A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is a Registered Nurse who has received training and certification in this field. This training gives us the knowledge to integrate our years of nursing experience with providing the missing link to attorneys on health care related cases.
Hiring the services of a CLNC® is cost-effective for attorneys. We assist the attorneys by maximizing the value of their case, whether plaintiff or defense. We can convert all the technical medical terminology to lay-person vocabulary. This will not only benefit the attorney alone, but will enable the attorney to educate witnesses, opposing counsel and the jury. A CLNC® manages pre-trial preparation related to demonstrative evidence and coordinating testimony. We will manage any research that is needed. This allows the attorney to focus on the legal issues and strategies of the case. We attend DME/IMEs as needed so a trained eye can observe the procedure and record it. We assist the attorney in building a strong case so there will be more successful outcomes.
Most of the time we commonly think of medical malpractice and personal injury. However, we do so much more! We manage products liability, toxic torts, workers’ compensation, criminal cases (that involve injury or death), family law in cases with a sick child or parent, estate law with issues of competency and elder abuse, whether physical, emotional or financial. Under these categories we also participate in cases relate to bad faith insurance, home health/home care, Long term care facilities and correctional facilities. It is true that all of us do not have all of the listed specialties, but we do have the advantage of belonging to the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. We have access to many others who do have those areas of experience as well as with Life Care Planners.
We interact with the legal community by helping plaintiff and defense attorneys identify cases with and without merit to assist them in choosing the best course of action to win their case. As nurses, we are educators as well as liaisons for coordinating the presented case.