Essentially after the great recession graduates starting flocking to traditional 'secure' careers. For Arts students there weren't many options, so a ton of English, History etc grads moved into law as it was seen as a secure career. This lead to an over supply which skewed salaries into a heavy bimodal distribution. The top lawyers still get the big bucks but for the average lawyer it's not particularly great anymore. In the UK I here £30-35k bandied about outside of London. Not a bad wage by any means but considering the hours and education required it's no longer the secure path to a middle class lifestyle that it was.