Ashley Hart on leading Indiana’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP)

Ashley Hart, the new executive director of Indiana’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, discusses her path from dual degree student at McKinney School of Law and the IU School of Social Work to leading JLAP’s interdisciplinary team. She explains JLAP’s mission to provide confidential and compassionate support to judges, lawyers, law students, bar applicants, and court employees, along with the program’s outreach efforts, volunteer network, therapy dog team, and statewide services. Hart also talks about evolving mental health needs in the legal profession, secondary trauma, support groups, law school outreach, physical wellbeing, and JLAP’s role in voluntary and formal monitoring cases. She highlights 2026 goals including volunteer engagement, staff training, crisis response services, and continued education efforts across Indiana’s legal community.