How an Addicted Lawyer Hit Rock Bottom and Not Only Reclaimed His Life But Now Helps Others -

At: the Fairmont in the Quebec Room

Darryl Singer is a dynamic public speaker. As someone who has dealt with and successfully recovered from addiction and depression, he draws upon what he has learned through those experiences to help his audiences help themselves and others in similar situations.

Speaking with incredible vulnerability and passion, he illustrates with personal examples from the collapse and rebuilding of his life to deliver a message of hope.Darryl has over 24 years experience as a trial lawyer. He writes and speaks extensively within the legal profession about addiction, mental health issues, recovery, time and stress management, and work/life balance.

He is the Wellness Columnist for The Lawyer’s Daily, one of the two major newspapers servicing the legal profession in Ontario. His national column for the Globe and Mail in February 2017 sparked such a positive response that Darryl realised his message to lawyers had wider application.

After almost 16 unblemished professional years, during which he taught the professional ethics module for the Law Society in Ontario, Darryl found himself suffering from a major depression.

He began to self-medicate with prescription narcotics, leading to a full blown addiction, divorce, the deterioration of his law practice, an ultimately trouble with the regulator which resulted in a 30 day suspension.

At the point at which he could have lost it all, Darryl found the intestinal fortitude to turn take charge of his recovery.

He turned himself over to the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Plan and with the help of their professional staff and peer mentors, along with intervention from his physicians, Darryl closed his practice in 2009 and spent the better part of a year working full time on his recovery.

Darryl was able by January of 2010 to defeat his addiction and depression, and start his new law firm from scratch. Darryl’s story is one of second chances and hope for those presently in despair.

Darryl has achieved a level of calm, gratitude and contentedness in his personal and professional life he never imagined possible.

He has rebuilt his practice and his life beyond where he it had been before the crash, uses the lessons he has learned in recovery, along with his other life experiences to inspire others to find balance in their lives and achieve their goals.

Host: Karl Kremer