It was easy to blame my alcohol abuse on the stress of the job. I hated my job. I hated billing 50-60 hours a week. I hated the office politics. My drinking really picked up after I was laid off from a big firm during the recession. Area law firms were folding left and right, and it was a rough job market. I had a generous severance package and a lot of free time on my hands. Not a good combination.
I eventually went back to school, got an LLM, and started working at a professional services firm as a consultant. But I was still drinking alcoholically. I was still stressed out even though I wasn't technically practicing law. I still spiraled out of control.
The truth is, it wasn't the profession or the stress that drove me to drink. It was me. I feel like in a parallel universe, even if I was doing something completely different as career, I would have still ended up in the same place.
The good news is that there is a lot of support available. Others have posted links. I'm not in NYC, but another major east coast city. We have a lawyers only AA meeting that is off the books (LCL). No doubt there are AA lawyers meetings in NYC. There is help if you want it.
After over two years sober, I find that the "stress" I had created in my life is all but gone. I still have the same job at the professional services firm. I still bill a lot of hours. I have far more responsibility and clients now than I did 2 years ago. Doing good work only breeds more opportunities for work. But the stress and professional situations that I used to drink over don't phase me anymore.
There are healthy coping mechanisms available. For me, the 12-steps changed my life, how I view my job and the corresponding stress/time commitments. There are other recovery programs too that provide skills to deal with the stress. You just have to be open-minded and wiling to do the work.
Best of luck to you.