I remember having to sit through the substance abuse part of 1L orientation. Where they told us repeatedly how alcoholism among lawyers is rampant. When they told us about lawyer assistance programs. All of it culminating in the outright corny moment where they made us stand, raise our right hand, and give some sort of oath. The whole thing made me roll my eyes as I was reminded of D.A.R.E. from my days in grade school

But as I watch the very sad video accompanying this article on the courtTV website, as reported here by law.com blog among others, I realize how serious of an issue alcohol is among attorneys and I appreciate the efforts to curtail it a little more.

Apparently the lawyer in this video was late to court, was acting and smelled drunk, admitted to taking shots of tequila "the night before" the taped court appearance (a.k.a. 5 in the morning to most people), and had a beer during lunch the day before prior to jury selection. But he didn't think he was not jeopardizing his client's position and argued such even after being called out on it all. Like I said, very sad to watch.

I guess my obvious advice here is don't end up like this guy. I'm certainly no expert, but signs of this probably often start in the high pressure world of law school. Heed the warnings of high alcoholism rates among lawyers.