The Master of Legal Studies in Law (MLS) is an increasingly popular master’s in law program for non-Juris Doctor (J.D.) students. Access to legal education is beneficial in many fields where laws and regulations affect the day-to-day work of many. Compliance laws heavily impact companies and specific business areas, like human resources and healthcare. Fields like finance are also heavily regulated. Building a strong legal foundation is critical for setting yourself apart and increasing your earning potential if you work in these areas. This degree can also set you apart regarding emerging areas of law, like legal technology analytics and legal project management.
Let’s explore these emerging areas of law and learn more about how earning an MLS degree can positively impact your career.
New and Emerging Areas of Law
Changing regulations and advancing legal technologies are driving a need for dynamic legal professionals who are also well-versed in technology and project management. Let’s take a closer look at these two professions.
Legal Technology Analytics
Set at the intersection of law and technology, legal technology analytics is a growing field that leverages data analysis and technology to improve various aspects of the legal industry. It encompasses a wide range of applications, tools and techniques that help legal professionals make more informed decisions, streamline their workflow, enhance efficiency and reduce costs. The applications, tools and techniques that make up this field help legal professionals make more informed decisions, streamline their workflows, enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
Legal technology analytics is becoming an increasing focus for law firms and legal departments.
Legal technology analysts and legal analysts will be key players in driving results through legal tech analytics tools. In their roles, they focus on the following:
- Data Collection: Collecting data from various sources, including court records, legal documents, legislation, regulations, contracts and social media. The data, often unstructured, will need to be processed and organized for analysis
- Data Analysis: Once collected, data analysis techniques must be applied to the data to extract meaningful insights and patterns. These insights can be used to support legal decision-making, predict case outcomes and identify trends
- Document Review: Analysis can apply AI-powered tools to quickly scan and categorize large volumes of documents to identify relevant information
- Contract Analysis: Analysts can also apply AI tools to analyze contracts to extract key terms and clauses, assess compliance and identify potential risks or anomalies
- Legal Research: Legal tech analytics tools can conduct more efficient and comprehensive legal research to help identify relevant case law, statutes, regulations and legal opinions
- Compliance and Regulatory Monitoring: Organizations can use legal tech analytics tools to stay up-to-date with changes in laws and regulations that may affect operations
In the U.S., a legal analyst earns a median base salary of $80,152 per year. As the legal industry embraces technological advancements, legal professionals who embrace and adapt to these changes can find exciting opportunities and stay at the forefront of their field.
Legal Project Management
The legal industry has seen a shift toward adopting project management methodologies to enhance efficiency, client satisfaction and overall effectiveness in delivering legal services. Project management in the legal world requires a specialized approach to managing legal projects and cases to achieve specific goals within a specified time frame and budget.
Lawyers are facing increasing pressure from their clients. Legal project managers are critical in driving efficiency for law firms and practices or legal departments at companies. They oversee and manage various legal programs, initiatives or projects. The base pay range for legal project managers is $70,000 to 115,000 per year.
Key components of legal project management include:
Project Planning: Legal project managers define the scope of the legal project, identifying tasks and activities needed to complete the project. They must know how to effectively estimate the time and resources that will be required and create timelines and notable milestones to ensure the project is completed on time
Budgeting: Managers develop a budget for the legal project and consider time, personnel and other resource costs. They are responsible for monitoring and managing costs throughout the project
Risk Management: This role is responsible for Identifying potential risks associated with the legal project and developing strategies to mitigate and manage those risks
Communication: Legal project managers will establish effective communication channels among team members and stakeholders, as well as keep any clients informed about the progress of the legal matter
Task Management: The project manager will assign tasks to appropriate team members and monitor task completion, adjusting schedules as needed
Roles in legal project management can vary, and organizations may have dedicated legal project managers or lawyers who take on project management responsibilities. Legal project managers may work closely with attorneys, paralegals and other legal professionals to ensure the successful and timely completion of legal projects.
Why Earn an MLS Degree?
These emerging legal careers reflect the diverse opportunities available outside traditional legal practice. The interdisciplinary nature of the MLS degree means you will be equipped with a strong understanding of legal principles, making you a valuable asset in various industries and organizational roles. In addition to these emerging opportunities in law, if you already work in or are looking to work in a field that is interrelated to law, the MLS is an ideal degree choice for you. This degree is also a good fit if you work with lawyers or directly with the law.
Earning an MLS can offer you several career and personal benefits. These include:
- Gaining deeper legal knowledge
- Opening yourself up to more career opportunities and advancement
- Establishing yourself as a subject matter expert by choosing a relevant legal specialization or concentration to study
- Growing your professional network by connecting with the faculty, staff and students you’ll meet through your program
In an increasingly competitive job market, a bachelor’s degree alone might not be enough if you’re looking to move forward in your career. Holding a master’s degree can help improve your chances of getting promoted or hired. It can also help you earn more over holding a bachelor’s degree alone.
Join William & Mary Online and Unlock Legal Brilliance
William & Mary’s online Master of Legal Studies in Law degree offers a strong legal analyst component that opens doors for students looking to enter roles in managing law programs or managing law-related technology. Choose from the online MLS with a Concentration in Compliance and Risk Management or the online MLS with a Concentration in Finance to make the most of this degree program.
As the nation’s first law school with a forward-thinking, innovative focus, William & Mary Law School’s legal programs set the highest standard. Upon completing the online MLS program, you will be able to understand and navigate laws and regulations that apply to your operations and industry, as well as how to interact with legal counsel to manage legal risks.
Schedule a call with an admissions outreach advisor to learn more about the program and to discuss what a legal education can do for you.