The Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program announced on Monday that Chris Ritter will be the next director of the State Bar of Texas substance abuse and mental health initiative.
Ritter will step in for Bree Buchanan, who is retiring at the end of the month. Buchanan will continue to serve as chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and as co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being.
“It’s been such an honor and a highlight of my career to serve the members of our profession, both those who are courageously seeking help for themselves and those who are compassionately seeking help for others,” Buchanan said in a statement.
Ritter has been on staff at TLAP since 2014. He is a former Lubbock County assistant district attorney and past partner at two Lubbock civil litigation firms – Ligget Law Group and Crenshaw Dupree & Milam.
“TLAP means the world to me,” Ritter, who received a master’s degree in clinical mental health this year from Lamar University, said in a statement. “You can’t find a more important cause for the legal world, and it is a personal passion of mine as an attorney in recovery.”