Although colleagues and attorneys were shocked that a justice on Houston's First Court of Appeals resigned this week after it became public she has Alzheimer's disease, experts say the problem of dementia in the legal profession is more common than many think.

Justice Laura Carter Higley retired only two weeks after her sons, who are seeking guardianship over her, told a Houston probate court about her dementia diagnosis. Because it's a growing problem as the population of older attorneys increases—17% of Texas' 103,300 attorneys are 65 or older—the State Bar of Texas in recent years has been teaching about what to do when attorneys face cognitive impairment.

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Read more: Appellate Attorneys Shocked at Justice's Alzheimer's Diagnosis, Resignation

Texas Lawyer spoke with Chris Ritter, director of the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program, to learn the issues that come up when attorneys or judges keep practicing with cognitive impairment, the signs for colleagues to look out for, and how to get help.

Chris Ritter Chris Ritter, director of the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program. Courtesy photo

Some people may be shocked a justice was still serving with neurocognitive disorder for two years, but from what I understand, this is more common than you'd think in the legal profession. Can you explain how often this happens among older attorneys?

According to research, dementia—Alzheimer's is a form of dementia—it happens very frequently. One in six females and one in 10 males will have dementia at some point. I do think this is very common. What it means really depends upon the severity of the case.

What are the issues or problems that come up when an attorney or judge is still practicing with a cognitive impairment?

Any time there's an impairment, it can affect our ability to do the job, to represent clients. If an attorney is impaired, they're definitely going to have more risk of making mistakes. With depression, which is an impairment, attorneys struggle to do the work, and when these kinds of things happen, there can be more risk of grievances and other problems.

I spoke with attorneys and colleagues who knew Justice Higley, and they said they didn't notice any changes in her, except one close friend noticed she had memory lapses that didn't seem out of the ordinary. What are the signs that an attorney can look out for so that they will know when a friend or colleague is struggling with these problems?

We have a website that has resources for people to look at to learn more about what to look for and what to do if we are worried about a colleague. Changes in behavior, confusion, uncharacteristic memory problems and many other signs can be indicators. They can also be symptoms of other issues. That's why it's important that we not make assumptions and get professional help.

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Read more about the symptoms:

Where can concerned colleagues, or the actual attorney who has a cognitive impairment, turn to for help?

Any attorney or law student or families of those people can call the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program, and we can visit and figure out what resources will be appropriate and help connect people to the needed resources. The Alzheimer's association helpline has a free service. It's a national hotline and it's clinically staffed. We're happy to connect them to all of the resources.

People can call our program anonymously and we'll share all the resources we have. We are confidential by statute, and we never share any information about anyone we work with.

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