Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Program

CLNC^® Success Story: I Am Living My Passion with an Exclusive Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Contract with One Attorney-Client

July 29, 2010 in CLNC Consultant, CLNC Success Story, Legal Nurse Consultant, Legal Nurse Consulting, NACLNC Association, Success, Vickie Milazzo by Guest_Blogger | No comments

After I became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I worked for a corporation doing internal auditing. After two years, a CLNC^® friend told me about an opportunity to have an exclusive Certified Legal Nurse Consultant contract with an attorney. At first I wasn’t sure I wanted an exclusive contract with any attorney because I did not know if he would have enough work for me. I was wrong. I ended up signing a contract with this attorney-client for $150,000 annually for 40 hours a week. This year I will make about $175,000.

Technology has been a big plus for my CLNC^® business. My husband retired and we moved to Tennessee. My attorney-client lives in California. Technology allows me to work full time at home out of an office that used to be part of our barn as I watch over llamas grazing outside. My attorney-client, who has a protected server that allows her to download documents, copies everything to a disk. One of the best things I’ve adopted from one of Tom’s Tech Tips was dual monitors. I review the files from my attorney-client on one screen while I write my report using the second screen. I also take my work on the road when I travel. My husband races cars so I can just pack up my bag with my laptop and go with him. It’s great because my legal nurse consulting business is completely portable.

The benefits of being a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant are endless. I work out every morning, have coffee with friends, then I go to work. The more I work, the more money I make. I can work 50 hours one week and take a day off the next whenever I choose. In my prior job, I only slept in my own bed about eight nights a month because I had to travel so much. Now as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I enjoy staying at home.

When I worked at a full-time job, I could count my friends on one hand. Now, I am more involved in my community and I’m active in the charities that are important to me.

I was going to semi-retire, do a little CLNC^® work but not really do much. However, I have stayed busy and have had numerous offers for additional legal nurse consulting work. When this happens, I contact my network of CLNC^® peers. The NACLNC^® Directory has a wealth of CLNC^® consultants who I can refer business to or recommend as experts.

My advice to nurses is to stop waiting – do it now. Become a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant today. Stop procrastinating!

Guest Blogger Profile

Sheila Silvus Chesanow, RN, MS, CLNC is owner of Chesanow & Associates in Tennessee. She has been a nurse for 30+ years and has been clinically active as a nurse practitioner. Sheila’s CLNC^® practice specializes in acute care, long term care and geriatric medicine.

After working in a large clinic for 22 years, I retired. I was 48, my life was changing, my workplace was changing and I qualified for early retirement, so I took it. My family was growing up, and I began to wonder, "What am I going to do now?" Then I found Vickie Milazzo Institute's LegalNurse.com website and became intrigued. I knew I had the experience as a nurse to become a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant – I decided to take the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar. Vickie's CLNC^® Certification Program is the key to my CLNC^® success.

Becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant has such a positive impact on my life. It spells freedom – more financial freedom, being able to work from home doing what I love to do any time I want, but also being able to walk away from it at 3:30 in the afternoon. I'm free to walk downstairs to find my husband in his office – he also works from home. (Separate offices work best for us during the day because of business phone calls and other distractions.) We are then free to choose what we want to do with the rest of our day.

When asked by other nurses if a career in legal nurse consulting can be successful, I repeat what Vickie told me, "Absolutely, if you're passionate about it."

Market, market, market, even when you're busy. Anywhere I market my CLNC^® practice, I show up with independence and confidence, just like Vickie taught me. I walk in the door and say, "Here I am. I can help you."

My CLNC^® business really took off when I located a group of attorneys and camped out on their door step. Today those attorneys are some of my best clients. One of the attorneys recently told me, "The reason I hired you is because I was tired of stepping over you when I came through the door in the morning." We laugh about it now, but my persistence paid off.

In Vickie's CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Program, she encourages her students to send out a newsletter to attorney-prospects and clients. My newsletter helps me connect with attorneys and I can count on receiving numerous phone calls each time I send one.

My CLNC^® consulting work is always interesting. Many RNs think legal nurse consultants consult only on medical malpractice or personal injury cases. Some of my favorite cases are the ones that I wouldn't think I'd be involved in, like a murder trial or a legal malpractice case involving a will.

The case outcomes can also be very exciting. My first big attorney-client asked me to review a medical malpractice case for merit. I found a gross deviation in the standards of care and located an expert for the attorney. That case went to mediation and settled for a larger amount than anyone expected.

While that litigation was in progress, my attorney-client asked me to begin work on another case. A doctor had previously reviewed the case's medical records, but when the attorney asked for my help, I discovered numerous things the doctor had overlooked. Then, right before the case went to trial, the attorney asked me to accompany him to court. When the defense expert denied the validity of a particular radiology report, I whispered to my attorney-client, "Trust me on this – show him this report." The second report invalidated the medical expert for the defense and upended their case. My nursing experience and Vickie's CLNC^® Certification Program were the biggest factors in winning the case.

A large part of my CLNC^® consulting success is due to Vickie's enthusiasm and her encouraging words, such as We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything!^®

Vickie's CLNC^® Mentoring Program is another part of my CLNC^® consulting success. I enjoy working through the problems I encounter with the CLNC^® Mentors and contact them any time I'm stymied. It's reassuring to brainstorm with these CLNC^® Pros.

What makes my CLNC^® business successful? By thinking outside the box, using my nursing skills and remembering Vickie's CLNC^® training, I successfully evaluate cases and help my attorney-clients gain the best outcomes. I'm so excited about my CLNC^® career. I'm living my dream of being a successful CLNC^® consultant, having a great time and being rewarded financially for the work I do!