NLMA Newsletter | July 2026

A Busy Summer of Listening

Over the past two months, NLMA has conducted a series of graduate surveys, focus groups to better understand the evolving landscape of legal master’s degrees. We also held our first every Law School Advisory Council meeting, and that group’s thoughtful comments and questions helped us interpret the information we gathered, as well as shape future directions for our research.

What We’re Working On

At this stage, our focus is shifting from data collection to analysis.

Over the past few months, we have gathered a significant amount of information through surveys, focus groups, and advisory discussions. We are now reviewing that feedback to identify recurring themes, areas of agreement and disagreement, and questions that deserve additional exploration.

While it is still too early to draw firm conclusions, the conversations have been thoughtful, candid, and often surprising. Three themes have emerged consistently across our surveys, focus groups, and advisory discussions:

• Legal masters graduates value their degrees. Across institutions and programs, graduates described their degrees as a worthwhile investment that has supported their professional development, career advancement, and broader understanding of law and regulation.
• Employer recognition remains a significant challenge. Many graduates reported that employers have limited awareness of legal master’s degrees and the expertise they represent. Graduates from several programs also described navigating career pathways with limited institutional career support, often finding themselves responsible for explaining the value of their education to prospective employers.
• Graduates are seeking professional community, development, and identity. Participants expressed strong interest in continuing education opportunities, professional networking, and engagement with graduates from other institutions. Beyond employer recognition, many graduates also described a desire to better define and communicate their own professional identity and the unique value they bring to the workplace.

We have more to uncover from this data, and from our future research. We are excited about what we are learning and look forward to sharing additional findings in the months ahead.

Looking Ahead

The work is far from finished.

Over the coming months, NLMA expects to continue its research, particularly with 

additional surveys, focus groups, and community discussions. We will also continue engaging advisory participants as we refine our understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing legal master’s graduates and programs. Our goal remains the same: to build NLMA’s priorities and future activities around the experiences and perspectives of the people most closely connected to legal master’s degrees.

Thank You

As a new organization, NLMA depends on community participation. Every survey response, focus group conversation, advisory discussion, and introduction helps strengthen our understanding of this growing field.

Thank you for helping us build this effort. We look forward to sharing more of what we are learning soon.