Law schools still attract countless applicants each year, nearly all of whom have absolutely no idea what they are getting themselves into. Fed a steady diet of misinformation, manipulated statistics, and glamorous media portrayals—coupled with a solid case of willful blindness—tens of thousands of college graduates sign up for three years and six figures with absolutely no understanding how little they know about law school, much less the profession, the practice of law, or their career prospects. They have no idea that law schools, like universities, have shifted from a focus on education to a laser-focus on money and empire-building. They have no idea how damaging a JD could for their future opportunities if they get it wrong.

For many, law school does go wrong. Law schools try to hide this, of course. The underbelly of legal graduation—deprivation (and sometimes starvation)—is not something schools would have anyone believe, and it’s awfully hard to see against the sunny scenery of law schools’ self-aggrandizing publicity materials, outdated and overly-positive law school guides, mythology circulated from one ill-informed pre-law to another via dubious Internet sites, graduates with remarkably little insight into the employment marketplace, and advisors who have shockingly little legitimacy advising.

We all hope to succeed. Yet law school is so competitive, and good law jobs so scarce, there will be failures. There will be lots of failures, many of whom fail through no fault of their own other than failing to recognize that they are playing a game without knowing the rules or the odds. We will go so far as to state categorically that a majority of law students will end up as failures—however one wants to define “failure” but certainly including a difficulty repaying student loans—under the current system. If what they are aiming for is a stable, well-paid, and reasonably interesting job as a reward for their hard academic work and sacrifices to obtain a JD—the kind of job that everyone said would be available when they completed their studies—if that’s “success,” many will not achieve even this basic start. Chances are this includes a majority, perhaps a sizeable majority, of law students. Chances are this includes you.

This book is designed to open the eyes of the law applicant to the very real and sadly negative aspects of law school and the legal profession. These are the truths that most other sources will never mention, because their livelihoods depend on it being kept hidden. Law prep books won’t tell you because it doesn’t sell books. Law schools won’t tell you because it turns profitable students away and would tarnish the school’s ever-pristine image. Practicing lawyers won’t tell you because it makes their profession look miserable and, quite honestly, they really don’t care. They will, rightly or wrongly, tell you that they had it just as bad or worse. And other students will be aggressive in spreading half-truths, misperceptions, and out-and-out lies because it makes them look better, because it’s so important for them to believe in the system too, and because some are simply snarky jerks. Just because these truths are hidden doesn’t mean they are any less true.

The point of this book is not to dissuade those who have a genuine interest in law and a desire to become lawyers from attending law school. The point of this book is threefold: first, to focus starry-eyed law applicants on the oft-overlooked disadvantages, pitfalls, and problems with law school and the legal profession; second, to encourage further research into what is generally a poorly researched career choice; and third, to stop a healthy handful of law applicants from making a terrible mistake. Attending law school when it is not right for you is worse than in nearly any other context. After all, few will accidentally go to medical school, or dental school, or theater. There aren’t many physicists or paleontologists who just happen to find themselves in graduate schools of physics and paleontology, respectively. Law schools are filled with people who, believe it or not, fell in.

This is an unavoidably negative read, we admit. But that’s the whole point. The idea is not to add to the growing range of pre-law guides that encourage readers to attend law school. This is the “anti” law school guide, written to discourage prospective applicants from enrolling. Or, to be more accurate, to discourage unsuitable applicants from enrolling.

Lest this book (and its authors) be the subject of misleading or ad hominem attacks from the legal education industry—which we will call the legal-education industrial complex—a corollary point must be clear: we do not intend to stop anyone who truly wants to become a lawyer from attending law school. In fact, we strongly endorse law school for anyone who, after diligent research, still wants to become a lawyer and has a concrete plan for how they will reach that goal.

There are many good reasons for becoming a lawyer, many good people who should become lawyers, many good law schools to attend, and many worthwhile careers to be had in the legal field. But there are also many applicants who make the wrong decision by attending law school, or attending the wrong law school, and the consequences of such a bad decision are far-reaching, costly, long-term, and can quite literally ruin lives. If this book stops just one such applicant from attending law school, then it has served its purpose.