Arelia Margarita Taveras, 37, a once rising star of the New York legal community gambled away nearly $1 million USD. She now has lodged a $20 million lawsuit against 7 different casinos, claiming they had “a duty of care” to spot her compulsive behavior and intervene.

Beginning as a mode to relax Taveras soon found herself spending days at the tables. “They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping,” said the former lawyer, who once wrote a guide for women chasing ex-partners for child support.

According to her suit, she would play 7 hands of blackjack at once so she could have the entire table to herself, loosing money at $5000 an hour.

After loosing her apartment and her parents’ home, and being left owning nearly $60,000 in tax, Taveras said she contemplated suicide. She was disbarred last June after she admitted taking money from her client’s accounts. She has spent a year in clinics to treat her addiction and now works at a call center.