Interesting article in my local paper yesterday Carroll: Many law school degrees "worse than worthless" - The Denver Post This bears out the experience of three law school graduates I knew - none of whome work in law. On the other hand I also knew two more laweyers who did really well (one a patent attorny and engineer, the other a Vietnam trade lawyer).
Many law schools now face serious enrollment problems. One way to fill up those empty seats is to offer "legal studies" classes to people who have an interest in law, but who do not want to become attorneys. A number of law schools now offer "master of legal studies" (MSL) or "master of studies in law" (MSL) degree programs, which are much shorter and less expensive than JD programs. So in a way, the current crisis in legal education is making law schools and legal study more accessible.
Maybe you can be a Paralegal? That would be a rough spot to be in with that degree; MSL Degree Guy: "So, I said to her - If you trace the chain of causation you’ll find that the agreement we made is void ab initio. But for the unfortunate coffee incident last week we'd all be drinking slop, heheh harharhar". Impressed Damsel: "Oh my, I love your loquacious prose, are you a lawyer?"(Shoots a plaintive *stary eyed doe look*) MSL Degree Guy: "Um, no...I do have a Master of Legal Studies which is the study of.....hello? hello? Where'd she go?"
I think it might be beneficial for anyone in business that works a lot with contracts. Beyond that, I can't think of anything.
From what I gather, these degrees are generally for people who would benefit at work from a better understanding of the law but who do not need (or want) a JD. For example, someone who works in an administrative role within a court system or someone who works for an administrative or regulatory agency might benefit from such a degree.
Working in healthcare a graduate certificate in law would be great or, better yet, healthcare risk/law. I took a class at UF for my graduate cerrtificate that was "PHA 5270 - Law, Healthcare, and Patient Safety" and it was a great class.
MSL degrees seem to be marketed primarily towards administrative professionals who work with contracts or in highly regulated fields, like health care or environmental compliance. These are people who already have administrative jobs, but who could take on more responsibility if they understood some basic legal concepts. If you work in the purchasing dept., for example, it might be very helpful if you could interpret the legalese on contracts yourself, without having to run every document past an in-house attorney. Such people won't replace attorneys entirely -- but they can replace attorneys for a lot of routine, day-to-day legal compliance issues, and at a lower salary. One law professor recently put it like this: For law schools, providing specialized training to such people may help to fill seats in the short term. The catch is that in the long run, the law schools may be reducing the overall demand for the JD, which is their premium product.
Things are changing fast. (steady admin job + MSL + no debt) > (JD + unemployment + $150,000 in student loans)
I've seen that some of these programs are marketed toward those with STEM degrees. With this background, one will be better prepared to work as an intellectual property consultant. There are also legal nurse consultants.