Make More Than a Great Living – Make a Difference as a
Certified Legal Nurse Consultant^CM
by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD

A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant^CM (CLNC^®) is a registered nurse who uses existing expertise as a healthcare professional plus specialized training to consult with attorneys on medical-related cases. Certified Legal Nurse Consultants^CM represent every nursing specialty.

Few attorneys know how to read medical records or understand the terminology and subtleties of healthcare issues to achieve the best results for their clients. A CLNC^® bridges that gap in the attorney's knowledge. As the healthcare provider who is face-to-face with patients 24 hours a day, the RN is in an excellent position to educate attorneys on a wide range of healthcare and nursing issues.

Types of Cases Certified Legal Nurse Consultants^CM Consult On

CLNC^® graduates of our #1 bestselling program have consulted on cases as simple as a neck injury caused by an auto accident, as high-profile as the Rodney King case and as groundbreaking as Fen-Phen, Vioxx, silicone implants and toxic mold litigation. CLNC^®s provide their nursing expertise to consult with plaintiff and defense attorneys on:

1. Medical and Nursing Malpractice Cases
   Cases involving the professional negligence of a healthcare provider or the negligence of a healthcare facility, such as a hospital or HMO. Every specialty of nursing and medicine is at risk for medical and nursing malpractice.
   
   
2. General Personal Injury Cases
   Nonprofessional negligence cases, such as:
   
   • Premises liability cases (e.g., slip and fall in a grocery store)
     
   • Auto accident cases
     
   • Aviation cases
     
   • Liquor liability cases
     
   • Railroad litigation cases
   
   
3. Products Liability Cases
   Cases involving the liability of manufacturers and sellers of a product to buyers, users and even bystanders who allege damages or injuries as a result of a defective product, including:
   
• Medical device and drug-related cases, such as cases involving:
  • Fen-Phen
  • Vioxx
  • Heart valves
  • Defibrillators
• Nonmedical device cases, such as cases relating to:
  • Motor vehicles, automobiles and automobile parts
  • Cigarettes and cigarette lighters
  • Machinery and equipment
  • Children's toys and products
  • Electromagnetic fields (e.g., cellular telephones)
  • Food
  • Household products
  • Personal care products
  • Consumer products (e.g., appliances)
  • Industrial products


4. Toxic Torts and Environmental Cases
   Cases involving alleged damages or injuries resulting from the release of toxins into the environment, such as:
   • Electromagnetic fields (e.g., against a utility company)
   • Asbestos
   • Radiation contamination
   • Hazardous chemicals in a workplace
   • Waste management and disposal
   • Pesticides
     


5. Workers' Compensation and Workplace Injury Cases
   Cases involving job-related injuries arising out of and in the course of employment, such as:
   • Equipment- and machinery-related injuries
   • Cumulative trauma disorders
   • Injuries caused by objects striking workers
   • Back injuries
   • Auto accidents
   
   
6. Criminal Cases

Cases involving any act that society has deemed contrary to the public good because the act is injurious to all of society and violates the peace and tranquility of the community, such as:

• Driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving under the influence (DUI) cases
• Sexual and physical assault cases
• Child, spouse or elder abuse cases
• Homicide cases
• Criminal malpractice cases
• Medicare fraud and abuse cases


7. Any Case Where Health, Illness or Injury Is at Issue

Many types of cases involving medical-related issues, such as:
• Family law (e.g., custody battle)
• Probate (e.g., competency issues)
• School health (e.g., injury of a child while crossing the street, sexual assault by a teacher)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Employer-employee relationships (e.g., wrongful dismissal)
• Sexual harassment
• Right to die
• Social Security benefit issues
• Medicare benefit issues
• Physician-facility relationships (e.g., physician dropped from an HMO, preferred provider network or managed care network)
• Insurance (e.g., reasonableness of a medical bill, relationship of a medical bill to the alleged damages or injuries)
• Family Leave Act
• Bad faith litigation against an insurance company for failure to pay a claim or for denial of access to specific care or treatment
• Wrongful adoption

Assessing Medical Records and Analyzing the Case

• Identify, locate, review and interpret relevant medical records, hospital policies and procedures, other documents and tangible items.
• Organize, tab and paginate medical records for easy reference.
• Prepare chronologies of the medical events involved in a case.
• Summarize, translate and interpret medical records.
• Identify issues of tampering with the medical records.
• Screen medical malpractice cases for merit.
• Identify, locate, summarize and interpret applicable standards of care.
• Identify adherences to and deviations from these standards.
• Identify causation issues, assess damages/injuries and identify contributing factors.
• Identify and recommend potential defendants.
• Develop written reports for the attorney's use as study tools.

Supporting the Attorney's Case

• Search and summarize medical and nursing literature and integrate results of the search into the case analysis.
• Analyze the validity of research studies relied on by all parties.
• Coordinate and attend independent medical examinations.
• Help in developing life care plans.
• Expand the attorney's medical library.

Serving as the Attorney's Liaison

• Interview plaintiff and defense clients, key witnesses and experts.
• Consult with healthcare providers.
• Meet with other consultants and service providers on the attorney's behalf.

Working with Experts and Other Witnesses

• Identify types of testifying experts needed for the case.
• Find and communicate with appropriate expert witnesses for deposition and trial.
• Analyze potential experts' reports and other work product.
• Help prepare witnesses and experts for deposition and trial.
• Serve as an expert witness and testify to the nursing standard of care.

Assisting with Discovery and Preparing for Court

• Prepare questions for deposition or trial examination (direct or cross).
• Prepare interrogatories and requests for production.
• Review and draft responses to various legal documents and correspondence for the attorney's signature.
• Analyze and summarize depositions and past testimony.
• Assist with exhibit preparation and other demonstrative evidence.
• Attend courtroom proceedings when relevant.
• Coordinate and assist with facilitating focus groups and mock trials.
• Assist in resolution of cases through alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration and mediation.

Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD is the founder and president of Vickie Milazzo Institute. The New York Times credited her as the pioneer of legal nurse consulting since 1982. She is an Inc. Top 10 Entrepreneur – one of the top entrepreneurs in the nation. She received the Nursing Excellence Award for Advancing the Profession and the Stevie Award (business's Oscar®) as Mentor of the Year. Vickie is the author of Inside Every Woman: Using the 10 Strengths You Didn't Know You Had to Get the Career and Life You Want Now (published 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., now in its fourth printing and ranking in the top 10 percent of all business books being sold).

How have you made a difference as a CLNC^®? Send your story to feedback@LegalNurse.com.

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The Institute Team Rallied Around the Komen Race for the Cure^®

Gathering early on the morning of September 30, the Institute's staff members and I joined a huge crowd of more than 25,000 for the 5K Komen Houston Race for the Cure^®. It was our privilege to serve as a gold-level sponsor for this event. We spent a rewarding Saturday morning helping to raise money to support our charity of choice: the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

In honor of my mother who died from breast cancer, Vickie Milazzo Institute donated $31,300.00 to help eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease and the leading cause of death among women between the ages of 40 and 59. Thank you for supporting the cure.


Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD

P.S.: The Institute supports the cure for breast cancer all year long. Visit the NACLNC^® Community's extensive list of recommended authoritative nursing and medical textbooks. The Institute donates all commissions from the sale of books in that section to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

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		Las Vegas	October 23-28, 2006
		Orlando	April 23-28, 2007
		Chicago	May 14-19, 2007
		Houston	June 4-9, 2007

• Los Angeles, November 10, 2006
  Imagine, Believe and Achieve Infinite Possibilities as a Legal Nurse Consultant
  
  

• Straight Talk, October 29, 2006
  
  

• Las Vegas, Barnes & Noble, October 24, 2006
  
  
• Las Vegas, Renaissance Las Vegas, October 28, 2006
  
  

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• Dallas, October 24, 2006
  
  
• New Jersey, October 27, 2006
  
  
• Los Angeles, November 10, 2006
  Plus Imagine, Believe and Achieve Infinite Possibilities as a Legal Nurse Consultant delivered by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD

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Imagine, Believe, Achieve Brilliant CLNC^® Success
2007 National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC^®)
12th Annual Conference
March 9-10, 2007
Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld
Orlando, Florida

• Choose from 3 tracks of 22 dazzling sessions. Whether you are still stargazing or are already enjoying celestial success, you'll capture the best secrets for more CLNC^® prosperity. You can select just the right presentations and workshops to match your CLNC^® experience and zero in on your CLNC^® goals.
  
  
• Master a galaxy of powerful new strategies. Expand your CLNC^® practice immediately with new CLNC^® services, fresh marketing strategies and up-to-date practice management techniques. Even the most advanced CLNC^®s will discover hundreds of tips to grow their practices.
  
  
• Attend the interviewing workshop and you'll walk into every attorney meeting with confidence and walk out with a new case.
  
  
• Imagine the power of networking with more than 1,200 of the nation's most successful CLNC^®s at 2 FREE breakfasts, 2 FREE luncheons and the FREE networking reception.

Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld
6677 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
407.351.5555

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