My now wife dated an attorney before she met me. He was maybe in his early 40s, and was divorced with two small kids w custody. She wound up almost supporting him like he was homeless, even though he was employed by the city. His credit card was always denied and he never had any money. When she met me, a lowly commodity IT contractor condescended by every business busybody I met, she upgraded substantially. All of a sudden she was with someone who could sucessfully charge a dinner to a credit card.

Another data point is a guy I was in elementary school with who apparently entered law school in his early 30s (I was already in engineering) and was mentored by the locally based huge computer corporation (one of the B.U.N.C.H.) He was groomed into their chief corporate attorney. $$$$

I suspect in order to do well in law you have to follow the path shown in the show "Better Call Saul" - go to law school and meanwhile get sponsored by a business or law firm who wants to develop you. IOW the credential itself doesn't have much marketability unless you want a low paid civil service job like public defender. You need some company to "brand" you as theirs and mentor you.

And you know - I did already mention worm farming.