DAVID QUICK, QCQucik hit 1 - STATE Edition

• Published in: Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia : 1931)
• Main Author: STORY / COLIN JAMES
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Adelaide, S. Aust Nationwide News Pty Ltd 21.09.2002
• Subjects: Anderson, Tim; Quick, David
• ISSN: 1039-4192

His three decades as a highly paid barrister have spanned several royal commissions, representing ETSA over the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, investigating the State Bank collapse and, last year, handling the Federal Government's defence against a $20 million compensation claim over the Hindmarsh Island bridge saga. In the past month, Mr Quick has received 40 letters from judges, retired judges, magistrates, barristers and solicitors acknowledging his professional and personal attributes. But the letters have not been sent to congratulate him on his elevation to the judiciary. They have been a demonstration of support as Mr Quick faces possible banishment from the legal profession over a five-year cocaine habit which has almost killed him, caused immense damage within his family and resulted in two years of intense therapy and medical treatment, including urine testing. It was the last straw for Mrs [DAVID QUICK] and her two daughters, who again demanded Mr Quick stop using drugs. Their ultimatum was reinforced when Mr Quick received a letter a couple of weeks later from the Legal Practitioners Conduct Board formally charging him with unprofessional conduct. He was told the case was being referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal for investigation. Mr Quick told the tribunal he began using cocaine in 1997 during a lengthy court case in Sydney. Living in a hotel for seven months, bored and lonely at weekends, he found himself exhausted, unable to concentrate and experiencing mood swings. "I met someone who introduced me to cocaine which foolishly I used. It provided instant euphoria. It distracted me from work, which otherwise I could not escape," Mr Quick says.