A bachelor’s in legal studies can be applied to a career in the legal field or any industry that works with legal systems when making business decisions. At University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), students earning their bachelor’s degree in legal studies develop high-demand skills, including fact identification and analysis, legal research and writing, and digital competence.
What Are the Benefits of Earning a Bachelor’s in Legal Studies?
In addition to technical expertise, employers today value soft skills that employees bring to the workplace. These soft skills include communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving, many of which can be learned in the legal studies program at UMGC.
“The legal studies degree program introduces and reinforces the student’s analytical and critical thinking skills, which are highly valued among a wide variety of employers,” says Patrick Bradley, program director of legal studies at UMGC. “In addition, the program will teach legal research and writing skills. These skills are essential for working in any legal environment.”
With a legal studies degree, students gain legal knowledge and learn how to apply it in real-world scenarios, helping them acquire experience that they can use outside of the classroom to help advance their career.
“The core courses introduce the student to the application of all of these skills under the general legal headings of torts, contracts, criminal law, domestic law, alternative dispute resolution, and more,” says Bradley.
What Careers Could You Pursue with a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies?
An online bachelor’s degree in legal studies can prepare a student to succeed within a variety of legal environments, but the knowledge students learn in the program can help them succeed in various career paths.
“For a student with a bachelor’s in legal studies, the most obvious is work as a paralegal in a law office, supporting attorneys and their clients in a variety of ways,” says Bradley. “There are, however, a plethora of career opportunities in legal environments outside the traditional law firm, such as legal advocacy, court and legislative support, legal assistant, commercial business contract review and risk assessment, and a multitude of positions involved with compliance with federal, state and local administrative regulations.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in legal occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations from 2022 to 2032, with 91,700 job openings each year on average and a median annual wage of $95,170.
The Growing Trend of AI in the Legal Environment
The rise of new technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), impacts more than just the technology industry. Understanding how the latest trends impact their industries can help students propel further in their careers.
“The legal industry has involved AI in several research and operational areas for years. The evolution of AI has only opened new areas of AI application, as well as challenges,” says Bradley. “The most critical of these is verification of any work product of generative AI prior to treating it as part of a legal or authoritative document.”
At UMGC, students can learn about AI and its use in the legal environment. This equips students with the experience of using AI in real-world scenarios so they can be prepared when they enter the workforce.
“We are embedding artificial intelligence into these workplace scenarios to introduce, explain, and reinforce the appropriate use of AI in a legal environment,” says Bradley.
As a student progresses through their bachelor’s degree in legal studies, they should be able to determine their field of interest and begin to tailor their work to reflect the career they hope to achieve in the future. Research and writing skills are essential to succeed within the legal field. Bradley advises legal studies students to use WestLaw Edge, a legal research tool, to help build their skills, which is offered to them at no cost for research and writing assistance.
“Once you have identified your area of interest, research and read as much as possible to completely and fully understand the fundamental concepts and principles of the field,” says Bradley. “Stay up to date on current trends, leaders, and factions. Do a lot of reading and writing in the program and after graduation to help you prepare and stay relevant in your career.”
Prepare for Law School and the LSAT
The legal studies program at UMGC meets the academic requirement for students interested in applying for law school admission. Upper-level courses in the program serve as a primer to several “Year 1” law school classes, providing foundational knowledge on key legal elements and concepts.
For students who wish to go to law school and take the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT)®, it’s important to keep in mind that the LSAT is not an examination of legal knowledge, but rather an assessment of how the potential law school applicant reads the scenario and spots the key issues.
“The LSAT is used to show how a student approaches a legal problem and defines a viable solution. The LSAT is about how you think, not what you know,” says Bradley. “The courses in the legal studies program prime and practice these ‘thinking’ skills.”
To help prepare students who wish to take these examinations, each term the legal studies program conducts a law school information session featuring a representative from one or more law school admissions offices. These sessions are designed to inform legal studies students of what the admissions committees are looking for in an applicant and what the student can do now to make themselves a successful applicant.
Why Choose UMGC to Earn Your Degree in Legal Studies?
The online bachelor’s in legal studies from UMGC is designed with working adults in mind. The degree is available entirely online so students can balance work, school, and family responsibilities. Students can complete their coursework anywhere and anytime, so they have the flexibility to earn their degree quickly without sacrificing other areas of their life.
“In the legal studies program, the 8-week schedule focuses on essential information that supports critical job skills and doesn’t waste the students time with ‘nice-to-know’ content,” says Bradley. “The program will introduce and reinforce legal research, analysis, and critical thinking as well as written communication skills, the essential skills all employers are looking for.”
At UMGC, we value the learning students have acquired over their lifetimes and offer ways to turn those experiences into credit. Students can earn up to 90 credits from prior college-level learning, military experience and training toward their bachelor's degree.
Students in the legal studies program are also taught by faculty who are professionals in their fields and can help students understand how their courses apply to career scenarios.
“The UMGC legal studies courses are instructed by an extraordinary team of practicing and retired attorneys and judicial officers with critical insights into the law and how to understand legal fundamentals and principles,” says Bradley. “They clearly and purposefully distinguish between undergraduate-level instruction and law school, and their personal insight and experiences help our students realize the vast array of career opportunities in various legal environments available to a legal studies graduate.”
Students who want to become more involved or expand their networking opportunities can also join Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX), an honor society sponsored by the UMGC legal studies program. This honor society is for students who achieve high academic course grades within their courses and provides networking opportunities among other LEX members across the country.
At UMGC, all students gain access to lifetime career services, which provide support such as resume writing, job searches, and access to career fairs. UMGC’s CareerQuest also allows employers to search for UMGC students and alumni to fill their open job positions.
Students with a legal studies degree can prepare for various exciting career opportunities in the legal field or another industry.
“Over the years I’ve watched many television programs and movies depicting lawyers and judges. While the stories are obviously fictional, the shows do a good job of capturing the way lawyers define and solve problems. These critical thinking and legal analysis skills are introduced and reinforced throughout our legal courses,” says Bradley. “Whether a student ultimately opts for law school or to work in a legal setting or not, these skills are learnable, applicable, and transferable to countless professions and career choices.”
Reference on this webpage to any third-party entity or product does not constitute or imply endorsement by UMGC nor does it constitute or imply endorsement of UMGC by the third party.
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