Working in any kind of law-adjacent role requires strong legal research, writing, and analysis skills. With these competencies in place, you can be better prepared to support legal strategy, ensure compliance, and communicate effectively with clients and fellow professionals.
At the University of Miami School of Law, our Master of Legal Studies program is designed for those in law-adjacent fields who are looking to advance career-ready skills and build foundational knowledge in the legal side of their work. This includes 12 credits of core coursework, with three credits developed through a class in Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis Skills.
Key Takeaways:
No matter which of our six M.L.S. tracks you choose, you will be required to complete four core courses (12 credits) that include:
- Foundations in U.S. Law and Regulation
- Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis Skills
- Corporate Compliance & Enterprise Risk Management
- Master's Capstone
In the following sections, you'll learn more about our Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis Skills course, what it entails, and the kinds of skills you can expect to develop.
Understanding Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis in the M.L.S.
In simple terms, our Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis Skills course teaches students how to conduct thorough legal research and writing using a variety of legal tools — as well as how to perform basic legal analysis through written exercises and assignments.
What Makes Legal Research Unique in an M.L.S. Program
In an M.L.S. program, legal research coursework is tailored for non-lawyers and professionals in law-adjacent fields, ranging from real estate and human resources to finance and healthcare. As a result, professionals can develop legal research skills that are less focused on litigation and more focused on practical application, problem-solving, and compliance.
The Importance of Legal Writing for Non-Lawyers
Strong legal writing skills aren't just crucial for lawyers; professionals in law-adjacent fields are increasingly finding themselves needing to craft and interpret legal documents in the form of contracts, deeds, and professional memos. Excellent legal writing skills can be effective in mitigating unwanted risk, enhancing professionalism, and ensuring effective communication with clients and other stakeholders.
Core Components of Legal Analysis Skills
Even for non-lawyers, legal analysis skills can be used to:
- Identify and mitigate potential risks
- Enhance overall decision-making
- Improve operational efficiency
- Ensure accurate reading/understanding of contractual agreements
Through an M.L.S. program, law-adjacent professionals can explore important components of legal analysis and gain real-world practice with issue spotting, rule identification, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Key Skills Developed Through Legal Research and Writing
With enough practice in legal research, analysis, and writing in an M.L.S. setting, professionals can build transferable and versatile skills in research fluency, professional writing, and legal analysis that can be applied in their everyday work.
Building Research Fluency and Source Evaluation
M.L.S. program assignments encourage students to build proficiency in the use of different legal databases and other resources to find reputable law-related sources. In doing so, they can build valuable research fluency while learning how to weed out reliable and unreliable sources.
Structured Legal Analysis: Breaking Down Arguments
Students in an M.L.S. program also complete core coursework that develops their legal analysis skills, empowering them to carefully scrutinize and break down arguments using tried-and-true frameworks. By learning how to identify material facts, define legal issues, and apply laws/regulations to different contexts, professionals in law-adjacent fields may be better prepared to address counterarguments and build their own arguments.
Mastering Professional Legal Writing Techniques
Non-lawyers with strong legal writing skills may be better suited to communicate clearly with others while enhancing professionalism and credibility. In an M.L.S. program, this can be done by:
- Practicing the use of active over passive voice
- Knowing how to use headings and other formatting to break up longer texts
- Organizing arguments in a way that's easy for readers to follow
- Avoiding legalese and keeping language as simple as possible
Essential Tools and Resources for Effective Legal Research
As part of the University of Miami School of Law's M.L.S. curriculum, students enrolled in Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis develop the aforementioned skills by gaining hands-on practice with essential legal research tools and resources.
Primary vs. Secondary Legal Sources Explained
Students quickly gain experience differentiating between primary and secondary legal sources in their work. Primary sources refer to clear, binding laws (e.g., statutes and court cases), whereas secondary sources focus more on explaining or analyzing the laws themselves. Some common examples of secondary legal sources include legal encyclopedia entries, law reviews, and journal publications.
Online Databases and Free Legal Research Platforms
Law-adjacent professionals enrolled in an M.L.S. program gain experience using online legal databases and free research platforms. Some of the most utilized legal databases include:
Free research platforms such as Google Scholar and FindLaw may also be useful for secondary sources and legal summaries.
Citation Tools and Reference Management for Legal Writing
Legal writing often involves consulting and citing many different sources — and keeping track of them can be a challenge for even the most experienced professionals. To prepare for this, an M.L.S. legal writing class should include hands-on experience with trusted citation and reference management tools for legal writing. This may include:
- Specific practice with Bluebook formatting/citations
- The use of legal citation research and management tools like Zotero and Juris-M
A Beginner’s Guide to Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis
Before you enroll in an M.L.S. program with dedicated coursework in legal research, writing, and analysis, there are some proactive steps you can take to prepare for this important area of skill development.
What You’ll Need to Get Started: Resources and Mindset
Although you may not be practicing law yourself, you can get into the right mindset by thinking like a lawyer in your research, analysis, and writing. This means focusing on the facts while learning how to identify the specific legal rules and issues that pertain to the subject at hand.
You can also begin familiarizing yourself with the kinds of free tools and resources that may already be available to you, including secondary sources that can help you better understand specific laws and regulations in your industry.
Step-by-Step Guide to Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis
New M.L.S. students (and even prospective students) may find it useful to follow this practical, step-by-step guide as they get started with legal research, writing, and analysis coursework.
Step 1: Define Your Legal Issue and Research Goal
Whether working on something professionally or completing an academic assignment, it's important to begin by defining the legal issue(s) and goals at play. This means, above all else, focusing on the facts of the situation and following a structured approach to your subsequent research.
Step 2: Locate and Evaluate Relevant Legal Sources
Next, it's time to go source-hunting and fact-finding. When beginning your legal research, remember that it's generally best to stick with secondary sources first; this will help you gain a better understanding of laws and related topics before diving into more complex primary sources.
Legal encyclopedias, law reviews, and academic journal articles can be especially useful in this stage. No matter which sources you use, always verify your citations and ensure that any laws you are referring to directly are still up-to-date and relevant.
Step 3: Organize Findings and Structure Legal Arguments
Once you have a better understanding of the resources available to you, it's time to start structuring your own legal arguments and preparing to draft your writing. During this stage, you'll need to put your legal analysis skills to practice by focusing on:
- The legal issue or question at hand, as well as any rules or laws relating to it
- Your application or interpretation of any relevant laws
- Structuring and articulating your arguments in a way that is easily accessible to a non-lawyer audience
Step 4: Draft, Revise, and Properly Cite Your Legal Writing
Many professionals in law-adjacent fields find that legal writing is easiest when they outline their arguments ahead of time. Once you have a general outline of your writing, you can start completing a first draft. From there, it's a matter of reviewing and revising your work to strengthen and support your arguments — being sure to use proper citations along the way.
This is where resources like The Bluebook Online can be particularly useful, as a legal document is only as good (and as reputable) as its citations.
Build Valuable Skills in a Master of Legal Studies Program
While legal research, writing, and analysis skills are essential for nearly any law-adjacent role, they're far from the only competencies you'll need to thrive in your work. If you already have an undergraduate degree and are looking to sharpen your legal knowledge for skill-building and career-advancement purposes, it may be time to enroll in an online Master of Legal Studies degree program at the University of Miami School of Law.
In our M.L.S. program, students can choose from six specialized tracks in healthcare, technology, human resources, real estate, and wealth management. Regardless of the chosen track, all M.L.S. students complete foundational coursework in legal analysis, writing, research, corporate compliance, risk management, and foundations in U.S. law and regulation to build a well-rounded skill set.
Plus, with 100% online coursework, busy professionals can enjoy the flexibility of working toward their degrees without putting other responsibilities on the back burner.
Learn more about what sets our online Master of Legal Studies apart by getting in touch with our team today. Or, take the next step and get started with your online application for admission.
Sources
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/curriculum/
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/curriculum/#hr
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/curriculum/#finance
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/curriculum/#healthcare
- https://admissions.law.miami.edu/academics/mls/curriculum/#real-estate
- https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/blog/sources-of-legal-research-primary-secondary-and-the-role-of-ai/
- https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/gateway.page
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10266064/
- https://www.bloomberglaw.com/
- https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/cocounsel
- https://www.legalbluebook.com/
