peter, attorney who died of overdose

How did Peter die?

Peter, one of the most successful people I have ever known, died a drug addict, felled by a systemic bacterial infection common to intravenous users. Of all the heartbreaking details of his story, the one that continues to haunt me is this: The history on his cellphone shows the last call he ever made was for work.

How many lawyers were surveyed after Peter died?

That 2016 report, from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association, analyzed the responses of 12,825 licensed, practicing attorney s across 19 states.

What percentage of lawyers use alcohol?

Of the lawyers that did answer those questions, 5.6 percent used cocaine, crack and stimulants; 5.6 percent used opioids; 10.2 percent used marijuana and hash; and nearly 16 percent used sedatives. Eighty-five percent of all the lawyers surveyed had used alcohol in the previous year. (For comparison sake, about 65 percent of the general population drinks alcohol.)

What percentage of lawyers are drug drinkers?

Over all, the results showed that about 21 percent of lawyers qualify as problem drinkers, while 28 percent struggle with mild or more serious depression and 19 percent struggle with anxiety. Only 3,419 lawyers answered questions about drug use, and that itself is telling, said Patrick Krill, the study’s lead author and also a lawyer. “It’s left to speculation what motivated 75 percent of attorneys to skip over the section on drug use as if it wasn’t there.”

What is Peter's personality?

In many ways, Peter’s personality and abilities read like a wish list of qualities for a lawyer. Trained as a scientist, he approached problems in a deliberative, logical way. He was intelligent, ambitious and most of all hard-working, perhaps because his decision to go to law school was such an enormous commitment — financially, logistically and emotionally — that he could justify it only by being the very best.

Why were Peter and his children never displayed at work?

Snapshots of Peter and his children. These photo moments were never displayed at work because he didn’t want to appear “distracted by family.”. Credit... Photo Illustration by David Brandon Geeting for The New York Times. In many ways, Peter’s personality and abilities read like a wish list of qualities for a lawyer.

What did Peter do in his notebooks?

In the notebooks he used to keep track of injection times and dosages, he also made cryptic notes about client calls and meetings, lists of things needed to prepare documents, filing deadlines.

What did Peter keep in his notebooks?

The notebooks also kept track of his drug injection times and dosages.

Who is Biglaw's ex wife?

The partner’s ex-wife, Eilene Zimmerman, never suspected that her husband Peter’s odd behavior in ...

What caused the death of the Texas lawyer?

The 56-year-old’s high blood pressure and heart disease were listed as secondary causes. The Texas lawyer who was found dead just two days after his youngest daughter's funeral died from an accidental cocaine overdose, officials said.

How did Brian Loncar die?

The 56-year-old's high blood pressure and heart disease were listed as secondary causes, WFAA reported. Texas attorney Brian Loncar died from a cocaine overdose just two days after his youngest daughter's funeral.

What did Peter's ex wife find?

His ex-wife, with whom Peter maintained good relations, found him dead on the floor in his house, near half-filled syringes, a tourniquet, and crushed pills. She had no idea that he was struggling with a severe addiction — reflected in detailed notes the lawyer kept of the times and amounts of his drug injections — although she writes that she noticed wild mood-swings in the months before his death, and voice mails consisting of “meandering soliloquies.”

How many lawyers are alcohol abusers?

The statistics on lawyers and alcohol abuse are grim, and well-known. More than a fifth of all lawyers are problem drinkers, according to last year’s joint report of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Lawyers.

How many lawyers answered the question about drug use?

The statistically-robust report drew responses from 12,825 licensed and practicing lawyers from 19 states. But only 25 percent of respondents answered questions about drug use — out of fear of answering, according to the study’s lead author. Quoted in the NYT story, he said that “I think the incidence of drug use and abuse is significantly underreported,” because in contrast to alcohol use, drug use is illegal.

What was the last call a lawyer made from his cellphone?

Most poignantly, the lawyer kept working right up to the end. The last call he made from his cellphone, his ex-wife wrote, was to dial in to a work conference call, even though he was “vomiting, unable to sit up, slipping in and out of consciousness.”

Do lawyers have to have a CLE for substance abuse?

Some states, like my home state of Ohio, have moved away from a specific substance-abuse requirement; since rule amendments in 2014, many subjects qualify to meet our “professional conduct” CLE requirement, so a lawyer never needs to have any substance abuse CLE.