[TheCoelacanth]

I think you are just not very familiar with some of those professions. Lawyers frequently take on pro bono cases to get themselves publicity. Pastry chefs give out free samples of their work all the time to get customers. In basically any competitive profession some people will take on some non-paying work if they think it will benefit their career.

[gaius]

But there is not the expectation in those professions that they will give up all their free time to it. No lawyers are suing people on their own time just for their own entertainment, I guarantee it. But programmers are expected to do their day jobs then go home and do more programming...

[WalterBright]

In any profession, to rise to the top tiers of pay, it is necessary to devote yourself to it.

[gaius]

You're not comparing like with like, partner in a law firm vs someone whose actual job it is just to crank out CRUD websites.

[klibertp]

You can land a job in cranking out CRUD websites without any kind of side-projects. Hell, with just a little bit of luck you can land such a job without any kind of experience or education.

[TheCoelacanth]

If lawyers want to rise to anywhere near the top they need to meet such stringent billable hours requirements that they will have essentially no free time in which they could sue people.