Long story short, whether the change is worth it or not depends on what you're looking for. Read on for details.
I'm the opposite of you. I played Paladin for many years; after my daughter was born I switched to my Shadow Knight as my main character. First off, while comparisons between the hybrids are inevitable, I feel these two are in practice distinct enough from each other that there isn't an enormous amount of overlap. I feel the Monk and Shadow Knight overlap with each other a lot more than either overlap with the Paladin. If you basically like the SK's role but want more raw power, make a Monk.
Sticking to the topic, comparing the Shadow Knight and Paladin, I feel the Shadow Knight is generally more convenient in terms of day-to-day utility. It's easier to get around Norrath with it, easier to reach groups down inside dungeons, and generally because of that the SK has somewhat more opportunities than I ever had on any of my Paladins. These are things you may feel lack a bit on the Paladin after coming from the Shadow Knight. I like the raid role better on the SK as well. The Shadow Knight's spell book is indeed a bit thin; so's the Paladin's. Comes with the territory since you're a hybrid and not a proper caster type. I feel the SK comes into its own at very high levels, like 55+. If you aren't feeling the class at 57, you probably never will, so you're right to look elsewhere.
The Paladin remains in my mind the better group tank of the two classes. Both have in essence equivalent durability and hate generation, but the Paladin permits a greater level of defensive control and higher ability to save groupmates from their own mistakes. Shutting down spellcasting monsters can make just about any Shadow Knight green with envy. If you like tanking for group content or raid "trash" (leave the bosses for the Warriors) as the overwhelming majority of what you do online, you'll get good service from the Paladin and appreciate having more defensive tools at your disposal than you had on the Shadow Knight. The Paladin's a surprisingly specialized class and doesn't do much of anything else particularly well, so if you *don't* spend most of your time tanking for regular groups with the odd raid, I advise looking someplace else.
Danth
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