We recently read the Legal Services Today blog and were encouraged to see Ralph Baxter’s post: Let’s Stop Calling Legal Service Professionals “Non-Lawyers.” To date, the legal industry has mostly referred to affiliated professionals who aren’t lawyers – no matter their expertise – as “non-lawyers.”  Baxter suggests that rather than refer to professionals as what they aren’t, the industry should use more positive and accurate nomenclature. Baxter suggests using the term “legal service professionals” to refer to the rapidly growing number of professionals who are taking on law-related jobs, as the industry works to keep pace with process and technology improvements.

MSL graduates are uniquely positioned to fill what Baxter calls ‘mission critical’ roles in the legal industry, including roles such as project manager, legal technology director, and data analyst, among others. We’re happy to see a shift in thinking across the legal industry as our graduates start to play increasingly important roles in the provision and support of legal services.