Diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder helped lawyer rebound from suspension
A Las Vegas lawyer says he’s tired of worrying about clients learning of his past and lawyers talking about him behind his back.
Alex Ghibaudo decided it would be better to talk about problems that led to a five-year suspension and his rebound that helped him win reinstatement last year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Ghibaudo attributes his changed life to the diagnosis and treatment of his bipolar disorder.
“There is not enough awareness amongst professionals, and lawyers in particular, about how their mental health impacts their lives and the lives of those they serve and those they love,” Ghibaudo told the newspaper in an email.
Ghibaudo said he began having mental health problems in law school at the University of California Hastings College of Law. He drank heavily, skipped classes, spent time with prostitutes and spent an inheritance. Nevertheless, he got his law degree in 2006 and eventually started his own law firm in Nevada.
In April 2008, Ghibaudo told his wife about his past, including the fact that he had been unfaithful. In August 2008, he attempted suicide. He was arrested in 2009 when he violated a restraining order obtained by his wife. He was arrested again on a domestic violence charge.
A state bar counsel persuaded Ghibaudo to agree to a suspension and helped connect him to people who could help. He was diagnosed after another suicide attempt. Then another domestic violence incident in 2010 sent Ghibaudo to jail, where he was given daily medication that helped give him “clarity,” he says.
He worked as a law clerk during his suspension. He’s still married to his wife. Bipolar disorder can be managed, he told the newspaper. “It’s when it’s not treated that you need to worry,” he said.
