When Online Sports Betting Leads to Ethical Misconduct Brian S. Quinn and Harry Levant October 8, 2026 Summary The rising normalization of online sports betting poses significant ethical risks for lawyers, often leading to addiction and detrimental impacts on their professional responsibilities. With 39 states legalizing sports gambling, the prevalence of compulsive gambling among lawyers is escalating, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and support. The DSM-5 now classifies gambling disorder as a non-substance addiction, reflecting its serious mental health implications and the unique pressures faced by legal professionals. Originally printed in ABA Law Practice Today ( https://www.americanbar.org/ ). When compared with the number of lawyers struggling primarily with mental health and alcohol problems who call a lawyer assistance program (LAP) helpline, there may not be nearly as many calls from lawyers who say, “I’m a gambling addict” or “I’m calling about a lawyer I know who I think may be a compulsive gambler.” I know that when I finally visited a longtime lawyer friend of mine in 2008 and told him I needed legal help, I never mentioned anything about the compulsive gambling that had first led me to resort to the conversion of client funds and a host of other ethical violations. Instead, I chose the obvious. Within minutes, my colleague called Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania and said he was “calling for a friend that had just been arrested for his third DUI.” With my teeth falling out, congestive heart failure, alcoholic neuropathy, holes in my shoes, and, after we add in, for good measure, the empty packets of cocaine that police found in my car, there we have it. Or do we? Hopefully, this article will help you look below the surface—beyond the obvious—and into the world of the lawyer who is impaired by gambling—the silent or “secret” addiction—and how the hyperconnected world, which we rely upon to function daily, has lent itself to an even greater threat to not only our profession but to public health itself. Add to that the stress and anxiety that are already a part of the everyday life of a lawyer, and we have a perfect storm for a new form of impairment—gambling via the internet and, more specifically, sports betting. We live in a world where the proliferation of online apps and advertisements now provides a never-ending stream of opportunities to gamble that has opened a “virtual” Pandora’s box of unintended consequences. Recently, this has expanded to all 50 states with the launch of sports prediction markets. The Supreme Court ultimately may decide whether these platforms meet the legal definition of gambling. However, for the public, they provide an even faster gambling experience. Neither I, my co-author Harry Levant, nor LAPs are opposed to sports gambling any more than we are opposed to the use of alcohol. However, online sports gambling has rapidly become a normalized and socially acceptable activity. The convergence of gambling advertising, sports gambling partnerships, celebrity endorsements, media relationships, and the recently emerging role of artificial intelligence has dramatically altered how the gambling industry delivers, and the public consumes, increasingly complex gambling products. And those products are addictive. For decades, compulsive gambling was the proverbial missing stepchild of the mental health family. We stood ready to help the compulsive gambler, but what was being done to prevent the harm from happening? After all, it’s simply an impulse control disorder, we were told. The onus was clearly placed on the individual to “fix” themselves. But all of that changed in 2013 when the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) recognized gambling disorder as the very first non-substance-related addiction disorder. Gambling disorder is an addiction just like addictions to heroin, opioids, tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine. It also presents with other mental health struggles, which typically include anxiety and depression. Lawyers can be particularly vulnerable because of the often-competitive nature of the practice of law. The risk to lawyers is greatly enhanced because many have access to client funds and/or firm trust accounts. Sadly, untreated gambling disorder may result in lawyers feeding an addiction with behaviors completely inconsistent with ethical duties and responsibilities. In May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Murphy v. NCAA, 584 U.S. 453 (2018), no one could have foreseen what online sports gambling would quickly become. This cleared the way for states to legalize sports gambling. In just eight years, 39 states and the District of Columbia have done so, with 30 states allowing online sports betting as well. And many states quickly passed legislation to reap the profits from additional tax revenue. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2025, bettors in the states with legal sports gambling lost nearly $17 billion. Roughly 10% of young men under 30 are considered problem gamblers. The recently published follow-up to the benchmark 2016 ABA/Krill study confirmed that lawyers under the age of 30 remain the most likely to engage in hazardous drinking. P. R. Krill & J. J. Anker, When Demands Equal Distress: An Updated Understanding of Lawyer Mental Health and Well-being, 415 J. Affective Disorders, art. 122479 (Sept. 2026). So, let’s concentrate on the alcohol problem, you might be saying. What about the impact caused by compulsive or addictive gambling? Every problem gambler is estimated to negatively affect the lives of at least 10 other people. And for the lawyer who is impaired by a gambling disorder, that clearly opens the door to violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of PA is a leader in helping legal professionals and their family members who may be struggling with compulsive online sports gambling. We are the only LAP in the United States that has a national leader in this field in its peer volunteer base. I have asked my colleague and LCL peer volunteer Harry Levant to join me in this conversation. Harry Levant is now Director of Gambling Policy with the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University School of Law and a mental health counselor in private practice with a focus on treating people and families struggling with gambling disorder. He is a valued LAP colleague and peer volunteer. He is also a disbarred Pennsylvania lawyer who stole money from clients, friends, and family members to fuel a gambling addiction. He made his last bet on April 27, 2014, and on that same night nearly took his own life in a suicide attempt. In the past two years, he has emerged as the nation’s leading public health advocate and media expert on sports betting. He has testified as an expert before the US Senate Judiciary, Commerce, and Indian Affairs Committees and helped author the SAFE Bet Act, federal legislation aimed at regulating online sports betting that was introduced in both the US Senate and House of Representatives. In writing this article, I asked Dr. Levant to describe some of the most pressing issues that could lead to a lawyer violating the Rules of Professional Conduct and, indeed, committing a financial crime. He stated, “Online gambling now occurs at light speed and ensures that access to sports gambling action never stops. This new and AI-fueled business model will inexorably result in increased gambling addiction and gambling-related harm.” “The ‘chasing’ of action and/or losses is part of the diagnostic criteria for gambling addiction. Chasing action is also the symptom most closely related to suffering harm. Chasing action is something I see every day when meeting with clients and families suffering the most dire and devastating effects of gambling and gambling addiction. The effects I see in my clinical work include financial ruin, desperation, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, career loss, divorce/separation, criminal behavior, homelessness, co-occurring alcohol and drug disorders, and deep despair.” Keeping in mind the high prevalence rates of alcohol and substance use disorder and mental health issues revealed in the Krill/ABA study, the impact on the legal profession of compulsive online sports betting cannot be overlooked. Indeed, 73% of compulsive gamblers also suffer from an alcohol use disorder. Dr. Levant said, “Younger adults are fixated on the fast-paced action of in-game micro sports betting. And younger lawyers, who are already experiencing higher prevalence rates of issues with alcohol and distressed mental health, are at even greater risk.” As of 2026, 52% of men between the ages of 18 and 49 have active online sports betting accounts. The rise of prediction market companies and platforms such as Kalshi, Polymarket, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics has made sports betting available in all 50 states, despite the fact that 11 states have chosen not to legalize sports betting. Gambling takes place on every micro-event within sporting events, from the speed of the next baseball pitch to every football snap, basketball shot, tennis serve, and even ping-pong point from Russia and Eastern Europe. Live sports for gambling happen around the globe and around the clock, so the action never stops. If it sounds as if sports have become the equivalent of a nonstop slot machine, it’s because it has. My kids used to ask me questions like, “Hey, Dad, what’s a double play?” Now the only question about a “double play” my grandkids may ask is, “Hey, Pop, what’s a Same Game Parlay?” Lawyers are notoriously reluctant to ask for help with any of their problems. They see themselves as “problem solvers” who would never dare reveal that they might need help with their own problems. The fear associated with a possible disciplinary action as the result of an admitted violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct heightens that fear and can delay what we at LCL of PA call “The Big Ask.” That visit to my lawyer friend was over 18 years ago. I didn’t ask for help with my addictions. I needed a lawyer to help me avoid prison and the loss of my home and office to foreclosure. The phone call he made to our LAP did not prevent those things from happening, nor did it help me avoid losing my law license for over five years. But it saved my life. According to the National Institutes of Health, over 40% of compulsive gamblers will commit a financial crime. Rule 8.3(c) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct does not require disclosure of information otherwise protected by Rule 1.6 or information gained by a lawyer or judge while participating in an approved LAP. Calls to an LAP are confidential. Rule 8.3(c) is designed to protect that confidentiality, and many states have additional protections for LAP communications. Your state’s LAP can explain exactly how confidentiality works where you practice. The important thing is to MAKE THE CALL . As Dr. Levant explains, “Gambling disorder is a progressive disease that, left untreated, can become pathological. In my present work as a therapist and policy advocate, I advance the message that prevention of harm is the best form of treatment. With early intervention, a gambling disorder can be treated, and recovery is within reach. We do not want to see lawyers suffer in silence, and this speaks to the importance of the work that Lawyers Assistance Programs do for members of the legal profession and their families.” If gambling or the desire to seek action with gambling is impacting your personal or professional life, please reach out to your state LAP for help and support. Treatment is available, and recovery is within reach. Both of us are living proof .
