First of all, 30 is not too old to consider going to law school. Though I was a "young'n" I had many friends in law school who were in their thirties, and I think that at least in the case of legal studies older usually is wiser - the real world experiences will help you understand your legal theory in a much more concrete way.

I don't know a lot about cyber-law, it's not my field. But privacy issues and protection, patent work, and cyber law are certainly quickly expanding fields. A tech background is very helpful getting into a lot of these fields.

Finally, as for time off: as you'll see from this site: there are a lot of options: government work is less flexible but more generous, private sector may be more or less demanding depending on your situation.

So good luck - and keep us posted on your progress. (maybe we should start and advice for applying to law school thread...)

I went to law school with a lot of people in their 30s. I think in some ways it's better to go to law school with a focus in mind as you will be able to pick a school and choose classes with your focus in mind. As for vacation, I work for the government and get 5 weeks a year. I think those who work for firms start with about 2 or 3 weeks.

I went to law school in my thirties so I definately don't think you will be too old :).  I would agree with what others have assumed in the comment here, that I had more prespective and life experiences than most of my classmates.  I think this helped -- especially as others suffered under the competition, pressure and workload of law school, I truely felt unphased by it all.

As for you questions about maternity leave, etc... I think it varies greatly from job to job.  For Big Firm information you could look to www.Abovethelaw.com, they have been tracking the firms that are increasing maternity leave to 18 weeks and they just recently did a reader poll about maternity leave.  I would expect the government is 12 weeks and that smaller organizations may have unpaid policies, but I don't know.  Alas, I work at a big firm and do not plan on having any more kids.

As for your mention of timing...how about some unsolicited advice?   If I was you, I would seriously consider waiting to go to law school until you have your kids.  Have them utilizing whatever maternity leave policies your current employer has and then tackle law school as a mom.  This is how I did it (kids were 1 and 3 when I started law school).  Law school is tough but it is temporary.  I think it will be hard to break into any new career field, especially an ultra competitve one like the law, while trying to simulaneously start a family.

As for the need for "tech lawyers", I am not sure I know where you are coming from. I work at a firm that has a heavy concentration in high tech and biotech companies, and there are no shortage of lawyers wanting to work here.  Most lawyers are able to do this sort of work although the learning curve is steep when you have to negotiate tech-heavy licensing contracts and the like.  But, just as non-accountants can work in corporate finance, non-science types can work in technology law.  However, there may very well be a shortage of lawyers that can be admitted to the Patent Bar and do patent prosecution work.  If you really want to leverage your technology know-how you should find out if you will be eligible to take the patent bar.  You can go to the USPTO website (I think) and find the education requirements for this.  You basically need to have a B.S. with a science major or a certain number of science course in college to be eligible.  If you can do that, I do think you will be a valuable asset in many places.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond! I appreciate all the insights- and there is no such thing as unsolicited advice to me, i'll take all I can get!

Here is an article about tech lawyers which talks about career paths, specialization and opportunities for scientists in the field of law: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2008_02_22/10_1126_science_opms_r0800048.

What's the verdict? It's June now.

I'm following a similar path, but I'm only 2 1/2 years into my InfoSec career and I spent another 5 in IT prior to that. I just finished up my 1st year of an evening law school school in May. 3 more to go...

Personally I decided to wait until after law school to have the kids. I didn't think I'd be able work, have kids and go to school.

Lisa

Yes, what did you decide?

I'm 28 and have two kids, and am starting my 3rd year as a fulltime student. It has been tough but I wouldn't change anything that I've done.

I think it's great when people enter law school after working for some period of time. It's a different perspective and I think you feel pretty grounded about life in the "real world". Plus, I could have never gone straight through like some of my superstar classmates--I was toooooooo burnt out after undergrad! Five years was just enough time for me personally to re-charge.

Firstly, I don't think that you are AT ALL too old [my father graduated from law school at the age of 40] and if you just LOVE the law, then you should go for it, but...

law school isn't what it used to be.  It is extremely costly.  When my father went to law school 10 years before me it cost $9,000/year.  The same institution today costs $35,000.  If you are independently wealthy then this, of course, would not apply to you.  If not, however, it really adds up.  I even managed to get a nearly full scholarship, but due to the cost of living [which might be more manageable for you since you have a husband to help out] I ended up with $110,000 of debt. 

Also, many of the other lawyers on this site might think that it's stupid that I point this out to you, and you might think that it's stupid too, but a lawyer - on the whole - is a paid writer.  You don't know how many people that I know went into law school not realizing that and now regret their decision since they hate writing. If you don't like writing, then on the whole, law isn't for you.

Finally, even though I and most of my friends LOVED law school and loved learning the law, all of us at various times since we've graduated have at least thought that perhaps we made a mistake.  When you get out of law school, you can't afford to take the jobs that you'd really like to, but the jobs that pay enough want you to work 50-70 hours/week.  That's no quality of life.  And that's for the friends who have found jobs.  I graduated 6th in my class and my husband graduated 2nd.  It took him 9 months to find a job and it took me 12.  I still have many friends who l still have not been able to find a job [we graduated May 2007].

If you can hear all of that, and you still want to go to law school, go for it.  For some people [like me, I hope] it is a calling - and if you feel that way then you should do it.  Otherwise, you could go into another profession that would pay more, wouldn't limit you so geographically [stupid profession makes you take a different bar exam in each state] and would give you more time off to spend with your kids

...and government jobs, while they'll give you more time off pay very little [Missouri, for example, pays around $35,000/year for a starting lawyer, some states pay closer to $40,000] and while the federal government pays more [around $50,000 to start depending on your geography], federal jobs are VERY difficult to get, especially right out of law school, and especially in the field that you are wanting to go into.