I'm sure people don't like seeing the giant payouts, but my understanding is the legal field is really unique in that regard. Taking on a client and spending thousands of hours on a job with the risk that you may not win the case, or that the judge may award a lot less than you're hoping for? I really can't think of any other industry that compares to that, except maybe something like R&D/Product Development.

Even with R&D though, your final product price is usually market controlled and you're gambling on units sold.