Prospects
Due to its characteristics, this course is designed to provide a set of knowledge and skills that can be applied in a predominantly international context. The course represents a training opportunity in the field of law, eminently oriented to address international, transnational and comparative legal phenomena. In this perspective, it fills a training gap in the Italian university system, which appears to be mainly focused on the study of domestic law.
The course provides the same opportunities to students who have already experienced academic legal training and students who have a non-legal degree but who have gained 30 ECTS in legal subjects.
Particularly, the second year is divided into subject areas:
- Global and Transnational Legal Culture;
- Human Rights, Environmental and Social Justice;
- Law, Economics and Finance;
- Law and Digital Transition.
Professional Profiles:
- Legal expert in business
Functions performed in the working environment:
The profession of legal expert in business implies the management and coordination of the legal office of companies which operate in a highly internationalized area, as well as dealing with all typical legal issues of business, especially by ensuring that relevant activities, procedures and acts comply with applicable norms, having particular regard of the international dimension in which the institution operates; drafting contracts and other legal acts of both national and, above all, international nature; providing legal advice and legal analysis in an international, supranational and comparative perspective; drawing up administrative acts, practices and measures; taking care of the relations with external bodies and subjects (external legal experts), be they private or public (intergovernmental, governmental, non-governmental entities); managing and monitoring all legal aspects of the institution concerned; ensuring support to the administrative activity of other offices; being part of institutional bodies (commissions, advisory bodies etc.).
Related skills:
Knowledge of the legal sources, relevant case-law and practices, with an emphasis on the comparative, transnational and international dimension of legal phenomena.
Ability in setting and analyzing specific situations in the appropriate global legal framework, supported by:
- ability to draft opinions and acts;
- ability to carry out activities related to business administration and management;
- knowledge of administrative and office procedures;
- knowledge of the principles and practices of economics and accounting;
- ability to manage personnel and human resources;
- computer skills.
Employment opportunities:
This type of legal experts are expected to primarily operate as employees or consultants within industrial and manufacturing companies, banking or insurance institutions, professional firms with a strong international vocation.
These activities can also be performed in other types of private bodies (foundations, research institutes, associations and bodies, including those of the third sector, non-governmental organizations, etc.), operating both at national, European and international level.
The same goes for international environments characterized by interactions between multiple legal structures and systems.
- Legal expert for public administrations
Functions performed in the working environment:
The profession of legal expert in public administration implies the management and coordination of the legal office, as well as dealing with all typical legal issues, of organizations and bodies of the national and international Public Administrations, especially by ensuring that relevant activities, procedures and acts comply with applicable norms, having particular regard of the international dimension of legal phenomena; drafting contracts and other legal acts, of both national and, above all, international nature; providing legal advice and legal analysis in an international, supranational and comparative perspective; drawing up administrative acts, practices and measures; taking care of the relations with external bodies or subjects (external legal experts), be they private entities or public bodies (other branches of the Public Administration or State bodies, other international organizations, non-governmental organizations, research centers/institutes, private companies); managing and monitoring all legal aspects of the institution concerned; ensuring support to the administrative activity of other offices; being part of institutional bodies (commissions, advisory bodies etc.).
Related skills:
Analzying problems issuing comparative considerations and having regard of the interactions between the national and supra-national systems; likewise, these professionals are expected to know the main aspects of the guarantee function that national and international institutions play with a view to safeguarding and promoting specific and given rights (also from an ethical perspective).
Ability in setting and analyzing specific situations in the appropriate global legal framework, supported by:
- ability to draft opinions and acts;
- ability to carry out activities related to business administration and management;
- knowledge of administrative and office procedures;
- archive management techniques;
- management skills
- knowledge of the principles and practices of economics and accounting;
- ability to manage personnel and human resources;
- ability to interact with different professional figures to comprehend the dynamics impacting over the organization of the internal work;
- computer skills.
With specific reference to the Italian legal system, the course of study in Legal Studies responds to an endemic problem of the Italian Public Administration, namely the lack of administrative staff bearing legal skills necessary to interact with colleagues from other countries or working in international organizations.
Employment opportunities:
The legal expert in public administration can operate at national, European and international level.
Graduates from this course are expected to gain the knowledge and skills to successfully apply to public calls for accessing positions in local government bodies and organizations (Municipalities, Regions, Provinces); they can also work in Functional Bodies (ASL, Chambers of Commerce, Universities, Public Companies), national institutions (Government, Parliament), national agencies and Labor Inspectorates.
Regarding the European level, they should also be able to participate to calls for accessing top positions in institutions and other European bodies.
The same applies with regard to international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
- Legal Experts for NGOs, Human Rights and other similar contexts
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These profiles are general, though concrete, indications: graduates in Legal Studies are supposed to be able to understand and critically analyze the relationships between national legal systems and other legal systems, to assess national norms in the wider context of supra-national European legal order, and to handle softer forms of transnational law.
They will be able to act within the international context as a whole.
Graduates should also be able to interact with non-specialists or with specialists from other disciplines; at the same time, consideration is given to critical thinking and problem solving, as nowadays these characteristics are necessary for flexible and independent legal experts.
This opens the path to careers unforeseen and unaddressed in the current page, to freelance consulting activities, to new and disrupting career paths sprouting from an highly international and interdisciplinary academic and practical context.
Of course, graduates in Legal Studies can also complete their legal training by attending specialization schools, II level Master's and specialization courses.
Moreover, the academic career is open to these graduates, granting them the chance to apply for a PhD both in Italy and abroad.
Find out more about the Ministerial Single Annual Report (SUA-CdS - Single Annual Report on Degree Programmes)
Corso di Legal Studies - codice 9062
Professional profiles
professional profile Legalexpert for companies rolein a work context: Due to the characteristics of the degreeprogramme, the knowledge provided can be applied to an international…
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Professional profiles
professional profile
Legalexpert for companies
rolein a work context:
Due to the characteristics of the degreeprogramme, the knowledge provided can be applied to an international context.In fact, the course is aimed at providing legal knowledge, mainly gearedtowards learning about international, transnational and comparative legalphenomena. From this perspective, it fills an educational gap in the Italianuniversity system, which seems to be more focused on domestic law.
On the other hand, the characteristics ofthe course – with a first year during which the approach to the legalphenomenon as outlined above is defined, and a second year of specialisation inwhich this approach is strengthened – allow both those who have had previoustraining in the legal field (however, as is normally the case for Italiandegrees in the legal field, geared towards a strictly domestic approach to thelegal phenomenon) and those who have a non-legal degree, but who have gained 30university educational credits in legal subjects (thus having solid basicknowledge of the legal phenomenon, which, once again, is interpreted from amainly domestic point of view) to acquire the necessary knowledge in order towork as legal experts in international settings.
The profession of legal expert forcompanies consists in managing and coordinating the legal department of thecompany operating in a highly internationalised sector, as well as in dealingwith all the legal aspects related to the company's activities, monitoringactivities, procedures and acts and ensuring that they comply with the rules oflaw, with special regard to the international context in which the companyoperates; drawing up contracts and other legal acts, both national and,especially, international; providing legal consultancy and legal analysis froman international, supranational and comparative perspective; drawing up acts,paperwork or administrative measures; handling relations with external bodiesor parties (external lawyers), including private and public bodies(intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental); managing and verifyingthe legal aspects of the body; ensuring support for the administrativeactivities of other offices; being part of institutional bodies (commissions,advisory bodies, etc.).
competenciesassociated with the role:
Knowledge of the sources and of legal andpractical guidelines is required, with special emphasis on the comparative,transnational and international aspects of the legal phenomenon, as well as theability to contextualise and qualify the particular case in question in aglobal scenario, supported by constant updating as well as by:
- ability to draw up advice and acts;
- ability to oversee activities related tobusiness administration and management;
- knowledge of administrative and officeprocedures;
- knowledge of the principles and practicesof economics and accounting;
- ability to manage staff and humanresources;
- computer skills.
The distinctive feature of a Legal Studiesmaster's degree graduate is the ability to focus on and problematize therelationship between national and other legal systems, to contextualisenational regulatory data given the supranational European context, and to beaware of the weaker forms of transnational regulation which, however, arerelevant to the legal issue under scrutiny: therefore, in general, the abilityto interact in an international context in general. Due to theinterdisciplinary approach of the course, special emphasis is also placed onthe ability to interact with non-specialists or specialists in otherdisciplines (in this case, in particular, with managers and business managementexperts) and on the aptitude for critical thinking and problem solving,therefore on an expert in legal matters who is both flexible and capable ofthinking independently.
careeropportunities:
A legal expert for companies worksprimarily as an employee or consultant for industrial and manufacturing companies,banks or insurance companies, and professional firms with a markedinternational character.
These activities can also be carried out inother types of private bodies (foundations, research institutes, associationsand bodies, including those in the voluntary sector, non-governmentalorganisations, etc.), operating not only at a national level but also atEuropean and international level.
In particular, working in internationalcontexts markedly oriented towards other legal systems, is one of the preferredcareer options for Legal Studies master's degree graduates.
Legal experts can improve their educationby attending Specialisation schools, Master's Programmes (2nd Level) andadvanced courses.
Legalexpert for public bodies
rolein a work context:
Due to the characteristics of the degreeprogramme, the knowledge provided can be applied in a mainly internationalcontext. In fact, the course is aimed at providing legal knowledge, mainlygeared towards learning about international, transnational and comparativelegal phenomena. From this perspective, it fills an educational gap in theItalian university system, which seems to be mostly oriented towards studyingdomestic law.
On the other hand, the characteristics ofthe course – with a first year during which the approach to the legalphenomenon as outlined above is defined, and a second year of specialisation inwhich this approach is strengthened – allow both those who have had previoustraining in the legal field (however, as is normally the case for Italiandegrees in the legal field, geared towards a strictly domestic approach to thelegal phenomenon) and those who have a non-legal degree, but who have gained 30university educational credits in legal subjects (thus having solid basicknowledge of the legal phenomenon, which, once again, is interpreted from amainly domestic point of view) to acquire the necessary knowledge in order towork as legal experts in international settings.
The profession of legal expert for publicbodies consists in managing and coordinating the legal department, as well asin dealing with all the legal aspects of the activities of organisations orbodies of the national Public Administration or of universal and regionalinternational organisations, monitoring activities, procedures and acts andensuring that they comply with the rules of law, with special regard to thetransnational and global context of the legal phenomenon; drawing up contractsand other legal acts, both national and, especially, international; providinglegal consultancy and legal analysis from an international, supranational andcomparative perspective; drawing up acts, paperwork or administrative measures;dealing with external bodies or parties, both private and public (other PAcomplexes or other state bodies, other international organisations,non-governmental organisations, research institutes and centres or privatecompanies); managing and verifying the legal aspects of the body; ensuringsupport for the administrative activities of other offices; being part ofinstitutional bodies (commissions, advisory bodies, etc.).
competenciesassociated with the role:
In this case, emphasis is placed on therole of an expert in legal subjects who, on the one hand, is capable offocusing on the problem in question, also in the light of comparativeconsiderations and interaction between the national and supranational legalsystems, and, on the other hand, is aware of the aspects of public ethics andof guaranteeing the rights that national and international institutions arecalled upon to implement.
Therefore, knowledge of the sources and oflegal and practical guidelines is required, with special emphasis on thecomparative, transnational and international aspects of the legal phenomenon,as well as the ability to contextualise and qualify the particular case inquestion, supported by constant updating as well as by:
- ability to draw up advice and acts;
- ability to administer and manage thebody;
- knowledge of administrative and officeprocedures;
- knowledge of archive managementtechniques;
- management skills;
- knowledge of the principles and practicesof economics and accounting;
- ability to manage staff and humanresources;
- ability to interact with differentprofessionals and to understand the dynamics of organising in-house activities;
- computer skills.
With specific reference to the Italianlegal system, the Legal Studies degree programme addresses a problem that isendemic to Italian public administration, namely the shortage of administrativestaff with legal skills who is capable of interacting on a communicative leveland on an extra-national regulatory competence level with colleagues from othercountries or working in international organisations.
careeropportunities:
A Legal expert for public bodies can pursuea professional career at national, European and international level.
1. At national level, following acompetitive exam held by the Public Administration, students may pursue careersin local government (municipalities, regions, provinces), functional bodies(local health authorities, chambers of commerce, universities, publiccompanies), national organisations (government, parliament), national agenciesor labour inspectorates.
2. At European level, through an opencompetitive exam or selection process, students may pursue positions ofresponsibility in European institutions and other bodies.
3. At international level, through an opencompetitive exam or selection process, students may pursue positions ofresponsibility in international governmental and non-governmentalorganisations.
Legal experts can improve their educationby attending Specialisation schools, Master's Programmes (2nd Level) andadvanced courses.