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3 Strategies for Successfully Disagreeing with Your Attorney-Clients

It’s okay to disagree with another person. In fact, at LegalNurse.com I encourage it. Breakthroughs rarely come from consensus. The trick to successfully disagreeing is disagreeing without being disagreeable. Persuasion is an art form that requires diplomacy and being agreeable about the disagreement. The more agreeable and diplomatic you are when trying to persuade others to your side, the more likely they will genuinely listen to your point of view. You won’t be able to hypnotize an attorney-client to your way of thinking about a medical-related issue, so you need to find a more practical and persuasive strategy.

Smart trial attorneys challenge Certified Legal Nurse Consultants on their opinions and positions. Remember, their job is to consider every trick the opposing side has up their sleeve – and that starts with you. Play nice and play smart. Shutting down, pouting, raising your voice slightly or endlessly repeating yourself won’t get you anywhere. In fact, it will only reinforce the opinion that you have nothing important to contribute. I’m not encouraging you to always agree with your attorney-clients, but you should know when, and how, to disagree.

We’re all more likely to listen to the message if we don’t want to kill the messenger.

I’m Just Sayin’

P.S. Comment here and share how you disagree agreeably as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

2 thoughts on “3 Strategies for Successfully Disagreeing with Your Attorney-Clients

  1. Good advice, Vickie.
    I have always found that disagreements can be understood and reworked when you are aware of the underlying issues. Is it knowledge based or experiential? Has the client heard comments from others he has met before?
    Acquiesce to the attorney being the content expert on issues of law and court proceedings and support your expertise on medical, hospital, and patient care activities. When you both come together to discover the potency of that teamwork there is a win/win for both sides.
    The nurse ALWAYS makes the difference in care delivery, quality, safety, understanding, and education for the patient; and the same holds true for the attorney-client. Knowing that, and owning it beforehand, gives you confidence and a strong foundation for building your worth and relationship.
    We save lives, we can definitely save cases!
    Any thoughts?

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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.

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