School. He served as a deputy public defender in San Francisco before becoming a solo criminal defense practitioner.

After 12 years of practice, substance abuse-related issues caused him to resign from the bar with disciplinary charges pending.

Following a relentless battle with addiction which included numerous hospitalizations and periods of living on the streets, he succeeded in getting clean and sober in 1998.

Since then he has worked, among other things, as a cab driver, a private investigator, a paralegal, and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor.

He presently serves as the Northern California Consultant to The Other Bar, a statewide organization of recovering attorneys, judges, and law students.

In this capacity, he spends his time providing outreach and education to the legal community, and assisting attorneys as they struggle with substance abuse and related challenges that threaten their ability and/or eligibility to practice law.