I don't have a lot of information for you, but I do have a few anecdotes... I'm in my mid-twenties and I have two friends whose mothers have recently gone to law school. Both are doing really well.  One joined an existing trusts and estates practice, the other hung out her own shingle. Last but not least, I recently heard about a woman now in her 70s, who went to law school in her 40s and went on to establish her own firm and then to join the federal bench!

So I don't have a lot of information, except to say that you should be encouraged by the few examples out there. 

I appreciate your input.  I too know of a woman that had a prosperous career in business and decided to attend law school at the age of 60.  Currently she is in her 80's and works with several legal-aid type organizations. 

I think it may come down to how badly I want it and how much effort I am willing to put behind my dream. 

I often joke that I should study "elder law" since that is what I will be by the time I finish school.

While you are working toward your JD, you might want to consider becoming a non-attorney representative, representing disabled persons in Social Security administrative law hearings.  You do not have to have a JD to represent clients in these hearings.  However, if you are not an attorney, you must be certified by the Social Security Admin. (you have to take and pass a 3 hour multiple-choice test on federal SS law, maintain CE credits, and liability insurance) in order to qualify for direct payment of fees from SSA. Employers will often pay the insurance premium, CE, and test costs.  See http://www.cps.ca.gov/tlc/ssa/about.asp for details about the test, CE, and insurance.  Also, check out www.nosscr.org - a trade group for non-attorney reps and attorneys handling SS cases.  They also have a job bank.

This is a fairly complicated area of law (I cut my teeth on it while working at SSA-DDS before switching to a law firm), so I encourage you to try to find work with a SS law firm or the Social Security Admin. if you are considering it as a career path.  Most Legal Aid offices represent disabled clients in SS hearings or VA hearings.  

Once you have this training and experience, you could open your own practice.  The upside of solo practice:  great fees (up to $5300 per case in SSD cases; less in SSI cases) and a growing docket (as our population ages, the number of persons applying for disability is expected to skyrocket over the coming decades).  The drawback:  in most cases, a client must wait years before an ALJ decision (when a fee is generated).  If you want to go solo or start a practice with others, it takes patience and hard work to build a financially viable caseload and practice to the point where you are handling several cases a week (and getting paid frequently enough to make a living).  But if you handle just 1 successful SSD hearing per month for a year, you can expect to generate more than $60,000 in income.  Not bad, and no jerk breathing down your neck about billable hours, your schedule, your age, your family obligations, etc..

A caveat regarding private SS firms: steer clear of unethical "money mill" private SS firms (you can tell them by their 24/7 TV ads, 800 numbers, nation-wide practices, and high staff turnover).  These places tend to be run by greedy people who care little about ethics, quality of legal advice, or the quality of service given to clients.  They look only at profits, play a volume/numbers game, pressure attorneys to take cases that lack merit, burn out the attorneys/paralegals with ridiculously high caseloads, and mislead their clients by giving them the impression they have valid claims when, in reality, they don't. 

Hope this helps.  I think you're to be commended for returning to school.  Any employer would be lucky to have you--and your unique skillset and life experiences--on staff.  Best of luck to you. 

I too have been handed my "freedom" by my husband of 31 years - what is so amazing is that I mean "freedom" - didnt notice until now how much I enjoy silence in my home and space to come and go and do whatever I please.

It also means that I can fulfill a lifelong ambition - to go to law school - now comes the bit I am struggling with - finding a school that doesnt freak out at the idea of a 50 year old student and doesnt demand years upon years of my life.  With 20+ years as a legal exec/paralegal in corp fin and securities - I could teach the course but -- the nonsense I have been told by some of the Texas schools has me reaching for the age/gender discrimination practitioners yellow pages.   any ideas, hints, tips appreciated - not going to stop until I get this done

I'm not sure how far you want to travel, but I would highly recommend my law school, Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio.  We have a full-time day program, and a part-time program, available in both the day and evening.  I would say that more than 1/2 of the students in my day program are on second careers by going to law school--most have worked for anywhere from 1 to 3 to 10 years after college before coming to law school.  There are people in the 30s and 40s in the day program, and there are many folks in their 40s and 50s in the evening program.  I think our school is very accepting and accommodating of the non-traditional student; we are right downtown in the state capital, so we have an awesome externship program to work at a ton of different orgs, firms, government agencies, etc., and we have teachers that are incredible and really care about teaching us.  I think you would find yourself in good company here.  Anyway, www.law.capital.edu if you want to check it out!

 Mary