Is that still true? For what group are those professions high status? I feel like it's a thing the previous generation brags about to their peers, but I have a pretty cynical view on the state of justice (in the States, anyway) and thus on lawyers for participating in it. Yes, it's a difficult profession to get into, but that's not enough at least for me to perceive it as high status.

If by "medicine" you mean doctors in particular, and not clinical researchers or nurses, I have to similarly disagree; similarly to getting a J.D., it requires a ton of work to earn an M.D., but in my mind the highest-status subgroup in medicine (not to downplay the amount of education that's required, because it is almost equal to what's required to be a doctor) is nursing.