Master of Legal Studies (Online)

Overview

The Master of Legal Studies (MLS) program is a new 30-credit, asynchronous online degree program that provides students, most of whom are adult professionals working in a variety of heavy regulated industries, with the legal and regulatory acumen to perform their essential job functions at the highest level and to improve career outcomes.  More than 70 ABA-accredited law schools offer this degree and it has established value in the marketplace.  The program’s curriculum will be driven by and tailored to projected job growth in South Florida.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must submit their completed MLS application, Bachelor's degree transcript from a regionally accredited institution, resume, personal statement, and at least one letter of recommendation to be considered for admission.  The program targets applicants with a 3.0 minimum undergraduate GPA and professional work experience.

All students will take four required courses ("Core") including the Master’s Capstone course, during which the student will write a research paper or complete a project of equal importance. The academic Core is twelve (12) semester credits.

• Foundations of U.S. Law and Regulation, 3 credits
• Legal Research, Writing and Analysis Skills, 3 credits
• Corporate Compliance & Enterprise Risk Management, 3 credits
• Master's Capstone, 3 credits

Students selecting an optional track will select at least three (3) elective courses in that track and additional credits can be selected from the entire menu of electives to reach thirty (30) total credits for the degree.

Curriculum Requirements

Sample Plan of Study

Mission

In the administrative world we inhabit, the MLS program aims to fill an educational gap for a growing body of professionals who work in “law adjacent” jobs, meaning they work in and around the law (or lawyers),  regulation, corporate compliance, and enterprise risk management every day but do not engage in the practice of law.  Think of a senior human resources director for a large company, for example, grappling with the risks of terminating a pregnant employee during a period of broad layoffs.  Or a mid-level compliance officer at a large university tasked by General Counsel’s office with updating Title IX training for employees to ensure that it aligns with expected rule changes relating to sex discrimination and assault.  Or an employee at a small start-up company who has been asked to develop the company’s first cyber risk compliance program.  Each employee would benefit from a working knowledge of law and regulation, and the degree provides a competitive advantage for employees seeking promotions within their organizations or new job opportunities.  Indeed, these are profiles of actual students who have earned the MLS degree at other law schools and credit it with helping them improve job performance and advance their careers. 

Student Learning Outcomes

The Learning Outcomes target acquisition of knowledge, critical thinking skills, legal research and analysis skills, and include an ethical component.  By the end of the program:

• Students will be able to describe the structure and function of U.S. legal systems and, where appropriate, compare and contrast the U.S. approach with others (e.g., domestic information privacy regulation with GDPR);
• Students will be able to identify and navigate relevant sources of law, including statutes, regulations, and cases;
• Students will be able to conduct basic legal analysis appropriate to non-lawyers and communicate it effectively to a variety of constituents, including lawyers;
• Students will be able to assess risks to an organization’s business goals and objectives, and develop and draft measures or strategies to mitigate the risks;
• Students will be able to consider and evaluate the tangible benefits of using an ethical lens to drive corporate behavior.