RWU School of Law debuts new master’s degree in law for non-lawyers

BRISTOL – Roger Williams University’s School of Law is introducing a new master’s degree in law for non-lawyers, citing a national trend in which working professionals are seeking legal expertise without having to acquire a full degree.
The course of study will provide students with a solid legal foundation, but also a practical professional slant. Applications are being accepted now and the first class of degree candidates will matriculate in fall 2016, said RWU Law Dean Michael J. Yelnosky.
“Law now influences human activity as never before,” explained Yelnosky. “One consequence is that a growing number of non-lawyers come into contact with lawyers and the law as a regular part of their work. As a result, many people would benefit from some rigorous legal training, but don’t need a [Juris Doctor law degree]. Our [new] program is designed to serve people who are seeking that edge.”
In areas from regulation to real estate, professionals have to touch upon a lot of legal matters, added Law School Spokesman Michael M. Bowden. This degree is designed not to teach someone how to practice law, but how to work with the law and lawyers, and understand how the law interacts with their profession, he said.
In doing market research, Yelnosky said the law school has identified human resource professionals as one group likely to seek out such degrees.
“Human resource professionals deal with a very complex set of state and federal laws in areas ranging from wage laws to antidiscrimination and workplace health and safety laws, so being able to get some legal education in those areas may be of great benefit to them,” he said.
The program is a response to the changing legal and business landscape, Yelnosky added.
The American Bar Association has appointed a Commission on the Future of Legal Services to study the implications of and solutions for these changes, while some states have begun experimenting on their own. For example, the state of Washington passed a law in 2012 allowing specially trained non-lawyers to perform certain limited legal services. The first group of students in Washington with this training graduated this year, Bowden said.

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