Matter of McLaughlin

We recently had occasion to remark on the unhappy reality that “attorneys are not immune from the dangers of drug addiction.” In re Kinnear, 105 N.J. 391, 394 (1987). That observation was supported by the lamentable statistic that in the 1986 Term of Court we have disbarred two lawyers and suspended two others based on their drug-related activities. One of those disbarred was a participant in a major criminal narcotics conspiracy. Id. at 394. The conclusion is thus inescapable that the slope of illicit drug use is slippery indeed, leading to a pit at the bottom of which awaits professional…