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&lt;p&gt;A lawyer sits in a restaurant, serene and resigned to the financial disaster that has become his life. Parts of his story are familiar: big dreams of success dashed by bleak career prospects and mountainous debt. But his story is also foreign and frustrating: a tale of an individual who took out massive loans to fuel a decision based on an enjoyable locale and an assumption that &amp;ldquo;pots of gold&amp;rdquo; would materialize at the end of the law school rainbow. This lawyer, Michael Wallerstein, is the focus of David Segal&amp;rsquo;s eye-opening (for those not already in the legal industry) article &lt;em&gt;Is Law School a Losing Game&lt;/em&gt;. Wallerstein&amp;rsquo;s laid-back outlook would be fitting if he was, in fact, a surfer-dude. But he&amp;rsquo;s not. He&amp;rsquo;s an unemployed lawyer with $250k in loans who left the job he had at a Queens law firm because of a difficult boss and now loafs about with no motivation to repay his loans because hey, no one can put him in jail for it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His cavalier, immature attitude is an unfortunate backdrop for Segal&amp;rsquo;s commentary, which exposes problems with law-school statistics and ranking-reporting standards. Segal&amp;rsquo;s piece highlights number manipulation and law-school overcrowding, tactics bringing the green to law schools but dumping students in a much different life than they had planned. And while Segal&amp;rsquo;s is a voice that law students and unemployed attorneys have been waiting for, it&amp;rsquo;s muffled by an irresponsible twenty-something whose carelessness makes it difficult to relate to him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And that&amp;rsquo;s a shame because Segal&amp;rsquo;s piece is a well-written look at a depressing world populated by many responsible, hard-working individuals who did their homework before going to law school, chose schools based on academics and career prospects, are eagerly searching for employment, and remain in legal-unemployment hell with no prospects in sight. From my experience, this group constitutes the majority of law students and lawyers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;max-width: 250px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot; title=&quot;Law Library&quot; src=&quot;http://www.vault.com/VCM/blogs/Law_Library.png&quot; alt=&quot;Law Library&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;These people are scared and angry, and they should be. Law school isn&amp;rsquo;t just school - it&amp;rsquo;s intense, it&amp;rsquo;s cutthroat, it breaks you down, it sucks your energy, and it&amp;rsquo;s a serious three-year commitment. Going through law school is akin to mental boot camp &amp;ndash; imagine enduring all of that abuse and training and emerging with nothing but your scars. And like Segal points out, &amp;ldquo;law school is a pie-eating contest where the first prize is more pie.&amp;rdquo; Being an attorney is not just a job &amp;ndash; it is your life, a life of catering to clients 24/7 and making the tough decisions on these clients&amp;rsquo; most important matters. Pursuing a legal career means sacrificing your time and oftentimes your plans and loved ones. I&amp;rsquo;ve been there &amp;ndash; it&amp;rsquo;s a rocky road. I would be angry too if I had committed years of my life stumbling down that road only to hit a dead end with no paths for escape.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And I&amp;rsquo;d be even more upset if I was drowning in debt just to flounder in a dead end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So I think the anger is justified, even if it is unclear exactly where to place it. As I noted in an earlier post, law schools should bear some of the blame, but I don&amp;rsquo;t think it&amp;rsquo;s fair to pin it all on them. It&amp;rsquo;s a bigger story of a down economy and a reporting and disclosure system (with many players) that distorts the truth of the legal job market. Segal&amp;rsquo;s message is an important one, even if his messenger isn&amp;rsquo;t a prime representative, because it brings this distortion forward and challenges these players to step up and work toward a solution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you think the article will spark a change in the ranking and disclosure practices? Who do you think should be held most responsible, and what should they do to build a solution?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[NYT Article]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Related: Law School Isn&#39;t a Game - It&#39;s a Serious Investment&lt;br&gt; Related: Law Schools Entice Naive Law Students Onto Campus With Rosy, Misleading Data&lt;br&gt; Related: On Exploring Alternative Legal Career Opportunities&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FOLLOW VAULT LAW ON TWITTER! @VaultLaw&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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