Legal Research

Types of Degrees Legal Research Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many legal research graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	9,029
Graduate Certificate	1,566
Doctor’s Degree	340

What Legal Research Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, legal research majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Legal Research Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in legal research should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Legal Research Majors

When studying legal research, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Legal Research Majors

A major in legal research will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Legal Research Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with legal research:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Law Professors	12.3%	$111,140
Lawyers	8.2%	$120,910

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Legal Research?

Legal Research runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #37 out of all the graduate majors we track. In 2021, about 5,581 graduates completed their master’s degree in this field. The major attracts more women than men. About 60% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of legal research majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	241
Black or African American	663
Hispanic or Latino	597
White	1,749
International Students	4,550
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,229

Geographic Diversity

Legal Research appeals to people across the globe. About 50.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Legal Research

Some careers associated with legal research require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for legal research careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Master’s Degree	7.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	57.0%
Doctoral Degree	32.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.7%

Online Legal Research Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	4	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	85	17
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	370	62
Post-Master’s	40	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	48	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	15	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Legal Research

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to legal research.

Major	Number of Grads
Law	35,647
Legal Support Services	10,507
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	4,745
Legal Professions (Other)	2,229

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.