A culture of long hours and stress are driving increasing numbers of lawyers to drink and drugs, both within and outside the workplace.
Times Online has a piece, “Long hours and stress drive lawyers to drink and drugs [1],” on a survey published this week by Legal Business [2], that shows alcohol and drug abuse to be “endemic” among lawyers in big, City firms. One unfortunate soul, a partner in a big London firm, claims to have spent £100,000 on cocaine in a year “and nobody noticed.”
As the stress caused by the financial collapse works its way through the system, lawyers are bound to be even more pressured, if such a thing were possible.
In Canada there are lawyer assistance programs in:
- Alberta [3]
- British Columbia [4]
- Manitoba [5]
- New Brunswick [6]
- Newfoundland [7]
- Northwest Territories [8]
- Nova Scotia [9]
- Nunavut [10]
- Ontario [11]
- Quebec [Avocats] [12]
- Quebec [Notaires] [13]
- Saskatchewan [14]
- Yukon [4]
As well, LPAC [15] (Legal Profession Assistance Conference) maintains a 24-hour helpline at 1.800.667.5722.