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Animal Law Master of Studies in Law (MSL) Program
The first animal law master’s degree of its kind in the U.S.
Animal Law Master of Studies in Law (MSL) Program
The first animal law master’s degree in the U.S.
Earn Your Legal Degree in Animal Law
The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) offers its Master of Studies in Law in Animal Law (Animal Law MSL) program at Lewis & Clark Law School fully online.
The program is designed for non-lawyers who want to focus on animal law in advocacy, academia, research, public policy, and more. This degree prepares graduates to work with animal protection organizations in roles where they would need to have a firm grasp of animal protection laws and issues, animal law-related policy and/or regulatory work, animal law education, and more. Candidates seeking out the MSL degree have been veterinarians, animal advocates who want to engage in informed activism, and those who wish to braid animal law research and policy into other areas of scholarship.
Designed for Non-Lawyers
To equip non-lawyers for success in their animal law courses, all MSL students take an Introduction to US Legal Studies course during their first term to prepare them to read legal cases and engage with legal concepts. To be eligible to apply, students must hold a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. or international school. A legal degree is not required. Likewise, an LSAT or GRE score is not required.
Graduate in as Few as 18 Months
- You can begin the program in the Fall or Spring term.
- The degree requires 26 credit hours to complete the program.
- Graduate from the part-time program in just four terms: e.g., Fall, Spring, Summer, and Fall.
Online Animal Law MSL Curriculum
Animal law overlaps with many traditional areas of the law such as torts, criminal, constitutional, and property law. It is rooted in the practical application of statutory and decisional law but also explores legal theory and jurisprudence. In animal law we ask fundamental questions about the nature of legal rights and interest. We examine how the law creates and entrenches power imbalances, as well as how those imbalances impact animals.
Animal Law MSL students can look forward to a curriculum (subject to change) that features:
- Animal Law Fundamentals
- Industrial Animal Agriculture Law
- Introduction to US Legal Studies
- Companion Animal Law
- Crimes Against Animals
- International Animal Law
- Aquatic Animal Law
- Food Law
- Animal Law Trial Advocacy
- Nonprofit Animal Law
- The Law & Ethics of Animal Testing; and
- Global Wild Animal Law
Important Dates
Spring Semester Begins
January 8th, 2024
Spring Application Deadline
October 1st, 2023
"As the first of its kind in the US, if not the world, our groundbreaking Animal Law MSL degree equips non-lawyers with the legal knowledge, skills, connections, and insight necessary to effect critical change for animals. We are excited for our first MSL graduates to take their place as a new generation of animal law advocates."