A survey of gambling behavior among Illinois lawyers and judges shows high rates of problem gambling, though self-reported behavior doesn’t fully pull back the curtain on addiction.
The Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program (LAP) published what it described as a “landmark study based on robust quantitative and qualitative data from a comprehensive survey completed by over 6,700 Illinois lawyers and judges.”
It found that 3% of all respondents engaged in problem gambling, despite only half of all lawyers engaging in gambling at all. It also found that 20% of the lawyers who gambled reported only playing the lottery, a potentially harmful form of gambling but typically less harmful than other forms due to weaker intermittent reinforcement.
Lawyers aged 25-35 are more likely to engage in problematic gambling, with the survey finding that 13% of these respondents self-reported issues. This is no surprise based on many other surveys focusing on U.S. online gambling trends.
Just 3% of those lawyers and judges surveyed who reported problem gambling have sought help.
Again, no surprise here based on other surveys and research. Gambling addiction carries immense stigma, due in large part to the gambling industry’s decades-long campaign of disinformation about the risks and harms associated with its products. The gambling sector is very much like “Big Tobacco.”
It must be noted here that while this survey is likely illustrative of a nationwide issue, Illinois is a state with especially easy access to in-person and online gambling products.
Closer to Home
Anecdotally, I recently interviewed one former lawyer from South Carolina who will be going to prison for crimes related to his gambling addiction. As another anecdote from my work as editor of GamblingHarm.org, on numerous occasions I’ve interviewed Dr. Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute, who is a former lawyer and in recovery from a gambling addiction.
Many other lawyers or former lawyers have courageously put their names out there to raise awareness of gambling addiction.
The Illinois study also looked at alcohol use in the profession, and that appears even more disturbing than gambling. Over 28% of lawyers reported times in the past year when they could not stop drinking or could not control their drinking.
Gambling and drinking often overlap, especially in the extremes.
As the son of a lawyer with a decades-long alcohol problem, with whom I rarely speak and have little relationship, this survey hit close to home for me.
My father, in his 70s, once asked me how he could use a sports betting app to place some NFL bets, and I warned him to avoid those products like the plague. In this personal conversation with my dad, I deliberately overstated the risk of identity theft associated with using a betting app. I felt it was the most convincing way to spook a boomer like him away from online gambling.
As far as I know, he listened to my advice, which almost feels miraculous.
I started covering the online gambling industry 20 years ago, and in 2025 I launched GamblingHarm.org as a news source to keep people informed and, hopefully, away from online gambling products in particular. This often especially applies to lawyers, whose work-related stress often simply does not mix well with gambling.
