http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Attorney_%2F_Lawyer/...

Average salaries are skewed because the top-end is so high. If you have all the bona fides (top-tier law school/clerking opportunities, high-paying specialty, good track record of winning cases) you can command an astronomical hourly rate.

However, the vast majority of lawyers don't get those opportunities, and are working schlubs just like the rest of us.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/15/pf/jobs/lawyer-salaries/

There's indeed a lot of potential to make third-house money as a lawyer, but it is by no means a given, and it seems a lot less likely than you think.