Welcome Lawyer101. I am also very shy and that is why I began drinking. I have found that shyness is very common in alcoholics, and many of us mention shyness as the reason of drinking.
I think we have to learn communication abilities, so we dont have to drink alcohol to socialize. A therapist may be very useful for this. AA also works quite well for this.
Alcoholism is a progressive disease: if you continue drinking, it ALWAYS gets worse, never better. The good news are that it can be stopped by not drinking. Sobriety is actually wonderful.
Sorry, english is not my first language. BTW, I am also a lawyer.