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Brian Cuban to discuss battle with eating/substance use disorders at YSU
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: March 31, 2022
It’s been almost 15 years since Brian Cuban began his journey to stay clean and sober.
The younger brother of Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban, the Dallas-based attorney and author spent a good deal of his life struggling to recover from substance use and eating disorders.
On April 8, Brian Cuban will celebrate his 15-year anniversary by sharing his story with Mahoning County legal professionals and members of the public at a free event sponsored by The Mahoning County Bar Association Foundation and the Rigelhaupt Pre-Law Center at Youngstown State University (YSU).
“An Evening with Brian Cuban” gets underway at 7 p.m. at DeBartolo Hall on the campus of Youngstown State University.
Bob Price, president of The Mahoning County Bar Association said it’s one of a series of public presentations sponsored by the bar foundation designed to engage legal professionals and members of the public on issues that likely affect everyone.
“We are very pleased to have Brian Cuban speak about a very personal and pertinent subject—his struggles with substance abuse,” said Price, an attorney at Richard G. Zellers & Associates.
“As attorneys we encounter people going through the worst days of their lives on a daily basis,” said Price. “The beginning of wisdom is often knowing what we don’t know and Brian’s willingness to come and share his experiences will hopefully make us better attorneys.”
During the event, Cuban will discuss his memoir, “The Addicted Lawyer: Tales of the Bar, Booze, Blow, and Redemption,” which chronicles his firsthand experience living with eating and substance use disorders and how they destroyed his career as an attorney.
He will also talk about his debut legal thriller, “The Ambulance Chaser,” which incorporates many of his personal struggles.
“Lawyers are twice as likely to struggle with alcohol use disorder as members of the general public,” said Cuban. “My hope is to raise awareness about why legal professionals are so prone to these issues, discuss the available options and what other steps can be taken to continue to assist those who are suffering.
“I also plan to address how the culture within the legal profession actually encourages drinking as part of its marketing and client strategies.”
A native of Pittsburgh, Cuban’s problems with eating and substance use disorders can be traced back to middle school when he was bullied because he was overweight.
“I was the middle child of three boys and like many middle children I was very shy,” said Cuban. “I was not only bullied because of my weight, I was actually physically assaulted.”
By the time he started college at Penn State University Cuban said he had developed bulimia (a condition in which binge eating is often followed by self-induced vomiting, purging or fasting).
“No one was talking about eating disorders back then,” he said. “My struggles with body image quickly led to my becoming an alcoholic. I was drinking alone and going to class drunk.”
While he initially wanted to be a police officer, he ended up enrolling in law school instead.
“I was not a good student,” said Cuban. “I saw law school as a way to avoid facing my issues and learning how to love myself.
“By then I had gotten really thin,” he said. “However, I was now dealing with even more problems-––I was not only drinking and had Bulimia, I had taken to obsessively exercising,” he said.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he moved to Dallas on Labor Day in 1986.
“I failed the Texas bar exam two and a half times, and when I finally passed my substance use disorders made it difficult to practice,” said Cuban.
“By the summer of 1987, I had also discovered cocaine and it finally allowed me to look into the mirror and see someone I loved for as long as the high lasted.”
As time went on his problems got worse and word spread among his clients, causing his work to dwindle.
“My older brother Mark had already become a well-known figure and he and my family were supporting me,” said Cuban. “I realize if I had not had such privilege I may have ended up living under a bridge somewhere.
“Mark even gave me a job working for him, but I failed miserably,” said Cuban. “I had also begun misusing Xanax during the day to offset my cocaine use at night.”
By 2005, Cuban said he had become suicidal, but before he could take action his family stepped in once again to help.
With three failed marriages under his belt, in January 2006 he met the woman who would later become his current wife. And while she didn’t suffer from the same afflictions, she stood by him after discovering his secrets.
“I hid everything from her, but one day she returned home from a trip to find me blacked out in our bedroom surrounded by cocaine, Xanax and beer bottles,” said Cuban. “To my surprise she didn’t leave, she watched me rebuild my life instead and we’ve now been married over five years.”
Today through a combination of 12-step meetings, therapy and the support of his family, Cuban has developed coping skills enabling him to stay clean and sober one day at a time.
Cuban now travels the United States and Canada sharing his firsthand knowledge on the issue of addiction with audiences at colleges, universities, conferences and nonprofit and legal events.
He’s also been a guest on high profile talks shows such as “Katie,” hosted by award-winning journalist Katie Couric. His columns have appeared and he’s been quoted in top online and print publications around the world, including The New York Times and Above The Law.
“I want to let lawyers and non-lawyers know that recovery is possible,” said Cuban.
“There are now a number of resources for lawyers and law students to turn to such as Lawyer Assistance programs, but they still need to take that first step,” said Cuban.
“An Evening with Brian Cuban” takes place on April 8 and will run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at YSU in DeBartolo Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
Attorneys who attend are eligible to receive 1.5 Professional Conduct CLE credit hours.