There have long been rumours of substance abuse in the legal profession but a new survey reveals that this is an increasingly familiar phenomenon:

One partner claims he knows “people who just make a phone call from their office and nip down to reception to pick up their delivery” – something that happens in every big law firm, he claims.

The survey, by the magazine Legal Business, also says that there is evidence of “cocaine clubs” in law firms’ basements and of partner-led games of poker and taking cocaine with clients. But it also finds that law firms are ignorant or indifferent to the problem. One lawyer is quoted: “I spanked £100,000 on cocaine in one year and no one noticed.”
And apparently…

“The legal profession, unlike other classic professions such as medicine and teaching, does not give a damn, as long as you are profitable.”

Neil Brener , a consultant psychiatrist with the Priory Group, said: “One eighth of my entire practice is made up of members of the legal profession. Substance abuse is absolutely endemic.”
The findings are backed by statistics from LawCare , a charity that helps lawyers with work-related health problems such as stress, depression and addictive illnesses.

Then of course there is booze:

It [LawCare ] says 30 per cent of male lawyers and 20 per cent of female lawyers drink to excess.

According to Jim Baxter, editor of Legal Business “Lawyers are in demanding and stressful jobs, working long hours and earning very large salaries… But unlike banks and other financial institutions, lawyers seem to be left to their own devices.”

What are your experiences, do you share an office with a group of smacked-out alcoholics?

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