OP said LA so while these numbers are a little high they’re not out of the ordinary for a high CoL American city. I live near NYC and prices at fairly mainstream not particularly upscale restaurants and Manhattan are similar to this. As long as you’re living within your means there’s no reason to avoid doing things you enjoy
It’s tough because the last few high profile cases to allow cameras in the courtroom have if anything shown that too much transparency can be a bad thing, especially when you make a spectacle out of a process that anyone who isn’t a trial attorney isn’t going to properly understand, but will certainly draw their own conclusions regardless