Alcohol & Drug Treatment for Lawyers: Part II Facts about Addiction

This is the second article in a series on addiction treatment for attorney. Read Part I on Addiction Treatment for Lawyers.

At any given moment, a typical drug or alcohol treatment center will have patients from all walks of life. Vast differences may exist in age, sex, education level, family status, job type and socio-economic status. However, the treatment center participants are all united in their addiction and the desire to get and stay sober. But, if we were permitted to take a closer look, I bet we’d find that lawyers are represented no more frequently than any other type of worker. In fact, they probably enter addiction treatment centers less often than other individuals.

Why is this bad? Why should we not applaud the fact that attorneys are not in rehab as often as everybody else? Simply put, a lawyer is twice as likely to need an addiction treatment center than a non-attorney. The fact that attorneys are not taking up their fair share of treatment center beds, and then some, should be cause for great concern.

Roughly 10% of American adults suffer from alcoholism, which is defined as a frequent intoxication that negatively impacts health, quality of life, and professional ability. However, a very conservative estimate puts the number of alcoholic US lawyers at approximately 20%. This is an enormous problem that cannot be easily solved and likely results from a combination of alcoholism risk factors and personality.

Worse still, the alcoholism often presents with other mental health issues, the most common one being depression. A 1991 Johns Hopkins University study found that lawyers were the most depressed out of roughly 12,000 workers. It has been suggested that lawyers are three times more likely (26%) to experience symptoms of clinical depression, a condition that also leads to client neglect and legal malpractice, than other workers.

So, why is it that lawyers are twice as likely to become addicted to drugs or alcohol and three times more likely to be depressed? Although genetics can clearly play a role in both depression and substance abuse, the legal profession is a magnet for people with addictive personality traits and exploits risk factors.

Lawyers are often responsible for the property, freedom, or even lives of their clients. Clients, opposing counsel and judges expect them to be an expert in their field, no matter how long they have been practicing or the depth of their experience. This is a huge responsibility that carries with it inevitable stress and burnout. Add to it constant adversarial interactions with opposing counsel, expectation of billable hours, and, unlike in other careers, the catastrophic consequences of missed deadlines or simple mistakes, it is easy to see why lawyers become depressed and turn to alcohol or drugs to relieve the constant pressure.

Career burnout is extremely common in the legal community and often results in clinical depression. High levels of stress over a period of time lead to apathy, negative feelings about the legal professional in general, a decline in productivity, increased illness, and difficulty getting along with others. These feelings are constant, affecting the lawyer’s career, performance and personal life. Given the strong connection between depression and alcoholism, it is important to be aware of the increased risk of drug or alcohol abuse in a burned out or depressed attorney.

While by no means a truism for all lawyers, certain individuals and personality types are drawn to the practice of law. Some attorneys believe that they need to be aggressive, confrontational, and downright boorish to be a zealous advocate for the client. Although I disagree that this approach actually wins cases, it doesn’t change the fact that these lawyers exist. However, when the lawyer goes home at night to deal with her family she must leave that version of her personality at the office or risk alienating or harming loved ones. This need to regulate emotion often pushes the individual toward drugs and alcohol as a way to counteract the aggressive behavior waiting just underneath the surface. If unable to make the transition between office and home personalities, the lawyer will likely experience relationship and familial issues, leading to separation, divorce and, likely, either depression, substance abuse or a combination of the two.

Given that roughly 25% of all attorneys in the United States suffer either from depression, substance abuse, or a combination of both, it is not surprising that the legal community has acknowledged that a problem exists. Each US state, as well as Canada and the UK, has established a Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) to help attorneys deal with substance abuse or mental health issues. Many programs work with state bar disciplinary bodies to offer admission to addiction treatment centers or some sort of outpatient addiction treatment program as an alternative to suspension or disbarment for malpractice or incompetence that results from depression or addiction. While the comprehensiveness and success rate of each program varies, these Bar associations should be applauded for endeavoring to protect the integrity of the legal system, individual clients, and the careers of addicted lawyers.

Millie Anne Cavanaugh, Esq. is a Los Angeles immigration lawyer and former insurance defense attorney. She is licensed to practice law in California and Massachusetts. The information contained herein is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as a solicitation for your business or as legal advice on any subject matter. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without seeking independent legal advice.