Institutional Denial About the Dark Side of Law School, and Fresh Empirical Guidance for Constructively Breaking the Silence

In the day-to-day business of legal education there is remarkably little evidence that we are aware of the unhealthy-unhappy-law-student(lawyer) problem.\u27 The core of this article is a description of recent psychological research on the components of happiness and life satisfaction. This research provides an objective framework for understanding the pervasive problems in legal settings and thus can lead to constructive discussion and intervention. I first review empirical and anecdotal evidence of the dark side of law school, the process of denial among faculty, and failing paradigms at the heart of legal education. I then discuss the helpful recent research, and I conclude by suggesting individual and collective faculty approaches based on this research