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22 J U L Y 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m hen Vassilios Apos- tolopoulos had fall- en to the lowest depth of his life, he didn't have to go back to law, after all he had made mistakes, given up practising, and been disbarred. He could have chosen to take other routes on the road to rebuilding his life. He had other interests, other degrees — he had been working on his doctorate in political science when he switched to law. But to not go back wasn't an option for him. "It would have been easier," admits Apostolopoulos, recounting the first step he took on the road to rebuilding his life during an interview in the 56th-floor board room at Toronto's First Canadian Place, where he has resumed his practice since having his licence reinstated in 2012. "I would also relinquish the opportunity to make an impact. The legal profession still remains caught in the social web of stigma and its many manifestations — some subtle, some stark and adverse, some silent but equally consequential for those who have to bear the brunt and burden of this living force we call stigma." Apostolopoulos' star was rising when he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1993. He was third in his class, won three prizes, and was invited to com- pete for a clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada. He then joined Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP after articling there. Within a decade, his marriage and other relationships had fallen apart, he was isolated and homeless, his life little more than a shell. He had been disbarred for failing to account for $102,400, the proceeds of the sale of his client's busi- ness, and for failing to follow up on an undertaking with another lawyer to file a mortgage discharge. All the while he lacked any perspective about what was happening to him and around him. He had suffered from serious C R O S S E X A M I N E D BRONWEN SHARP Making lemon aid Vassilios Apostolopoulos is using his personal experiences to help other lawyers overcome the stigma of mental health. By Marg. Bruineman W