SOLACE: A Framework for Mutual Support Within the Legal Community
The legal profession demands resilience, yet even the most accomplished attorneys and legal professionals are not immune to personal crisis. It is in recognition of this reality that SOLACE — Support of Lawyers/Legal Personnel, All Concern Encouraged — was established. Since its founding in 2002, the program has grown into a nationally recognized mutual aid network that enables members of the legal community to assist one another during times of significant need.
Background and Origins
SOLACE was co-founded in New Orleans by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey of the Eastern District of Louisiana and attorney Mark Surprenant, then-president of the New Orleans Bar Association. The program emerged from a personal experience: shortly after Judge Zainey took the bench, the wife of his colleague Surprenant suffered a serious illness. When Zainey offered assistance, Surprenant indicated his family could manage independently. The exchange prompted Zainey to consider how many members of the legal community might find themselves in genuine need yet lack the infrastructure to request or receive meaningful support. SOLACE was developed to address that gap.
The program gained considerable traction following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when attorneys across Louisiana utilized the SOLACE network to coordinate housing, office space, law library access, and other critical resources for displaced colleagues. That response demonstrated the program’s capacity to mobilize quickly and effectively at scale.
Program Structure and Operations
Requests submitted through SOLACE vary considerably in nature and scope. The program operates under the principle that no request is too significant or too modest to warrant attention. Documented examples include the arrangement of a medical consultation at the Mayo Clinic within 24 hours of a request being circulated, the coordination of housing near a major cancer treatment facility for an attorney undergoing long-term care, and the provision of airline miles and vacation accommodations to enable a terminally ill attorney to fulfill a commitment to her children. In each case, the response from the legal community was both prompt and substantive.
National Expansion
From its origins as a Louisiana initiative, SOLACE has expanded significantly. By 2015, programs were active in more than 20 states and Puerto Rico. By 2016, that presence had grown to 24 states, and the Federal Bar Association formally adopted the program as a benefit of national membership. The American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs has similarly drawn on the SOLACE model in developing its own support infrastructure.
The program’s response to the 2016 Louisiana floods further illustrated its operational effectiveness. Within hours of the disaster, SOLACE members were providing displaced colleagues with housing, office space, equipment, clothing, and legal coverage. A request submitted on behalf of a terminally ill child of a legal community member was fulfilled overnight, with a municipal official confirming that all requested items had been dispatched.
Conclusion
SOLACE functions because it is grounded in the professional bonds that already exist within the legal community. It requires no significant financial commitment from participating members, yet it yields a network capable of responding to crises with speed, compassion, and coordination. No money is given directly to someone in need, instead resources are sourced and if the community can assist they will; while SOLACE will do their best to help, no one can guarantee that someone will be available to assist.
For more information, please visit the Federal Bar Association SOLACE program: https://www.fedbar.org/about-us/outreach/solace/
If you have had a personal crisis and are part of the legal community, please reach out to Judge Jay Zainey at jay_zainey@laed.uscourts.gov to see if the community can help.
