re: thoughts on a PE attending Law School..

My undergraduate degree was in Mechanical Engineering and I graduated from law school in May '11.

A few things to consider are that its very difficult to get into Patent/IP in Louisiana. There's not a big market for it and the only firms that do it are the big firms (with the exception of a few boutique firms) where you have to be top of your class to get in. So you really have to be willing to move or dedicate yourself to being top 10-25% of the class and probably both. On top of that you have to take the Patent Bar which is very difficult. With that in mind I'd say its not a very good idea to run consulting work at the same time. If you did I would definitely schedule yourself at least a month before finals to dedicate to the exams. The first semester is the most important because the big firms start hiring clerks from those grades.

As far as other areas of law, your background will be helpful but not incredibly necessary unless you get in a very nuanced field. I work at a personal injury firm and the biggest benefit it provides is in the few products liability cases that we get. Other than that, everything is kind of a tangential advantage, like the critical thinking and analyzing skills that you've learned.

All in all I'd say that if its what you want to do, go for it and everything will fall into place. I had the same feelings about not wanting to be an engineer my entire life and I couldn't be happier with my career decision. I'm probably making less than I would be (for now) but its completely worth it.