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I have thought about that, and I have heard that philosophy majors tend to score very well on the LSAT. But let's think about it this way. You can go through the same amount of education in economics, probably even less, by getting only an MBA, though a PhD would definitely secure things faster, and you can land a job in, let us say investment banking. According to PR, with 10 yrs experience, the median investment banker's income is $1,000,000, while the same for a corporate lawyer is $150,000, and for a "trial lawyer" is $127,000. I got all three statistics from the same website, so we can assume that the percentage of error on all three stats is about the same. Now, there is a big difference between $1,000,000 and $150,000, nonetheless $127,000. You can have a good standard of living on $150K, but the highest, supreme standard of living at $1,000K. That's the extreme in comparison with the mild.
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Those statistics are both entirely inaccurate and entirely out of context. A first year associate at a major law firm (four years out of college) will make at least $160,000 by the time you graduate, with the money earned increasing markedly every year, especially (if) after you make partner. A partner at a good firm will be making at least a mid-six figure salary.
More importantly, however, your chances of becoming partner at a law firm are
far higher than a managing director at an investment bank earning $1 million. If you go into investment banking you will be competing against the very best and brightest young adults in America, and most of those who enter as analysts will not be promoted to vice president (let alone managing director, where $1 million salaries are possible).
In fact, unless you go to a top tier school, you are very unlikely to be hired as an analyst in the first place.
So yes, investment bankers earn more than lawyers. But in order to succeed in investment banking you'll have to outcompete some of the smartest and most competitive people in the country -- many of whom
are very interested in markets and finance.
If you think you can do that, and you go to a top tier school (i.e. Ivy League caliber), then in fact what you major in doesn't matter. Personally, I'm a philosophy major, and I plan on going into trading and hedge funds. At that level of school, it doesn't matter what you major in provided you are (a) highly intelligent and (b) have some requisite coursework in finance. So, in fact, if you're capable of advancing to managing director of an investment bank, you can probably have your cake and eat it too.