Most of the ones whom I know that did strike out on their own are doing better and are happier than before. Yeah, yeah, local differences. If you go to an ABA-accredited school, staying in CA isn’t mandatory.

Furthermore, establishing residency in a state that has a cheap public/accredited law school, then going to school there is another good option. Graduate with under $100k in debt, and you have a lot more options.

As far as age: a 45-47 year old will probably have a lot more connections that can be used to drum up business. Possibly even enough money saved to go to law school for cash, and kids out of the house. 40-something might actually be a good time to go to grad school and start a second career.