????當你詢問一位法學院院長持續遭受抨擊是什么感覺，而他反問了一個問題的時候，你就知道，這些院校確實碰到了大麻煩。

????“你所說的‘遭受抨擊’到底是在說什么？”芝加哥約翰?馬歇爾法學院(John Marshall Law School)院長約翰?科克里反問道。“我們討論的到底是來自哪一方面的抨擊？”

????大家不能責怪他對準確性的追求。事實是，近些年來，隨著就業機會日益稀缺，新鮮出爐的法學博士畢業生的失業率不斷飆升，法學院的境遇已不僅僅是“失寵”二字所能形容。這些院校已經成為最被人看不起的大學院系。

????一提到律師，大多數人總會想起一些痛苦的經歷：一場不公平的訴訟，離婚等等。但至少以前的攻擊來自行業之外，而近年來涌現的大量批評聲音則出自業內人士，基本上以法學院教授和畢業生為主。不少教授承認，法學院培養的律師數量供過于求，遠遠超出了市場的消化能力；大量的畢業生現在背負著高達六位數的債務負擔，而且找不到專業對口的工作。

????科克里所在的法學院已經因涉嫌美化就業前景被該校畢業生起訴。不過，當我問科克里是否認為自己的處境很艱難時，他話鋒一轉，說道：“我正在思考的批評意見是，現在上法學院的學生比以前少多了。”

????科克里首先列舉了一個困擾法學院、而不是畢業生的問題，這的確耐人尋味。但有一件事他倒是說到點子上了，那就是：法學院正在疲于應對來自四面八方的猛烈抨擊。

????過去的三年中，媒體針對法學院發起了一波又一波攻勢，而且樂此不疲。《紐約時報》(The New York Times)曾經報道過一位背負25萬美元貸款的畢業生，還為這篇文章起了這樣一個標題：“讀法學院是一場注定要失敗的游戲嗎？”談到這位畢業生時，《紐約時報》寫道，“他的秘密（如果用這個詞合適的話）是，每天基本上忽略來自十幾位債權人的電話和信函，這些人現在整天追著他討債。”財經新聞網站《商業內幕》(Business Insider )最近一篇報道的標題則更加犀利：“我認為上法學院純粹是浪費生命，大把大把地燒錢。”盡管這篇文章刻畫的主人公畢業于一所排名位列前20的法學院，但他現在也被沉重的債務壓得痛苦不堪。“我還沒有成家，沒有掙到體面的工資，令人愉悅的生活方式更是遙不可及。這一切全是當初選擇上法學院惹的禍，”他寫道。“我甚至都不忍心詛咒我的死對頭遭遇我就讀法學院的經歷。”

????為什么大家專挑法學院說事？畢竟，最近這波經濟衰退給美國人留下了太多太多值得抱怨的事情。（科克里漫不經心地指出，新聞學院畢業生的日子也不好過。）

????有一種理論很簡單：法學院畢業生招人嫉妒。加州大學歐文分校(University of California, Irvine)法學教授布萊恩特?加思曾經撰寫過一份研究報告，探討法學院畢業生為什么產生“購買后悔癥” (buyer’ remorse)。在他看來，憎恨法學院的那些人僅僅是希望看到領跑者最終遭遇失敗的那一幕。

????“在這個國家，法律學位一直是青年才俊的不二選擇。走出校園后，他們要么經商，要么從政，要么獨立執業。總之，法學院畢業生擁有非常廣闊的人生舞臺，”加思說。“幾乎每一位雄心勃勃的年輕人都會考慮要不要去讀法學院。”現在宣稱這些學霸的專業選擇自始至終都是錯的，或許會讓人感到非常愜意。

????You know law schools are deeply troubled when you ask a dean what it feels like to be under constant fire and he answers the question with a question of his own.

????"When you say 'coming under fire,' what are we really talking about?" asks John Corkery, dean of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. "Which fire are we talking about?"

????You can't blame him for seeking clarity. Truth is, law schools have not merely fallen out of favor in recent years, as jobs have become scarce and unemployment among freshly minted JD graduates has soared. Law schools have become the most despised part of the academy.

????Most people associate lawyers with misery: an unfair lawsuit, a divorce. But at least previous attacks had come from outside of the profession. In recent years, plenty of criticism has come from insiders, mostly law school professors who acknowledge that schools have supplied far too many lawyers than the market can absorb, and from graduates who now carry six-figure debt loads and can't get jobs in law.

????Corkery's school has been sued by its graduates for embellishing employment prospects. When asked if he considers his position difficult, though, he deflects: "The fire I'm thinking of is that there are a lot less people going to law school," he says.

????It's telling that Corkery first lists a problem that afflicts the schools rather than the graduates. He's on the mark about one thing, though: Law schools are trying to put out fires from all directions.

????For the past three years, the media has picked up the attacks with relish. The New York Times, in an article on a graduate with $250,000 in loans, put it this way: "Is Law School a Losing Game?" Referring to the graduate, the Times wrote, "His secret, if that's the right word, is to pretty much ignore all the calls and letters that he receives every day from the dozen or so creditors now hounding him for cash," writes the author. Or consider this blunt headline from a recent Business Insider article: "'I Consider Law School A Waste Of My Life And An Extraordinary Waste Of Money.'" Even though the graduate profiled in the piece had a degree from a Top 20 law school, he's now bitterly mired in debt. "Because I went to law school, I don't see myself having a family, earning a comfortable wage, or having an enjoyable lifestyle," he writes. "I wouldn't wish my law school experience on my enemy."

????Why are law schools being singled out? After all, the recent recession left Americans with an endless supply of things to complain about. (Corkery casually noted that journalism school graduates aren't doing that well, either.)

????One theory is simple: everyone's jealous. Bryant Garth, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who helped author a study on buyers' remorse among law school graduates, suggests that law school haters just want to see the frontrunners fail.

????"The law degree has always been, in this country, the default degree for ambitious and talented people, who've then gone into business, have gone into politics, gone into law practice, gone into a whole range of areas," Garth says. "And basically everybody who is ambitious thinks about whether or not they want to go to law school." Perhaps it's satisfying to proclaim that those know-it-alls have been making the wrong choice all along.