The death of Dechert associate Cameron Schladenhauffen was caused by a fatal combination of several drugs, including heroin, a medical examiner has found.

His father, Benjamin Schladenhauffen of Niceville, Florida, said in an interview Tuesday that his son had been experiencing acute work stress in the year leading up to his death. He said they spoke about three times a week, but he was not aware his son abused drugs.

Cameron Schladenhauffen, 31, died Feb. 8 at a Manhattan apartment from “acute intoxication by the combined effects of heroin, clonazepam, oxazepam, diazepam, alprazolam, temazepam and codeine,” a representative for the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner said in an email.

Clonazepam, oxazepam, diazepam, alprazolam and temazepam are all benzodiazepines, a class of prescription drugs sometimes prescribed for the treatment of anxiety or depression, as well as some other conditions. Codeine is a prescription pain medication.

According to Schladenhauffen's family, the medical examiner told them the combination of drugs caused respiratory failure, and that none of the drugs found in his system was enough on its own to have caused his death.

Schladenhauffen said his son described receiving assignments from multiple Dechert offices with deadlines that were difficult to meet, sometimes causing him to work through the night. He said his son told him he pulled two all-nighters in a row to finish his work on one occasion.

“I think that was the darkest point in his life,” Schladenhauffen said of his son's final year. “I'm not blaming anyone.”

A representative for Dechert said in an emailed statement Tuesday, “We continue to grieve for Cameron, and our thoughts are with his family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Benjamin Schladenhauffen said his son loved to write, which led to his interest in becoming an attorney. His introduction to the profession was working with a criminal defense attorney in Tallahassee before he entered law school at the University of Virginia.

After graduating from law school in 2015, Cameron Schladenhauffen got a job at Dentons in New York and “did well there,” his father said.

He pursued a job at Dechert because it was a market leader in associate pay, his father said. According to his LinkedIn profile, Schladenhauffen joined Dechert's New York office in December 2017.

His biography on Dechert's website, which was removed soon after his death, said Schladenhauffen was an associate in the firm's commercial real estate finance practice. He represented investment banks and institutional lenders in the origination, syndication, purchase and sale of loans.

Outside of his legal career, Schladenhauffen had a love for comedy, his father said.

“He loved making people laugh. That was his whole thing,” he said.

An obituary published in the Northwest Florida Daily News said Schladenhauffen applied to the NBC network for its “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writers program not long before his death.

New York police said they responded to a 911 call of an unconscious person inside an apartment on East 17th St. at 6:15 p.m. Feb. 8. Police discovered an unconscious 31-year-old man on his bed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said no weapon or visible injuries were found.

Stress and substance abuse in the legal profession have attracted increasing concern in recent years as law firms face growing evidence that lawyers are disproportionately affected by depression and substance abuse.

Among those whose struggles with drugs became public was a Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati lawyer who died in 2015. His ex-wife wrote about his drug addiction and his obsession with work in a 2017 article for The New York Times.

Last year, the American Bar Association launched its Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession. As part of that effort, 90 legal employers have signed a pledge to support the campaign and adopt its framework for addressing mental health and substance abuse in the legal profession. Dechert signed the pledge this year.

The firm representative said it's “committed to creating a supportive and open culture where we encourage everyone to raise issues about mental health and stress-related problems.” In addition to signing the ABA pledge, the firm said it offers training for employee volunteers from Mental Health First Aid International, and more than 50 people from Dechert have become mental health advocates so far.

Gina Passarella contributed to this report.