Working in the legal sector is unquestionably a high-stress career. Lawyers not only need to complete years of education, but they must consistently provide measured, informed guidance to their clients. They also deal with people when they are at their worst because of stress.
Mistakes and oversights on the part of an attorney can have devastating consequences for those going through a divorce, responding to a civil lawsuit or facing criminal prosecution. People generally trust their lawyers to provide them with competent representation and to act in their best interests.
Occasionally, clients do not receive the professional standard of services that they expect when hiring a lawyer. In some cases, alcohol abuse can impact the standard of representation an attorney provides. Research shows that an alarming percentage of attorneys may struggle with alcohol abuse. Many lawyers are high-functioning alcoholics who try to hide their habits.
What is a high-functioning alcoholic?
The term high-functioning alcoholic refers to someone who manages to keep their abuse of alcohol relatively private. They might only drink in private settings or in limited amounts so that they never seem completely inebriated.
However, they may regularly be under the influence or coping with a hangover. High-functioning alcoholics often navigate professional and social environments while still under the influence or dealing with the aftermath of overindulgence. In both cases, an attorney may fail to provide a truly professional standard of representation to their clients.
They might provide inappropriate advice or forget key matters because they are under the influence. They might fail to attend hearings and meetings. They could behave in an unprofessional manner while representing a client with devastating consequences.
Clients can hold lawyers accountable for misconduct
A lawyer showing up to work while under the influence of alcohol or providing substandard representation because of their substance abuse has likely deviated from current professional standards. Clients have every reason to expect that their lawyers should behave in a competent, professional manner.
They should be able to trust their lawyers to be present for crucial meetings or hearings and to provide them with advice based on both state statutes and prior judicial precedents. When lawyers engage in unprofessional conduct and cause harm to their clients, the people affected by their professional failures may have the option of initiating a legal malpractice lawsuit.
Legal malpractice litigation can result in financial compensation. They can also create professional consequences for lawyers who let their abuse of alcohol compromise the representation they provide for clients.
Even high-functioning alcoholics who pride themselves on balancing their personal habits with their professional responsibilities can make mistakes because they drink too much. Initiating a legal malpractice lawsuit may be an appropriate reaction from those harmed by the misconduct, negligence or incompetence of a lawyer who struggles with substance abuse issues.
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