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MLS Academic Programs

Faculty ensure that MLS students’ courses integrate and reinforce learning. Students learn the law, as well as analytic and communication skills that help them thrive professionally. –Professor Pratt

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles’ MLS Program is an in-person, part-time or full-time program designed for early and mid-career professionals who want to deepen their understanding of the law. The program includes required courses that prepare you to succeed in rigorous JD classes, and teach you practical legal skills to put your growing knowledge of the law to work in any field.

Units and Courses

Students will graduate from the MLS program upon satisfactory completion of at least 24 units of coursework, including 8-9 units of required courses in the first two semesters.  With over 325 electives, MLS students have many courses to choose from as well as six specializations to guide their course of study. 

Required Courses

  • First-Year JD Class. In your first semester, and depending on your specialization, we assign you to a first-year JD class. This class will teach you foundational legal principles and also introduce you to law school’s unique method of study, classroom discussion, and examination.  (4 or 5 units)
  • Legal Methods: Writing & Analysis. Legal Methods is the introductory course for all incoming Master's of Legal Studies students that teaches foundational legal analysis and examination skills. The first half of the course focuses on study skills, including case briefing, notetaking, outlining, and examination skills. The second half of the course focuses on legal analysis and legald writing for non-lawyers.

Self-Designed MLS

Students may choose from myriad electives to achieve an understanding of a breadth of areas of the law. With the guidance of your faculty advisor, you can select the courses that can best meet the need for a broad understanding of several legal areas.  For example, students ultimately seeking management positions may wish to learn some business law, employment law, data privacy law, and law related to the specific industry in which they work.  A student interested in health care policy, similarly, might select courses in health law and policy, as well as administrative law and anti-discrimination

MLS Specializations

Specializations offer guided courses of study for students seeking depth in a particular area of law.  Each specialization’s curriculum has been designed by our top faculty in that field to equip graduates with a comprehensive understanding of a specialized topic.