Research into the legal profession has indicated that attorneys are significantly more likely to abuse substances than the general population. This doesn’t only affect the attorney, but their coworkers, clients, family and friends as well. Approximately 10-percent of professional lawyers are battling addiction, and the more actively the attorney is practicing, the more likely they become to encounter a problem with addiction. This is due to the intense stress that can be found within the legal profession. Attorneys afflicted with addiction will often show signs of this problem by exhibiting bad work attendance and performance, along with a general decline in their decision making abilities.

Though an attorney’s addiction problems are seldom recognized until their work performance suffers, many attorneys are initially exposed to the lifestyle of addiction in law school, where substance abuse is common and accessible. One theory about the root of this problem is that those in the legal profession realize early on that their own moral systems do not matter to the defense of their client, which in turn suppresses their own healthy expressions of self, emotion and morality. This negatively impacts the individual’s coping abilities and influences them towards the escapism of addiction in times of stress.

It is not uncommon for an attorney to hide their addiction problem, sometimes for years, so as not to damage their reputation. Some attorneys have the option of receiving treatment privately so they do not have to explain it to co-workers. It is becoming more common for legal professionals to seek rehabilitation treatment for addiction, which is positive, but there are still many who suffer through it alone, to the detriment of themselves, those around them and the public’s trust. It is necessary to connect lawyers to the addiction treatment resources they need in order to restore sobriety to their personal and professional lives, and to restore dignity to the legal profession.