Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology Online

This 100% online Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology degree is designed for professionals who want to make legally informed decisions in a technology-driven environment.

Apply by 6/12/24
Start class 6/24/24 Apply Now

Program Overview

Learn what our Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online offers you

Acquire the knowledge needed to solve legal challenges introduced by technology and digital commerce with the Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online program from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. In this unique program, you will address the intersection of technology and law and develop highly sought-after skills. You will gain insight into the laws and regulations governing the buying and selling of goods and services through virtual storefronts and better understand the use of digital contracts and payments via digital currency. In addition to emphasizing the regulations and threats linked to existing technology, our legal studies curriculum also envisions what may be developed in the future, so you’re able to expect and prepare for upcoming legal challenges. You will graduate prepared to preserve data security and privacy and exert best practices in handling digital crime, hacking, identify theft, and breaches—potentially at an international level.

Learn how technology allows individuals, organizations, and governments to cause remote acts of harm (identify theft, election subversion, public utility threats); discover the statutes, regulations, and laws governing inter-jurisdictional disagreements; and assess the obstacles you may encounter when attempting to enforce evolving laws and regulations. Our master of studies in law online program explores emergent technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things, and cryptocurrency, and their impact on core areas of law including criminal, property, contract, and tort.

The Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online degree is flexible and ideal for entrepreneurial business leaders and small business owners as well as individuals who work in larger legal departments, marketing or sales, HR, IT-data protection, and government roles. Our courses, taught by the same distinguished faculty who teach on campus, will provide you with opportunities to develop, understand, and apply legal expertise in roles such as compliance officer, legal consultant, IT executive, information security officer, cybersecurity executive, and sales director.

In the Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online master's program, you will:

  • Gain a foundational understanding of digital commerce, contracts, and payment as well as online dispute resolution and the statutes and regulations governing these interactions
  • Understand how blockchain technology offers documentation and payment for ecommerce transactions through smart contracts and cryptocurrencies
  • Recognize privacy and cybersecurity risks associated with big data and the standards of care required to protect information
  • Study the technology underlying the commission and detection of digital crimes and torts; the ethical, legal, social, and technological challenges of imposing liability; and the potential liabilities associated with digital crimes
In the Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online master's program, you will:+
  • Gain a foundational understanding of digital commerce, contracts, and payment as well as online dispute resolution and the statutes and regulations governing these interactions
  • Understand how blockchain technology offers documentation and payment for ecommerce transactions through smart contracts and cryptocurrencies
  • Recognize privacy and cybersecurity risks associated with big data and the standards of care required to protect information
  • Study the technology underlying the commission and detection of digital crimes and torts; the ethical, legal, social, and technological challenges of imposing liability; and the potential liabilities associated with digital crimes

Graduates may transition into leadership roles such as:

  • Business executive
  • Compliance officer
  • Legal consultant
  • Regulatory agent
  • IT executive
  • Information security officer
  • Cybersecurity executive
  • Sales director
Graduates may transition into leadership roles such as:+
  • Business executive
  • Compliance officer
  • Legal consultant
  • Regulatory agent
  • IT executive
  • Information security officer
  • Cybersecurity executive
  • Sales director
+

Also available:

Northern Kentucky University offers a variety of technology programs online. Learn more about our online technology programs.

Total Tuition $20,670
Program Duration As few as 10 months
Credit Hours 30

Accreditation

Checks and Balances black and yellow icon

The NKU Chase College of Law is a law school approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association.

Apply Now

Need More Information?

Call 800-985-7215

Call 800-985-7215

Tuition

Convenient pay-by-the course tuition

The Master of Legal Studies online program offers the same affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition to in-state and out-of-state students. All fees are included in the total cost. Financial aid may be available to those who qualify. For additional information, visit the Financial Aid section on our FAQ page.

View additional tuition information+

Program Per Credit Hour Required Fees Total Program with Fees
MLS Digital Law & Tech $673 $480 $20,670

Tuition and fees subject to change at any time.

Tuition Breakdown:

Total Tuition $20,670
Per Credit Hour $673
Forbes black logo

“Top Public College”

Ranked among the “Top Public Colleges” by Forbes, 2022

Calendar

Know the upcoming dates and deadlines

With six start dates per year, the Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online program is flexible and convenient. View the calendar to find the best start date for you, along with corresponding deadlines.

View full calendar  + 

SessionProgram Start DateApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlinePayment Due
Spring 23/11/242/29/243/4/243/8/243/11/24
Summer 15/6/244/24/244/30/245/3/245/6/24
Summer 26/24/246/12/246/18/246/21/246/24/24
Fall 18/19/248/7/248/12/248/16/248/19/24
Fall 210/16/2410/3/2410/8/2410/11/2410/16/24

Now enrolling:

Apply Date 6/12/24
Class Starts 6/24/24
Real Ambition success logo
Apply Now

Admissions

Read the details of our admissions criteria

The admission process is the first step toward earning your Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology degree online.

Admission Requirements:

  • Official transcripts of all coursework from accredited institutions
  • 2.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale
  • Resume
View all admission requirements +

Online Master of Legal Studies Admission Requirements

  • Complete online application for admission
  • Pay $40 non-refundable application fee
    • If you are an NKU alumnus or active/veteran military member, your application fee will be waived
  • Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) coursework from an accredited institutions
  • Minimum undergraduate overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.5
  • Resume
  • Letter of purpose

Official documents may be mailed or emailed to:

NKU Office of Graduate Education
302 Lucas Administrative Center
Highland Heights, KY 41099

[email protected]

Have a question? Call us at 800-985-7215.

Courses

Discover what you will learn in our online Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology curriculum

In order to earn the Master of Legal Studies in Digital Law & Technology online, you must complete 10 courses, which include two electives, for a total of 30 credit hours.

Expand All
Students must take the following courses:
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
As the world evolves through technology, the law must evolve as well. This course requires students to focus upon a single emergent technology—such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things, or some other technology of each student’s choosing—and explore existing and anticipated legal issues associated with the technology. Students will be expected to research and to write about these issues, discussing the existing laws that may apply to that technology and to propose prospective remedies for any legal problems that the technology may cause that current laws or regulations do not cover.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Technology extends the reach of individuals, organizations, and governments beyond borders, posing one of the greatest legal challenges in the Digital Age. A single action on the internet can have consequences far beyond where the actor resides—stealing an identity, subverting an election, threatening a public utility—raising questions about what laws, and what governing bodies, will protect victims and punish those that harm them through technology. This course will examine the obstacles to enacting and enforcing laws to govern cyberspace and the real world when developing technologies create challenges to the lawful authority of governments to regulate technology.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course includes the study of legal method and legal systems designed to teach the role and function of courts, legislative bodies, and administrative agencies; techniques of legal argument and reasoning; and sources of law.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces students to the basics of legal research. Students will focus on primary and secondary sources of legal information in both print and online formats.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
As commerce shifts to the Internet and mobile technologies, the law has been forced to adapt to the realities of the e-commerce marketplace. Consumers and businesses buy and sell goods or services through virtual storefronts using digital contracts, paying with digital currency, and, in some cases, resolving disputes online. Meanwhile, blockchain technology has offered new ways to document and to pay for e-commerce transactions through smart contracts and cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. This course will address e-commerce common and regulatory law, with a special emphasis upon blockchain technology.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This is the age of the invisible criminal and tortfeasor, harming individuals, businesses, and governments under a cloak of anonymity and through the boundless reach of the Internet. Many crimes and torts were rare or nonexistent until this century—like cyber-attacks, cyberbullying, cyberextortion, cyberstalking, cyberterrorism, and cybertheft. This course will examine New Age crimes and torts and the legal challenges in imposing criminal and civil liability upon those who commit them.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses upon the legal needs of entrepreneurs and their startups. While successful startups may require help with complex legal drafting and transactions—to obtain financing, issue shares, go public, or sell the company—entrepreneurs and lawyers that represent them require general knowledge of many areas of the law. The course will consider some of the expertise that a lawyer must acquire to counsel startups, explore ways that attorneys can better understand these unique clients and develop a practice to serve them, and introduce entrepreneurs, or those who may want to become entrepreneurs, to legal issues common to creating and running a startup.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The exponential and infinite proliferation of big data raises both privacy and security issues, as the sensitive information of individuals, organizations, and governments are collected and stored online where it can be hacked or misused without authorization. This course will explore the developing, complex web of laws, national and international, that govern data privacy and cybersecurity. More specifically, it will examine the limitations of the existing legal framework and consider the policy implications of greater regulation of data collection over the Internet and the evolving Internet of Things.
Students must complete two of the following elective courses:
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Historically, computer forensics is for IT-trained people while the "analytical legal thinking" would be reserved for those with a legal background. There is no reason why a law student cannot learn to speak both languages because there are many varied job opportunities for those, with a law degree, who is capable of leading digital investigations in public or private sectors.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Today’s world is on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution, the Digital Revolution, with ever-emerging technologies transforming life in the 21st century—connecting billions of people through the internet; improving access to goods and services; and redefining commerce, education, governance, and the workplace. Over two semesters, students will be introduced to emerging technologies—artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, biometrics, blockchain, cryptocurrency, drones, the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, quantum computing, robotics, 3D printing, and virtual and augmented reality—and their impact upon contract, criminal, property, tort and other core areas of the law.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Today’s world is on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution, the Digital Revolution, with ever-emerging technologies transforming life in the 21st century—connecting billions of people through the internet; improving access to goods and services; and redefining commerce, education, governance, and the workplace.  Over two semesters, students will be introduced to emerging technologies—artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, biometrics, blockchain, cryptocurrency, drones, the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, quantum computing, robotics, 3D printing, and virtual and augmented reality—and their impact upon contract, criminal, property, tort and other core areas of the law.

Request Information

Submit this form, and an Enrollment Specialist will contact you to answer your questions.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Or call 800-985-7215

By submitting this form, I am providing my digital signature agreeing that Northern Kentucky University (NKU) and its agent, Academic Partnerships, may email me or contact me regarding educational services by telephone and/or text message utilizing automated technology or a pre-recorded message at the telephone number(s) provided above. I understand this consent is not a condition to attend NKU or to purchase any other goods or services.

Ready to Begin?

Start your application today!
Apply Now
Apply Now
Or call 800-985-7215 800-985-7215
for help with any questions you may have.

Related Articles