Legal departments need scientists and engineers.

This was the primary takeaway from the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) recent podcast episode, featuring MSL alumni who staff the legal department at healthcare-tech company VillageMD. The episode, CLOC Talk: We are All Scientists – A Conversation with the VillageMD Legal Department, centered on how STEM professionals have helped to shape their organization’s legal operations using science-based principles.

“If you think about it, industrial engineering and legal [operations] are not that much different,” says MSL alum Demetrios Kirvassilis, a legal operations analyst for VillageMD. “Industrial engineers are trained to optimize complex processes, systems, and organizations,” he says.

This is all done through the implementation of systems, and can cross over into a number of settings, from manufacturing to operating procedures, or even within legal departments, Kirvassilis says. At the end of the day, it’s all about optimizing processes, activities, and personnel.

Engineers and scientists are trained to be methodical, analytical, and to follow a framework – a skillset that fits well in the world of legal operations, where implementing structure and improving processes are key. Listen to the complete episode here to learn how analyzing metrics, testing hypotheses, and bringing other STEM-based skills to the table can propel success in the world of legal operations.

You can also learn more about how other MSL graduates are meshing their science and engineering backgrounds with their law degrees by visiting our Alumni page.