Drugs in the legal profession (1 Viewer)

[BillytheFIsh]

From crikey.com.au:

Cocaine and the law: not just one-way traffic

Date: Wednesday, 16 May 2007

Peter Faris QC writes:

We know from the media that prominent Melbourne barrister Peter Hayes QC is on life-support and fighting for his life in an Adelaide hospital. Although the evidence of the cause of this has not yet been released, we know that a call-girl has been charged with injecting drugs into him.

The suggestion is that this is a tragic consequence of the party lifestyle of some prominent citizens where recreational drug-taking, particularly cocaine use, is common.

I know Peter Hayes and have been with him and against him in a number of cases. Peter is a good bloke and a brilliant lawyer. This is a tragedy. It is such a terrible waste. I have chosen to publish my views in the vain hope that this tragedy will not occur to others.

I have had anecdotal evidence over the last seven years or so that cocaine is the drug of choice of high-flyers on the Melbourne legal scene. I am now getting reports that it's worse in Sydney.

Obviously I do not have evidence of all this, but the reports that I have are sufficiently common to make the matter very disturbing. Irrespective of the actual circumstances that have laid Hayes low, the incident has served to bring the broader issue to the surface. I note that David Galbally QC has made similar comments to the media about cocaine use in the legal profession.

About seven years ago, prominent Melbourne solicitor Andrew Fraser was arrested, charged and jailed over cocaine offences. Fraser has been recently released from jail and is now clean. He is about to publish a book on his experiences.

At the time of Fraser’s arrest, there was a number of Melbourne QCs and senior lawyers who were named by the Bar rumour-mill as being users of cocaine. A number of police have told me that Fraser discussed, on his telephone, the cocaine habits of lawyers with them and with suppliers. These discussions were recorded by the police. I believe that tapes are still in the possession of the police. They have never been made public.

Perhaps if something had been done about it seven years ago, Peter Hayes would not be fighting for his life. I don’t know.

I also don’t know what the solution is but I do hope that the Hayes incident is a wake-up call.

Cocaine is an expensive drug which is largely used by wealthy people indulging in a party lifestyle. There can be no dispute that it is common in the media and amongst certain sportsmen. It is absurd to think that it's not a problem for wealthy lawyers as well.

When we witness the tragedy of young people dying from drug overdoses, we sometimes (partly) explain it by youth and immaturity. That makes it all the more shocking if some of the leaders of the legal profession are risking death by the use of cocaine. What a waste.

So there you go kids... you got HEAPS to look forward to!

As a personal real life story, I'm pretty sure one of the solicitors I work with is a coke dealer. Maybe testing isn't such a bad idea.

 

[Ennaybur]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

I always say try everything once. If it works, don't let a good thing go.

 

[Frigid]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

and along i thought it was parmesan that they sprinkled on my caesar salad...

 

[iwannarock]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

i wonder if i'll ever become a good enough lawyer to reach the pinnacle of an over indulgent party lifestyle and the wonders of cocaine.

 

[UWS-Uni-Student]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

Has been around for years, I remember a similar story in 2003 or there abouts

 

[w2dot]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

I hear some surgeons and other health professionals do that do drugs as well...certain types are easy for them to get

 

[iwannarock]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

i don't know why it'd cause such a shock.

drugs like coke and heroin aren't confined to criminals and lower class citizens.

i guess because nobody wants to acknowledge the fact that even well respected members of the community working in professions such as law, medicine and other business would be hardcore heroine or coke addicts.

 

[melsc]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

The shock is feigned so that people wont suspect them of doing coke

Seriously though who doesnt know that lawyers are big drugos?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

Prominent QC dies

22 May 2007
Clare Buttner, Lawyers Weekly

MELBOURNE LAWYER Peter Hayes QC has died in an Adelaide hospital, 11 days after being found unconscious in a hotel room.

Adelaide police spokeswoman, acting inspector Denise Gray, told AAP that police had been informed of 54-year-old Hayes’s death, but could not confirm when he died. "I know that the detectives were notified but I don’t know exactly what time," she said.

Hayes had been in a coma in the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s intensive care unit after being found naked and unconscious in his Stamford Plaza Hotel room by client, former bikie gang member Tony Sobey.

The barrister was in Adelaide to represent Sobey in a Federal Court case over a failed investment scheme.

Hayes, a lawyer since 1973 who took silk in 1988, specialised in alternative dispute resolution, banking and finance, bankruptcy, commercial law and corporations and securities.

A 28-year-old Kilburn woman, who had dinner with Hayes on the evening before he died, has been summonsed to appear in court for allegedly administering a drug of dependence to Hayes.

Claims that drug use is common within the upper echelons of the legal profession have been the subject of public debate since Hayes was found. Melbourne barrister Peter Faris QC told Lawyers Weekly that cocaine use is rife among barristers and solicitors at parties and in social settings.

However, Victorian Bar Council chairman Michael Shand QC has dismissed Faris' claims as unsubstantiated.

.

 

[Newbie]

Re: Lawyers doing coke? NO WAY!

dont you need reasonable cause to suspect?


me and frigid are going to do the big deals in the office and big hits in the toilet