Compliance and Ethics Route, Unsure Whether to Finish MLS/JD
Hello everyone,
I know my post is a bit untraditional in it of itself for this subreddit and I really do hope it is not an inconvenience to ask here: but, honestly I don't know if there is a better community to bring this up to.
I love legal work, but unsure if I ever want to be a practicing attorney. Not because I wouldn't enjoy it to some extent, but rather I just think I equally enjoy other avenues such as compliance roles in corporate settings. Currently I work as a legal researcher at a firm where I do most of the same work already as a compliance professional, so I began a Master of Legal Studies at Vanderbilt so I would have a degree to support that I know what I am doing beyond my work experience since my undergrad is fairly unrelated to what I do. But, this inspired me to study for law school and potentially pursue a JD so it seems "more official". However, unlike my MLS program that I am already accepted into, the JD programs I am likely to get into for the 2027 cycle would be much less prestigious and "Tier 4" afaik. I already am doing the applications, but with no aid from my MLS, would a JD to going into a non-traditional role later be a waste of time and money if I could do these things with an MLS from a "good school"? Would finishing the MLS from a good school mean better job prospects in that context? Would a JD be better to have from a "lower prestige" law school, or will it always not matter if I want to go untraditional and avoid practice?
I have a lot of questions that include nuances of these. But, I think my dilemma here is fairly articulated and I truly would want any advice on what my situation could look like from any of y'all that work in similar spaces or experienced similar situations. Really any advice on this would help so much, as I have a lot of stress trying to balance these decisions. I look forward to hearing from y'all and thank you for whoever is reading and bearing with my long post.