PA. Lawyer Disbarred for Video Game Addiction

August 22, 2011

A Carlisle, Pennsylvania, lawyer blamed his addiction to video games for sloppy legal work that inevitably resulted in a three-year suspension of his ability to practice law in the state. 43-year-old attorney Mathew Eshelman claimed that he immersed himself in video games to fight job stress and problems at home.

His alleged addiction managed to get him fired from the law firm he worked for in 2007, but he continued his "addiction" even as he set up his practice and took on new clients. This month the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board's report detailed 17 cases Eshelman mishandled. The cases included bankruptcy, divorce, and debt collection. While handling these cases, he missed deadlines and court dates, lost track of client money, ignored client phone calls, and even lied in a divorce filing on one occasion.

Clients, angry at the bad service the attorney provided, began filing complaints to the disciplinary board in 2007.

Testifying in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, Eshelman admitted that he had a problem and needed to rebuild his life. The board agreed and gave him a three-year suspension from practicing law. While the board wanted to give him five years, they took into consideration that -at one time - he was a decent lawyer.

Source: Philly.com

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Comments

Re: PA. Lawyer Disbarred for Video Game Addiction

Submitted by tallimar on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 22:59.

from what i read here, it looks like he was disbarred for his professional misconduct. from what i gather he basically said that he let his gaming habits get out of control so they gave him a nice long unpaid vacation.

Re: PA. Lawyer Disbarred for Video Game Addiction

Submitted by Neeneko on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 11:40.

Wait, was he disbarred for video game addiction, or was he disbarred for problems in his professional standards and behavior but blamed (perhaps rightly so) on video game addiction.

The two are VERY different things.

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Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Well, it took a month but Linda Stender finally replied to me... and didn't address a single one of my questions. http://aswlindastender.com/2013/04/23/follow-up-video-games-and-their-effect-on-children/05/23/2013 - 3:13pm

Imautobot: Also, from a tech perspective the PS4 is apparently already winning. http://bgr.com/2013/05/22/xbox-one-vs-playstation-4-specs/05/23/2013 - 3:12pm

Imautobot: Sony's PS4 motto should be "We play games." Microsoft's should be "We play games, when we're not rewinding your tapes."05/23/2013 - 3:11pm

Andrew Eisen: Oh look, Dying Light was just announced For Everything But Wii U. That's 73.05/23/2013 - 2:06pm

james_fudge: Zippy: they said the same thing about Cell. How did that turn out.05/23/2013 - 1:28pm

Andrew Eisen: Need for Speed Rivals is coming out For Everything But Wii U - PS3, 360, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. That brings the grand total up to 72.05/23/2013 - 12:55pm

PHX Corp: http://wiiudaily.com/2013/05/microsoft-is-selling-the-wii-u-better-than-nintendo/ Wii U daily Opinion: Microsoft is selling the Wii U better than Nintendo05/23/2013 - 12:23pm

E. Zachary Knight: Zippy, they very well may be. But that will only last until they are released. At that time, they will be two generations behind.05/23/2013 - 11:14am

ZippyDSMlee: for a good luagh, http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124288-EA-Exec-Xbox-One-and-PS4-Are-A-Generation-Ahead-Of-PC05/23/2013 - 10:55am

james_fudge: It's about time! I need W805/23/2013 - 10:49am

MaskedPixelante: Looks like Gamepot is more willing to play ball than Square Enix. Wizardry 6+7 and 8 are available on GOG.05/23/2013 - 10:36am

DorthLous: Anybody tried Hiversaire? Thoughts?05/22/2013 - 5:48pm

E. Zachary Knight: New Humble Bundle Weekly Sale. Alan Wake: https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly No Linux or Mac support. :(05/22/2013 - 1:46pm

E. Zachary Knight: Microsoft talks about the lack of backward compatability. You're backwards. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192801/If_youre_backwards_compatible_youre_really_backwards.php05/22/2013 - 1:39pm

E. Zachary Knight: That is absolutely nuts there. As bad an experience XBox Indie Games was, the problems weren't with the self published side of things. Forcing a publisher onto independent studios is not going to help.05/22/2013 - 10:43am

MaskedPixelante: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-22-microsoft-wont-let-indies-self-publish-on-xbox-one And the hits just keep on coming.05/22/2013 - 9:20am

E. Zachary Knight: AE: You beat me to it. That's what I get for taking the night off.05/22/2013 - 7:40am

E. Zachary Knight: To continue the confused and convoluted messaging system present in EA, They are making Wii U games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192753/EA_is_working_on_Wii_U_games_after_all.php05/22/2013 - 7:33am

Imautobot: I gotta admit, I seriously believed Microsoft was going to "Bring It" with this new console. But they failed, and I think that failure might be Epic.05/22/2013 - 7:27am

Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm

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