testifying expert

One of the marketing strategies I teach in the CLNC^® Certification Program is to network with everyone who comes within three feet of you. In this quick video, Catherine Cass, RN, CLNC shares how she used this marketing strategy right out of the Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting^® textbook to land a lucrative testifying expert position – even before she’d left the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar in Las Vegas.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Success Is Inside!

I seriously could write a book about this case. I met the attorney of this memorable case at a legal seminar. I was asked to review the medical records and fetal monitoring strips of a baby who was severely brain injured. An OB/GYN expert reviewed the records and found no deviations to the standard of care by the physician or the labor nurses. It was the OB/GYN’s opinion that the fetal monitoring strips showed no distress.

The attorney, a very accomplished medical malpractice attorney, was then led to believe that the cause of the baby’s injuries was a negligent resuscitation after delivery, with a “0” Apgar score as “proof.”

The attorney hired me to review the records with a focus on resuscitation. After reviewing the records, my opinion was that there were significant hyperstimulation and hypertonus causing a brain compression injury to the baby during labor. I developed a 50-page chronology that detailed every aspect of the labor and delivery, complete with a section that compared and contrasted the documented interpretation of the FMS to mine. I addressed the standard of care for nurses and physicians for staffing guidelines, Pitocin^®, intrauterine pressure catheters and amnioinfusion. The hospital had gone against its own protocols in the use of Pitocin^® and amnioinfusion. Because the heart beat of the baby showed no “sentinel event” and did not look “ominous,” the original OB/GYN who reviewed the case missed the six hours of hyperstimulus and hypertonus of 50 mmHg. The nurses continued the amnioinfusion and increased the Pitocin^® despite the ominous contraction pattern which are both deviations from the SOC and against hospital policy.

The attorney reviewed my interpretation of the case and when we met again, she greeted me with “Okay, I get it! I’m filing this case”, and that was the beginning of one of the best cases of her career. It became as satisfying for her as it was for me.

I was able to secure top medical experts – one of whom she had contacted before on another case but who said he was too busy. When I contacted him he said, “As long as you’ve determined it’s a viable case, I’ll review it”. This wasn’t the first time an expert had agreed to take on a case for me when they had said no to the attorney.

In addition to providing the chronology, educating the attorney and finding several expert witnesses, I flew to Houston to meet the attorney in a labor suite and operating room to teach about all of the equipment used on the mother i.e., IUPC, fetal monitor, IVs, cardiac monitor, pulse oximeter, O2, etc., during labor and delivery and the resuscitation of the newborn.

The defense had their usual arguments explaining why the injuries couldn’t have happened during labor – infection causation, prenatal causation, no sentinel event. The defense also tried a Motion in Limine to prevent the theory of hyperstimulus and hypertonus causing a compression brain injury during labor. All to no avail.

Because of the detailed chronology and up-front, early and thorough education provided to the attorney, the case actually settled prior to any disclosure of expert reports or expert depositions – which is unheard of in brain-injured baby cases.

The impact on my financial status is immeasurable and this attorney-client has referred me to other attorneys. I would not make any changes to the way I prepared this case. My advice to other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants is to follow your instincts about what you think will help your attorney-clients the most.

My mission statement as a CLNC^® consultant is to make medicine safer for all. This baby, while injured, will have his life care plan fully funded and will have the most satisfying life possible because of my involvement. My attorney-client continually expresses her gratitude saying: “We never would have gotten here without you. It was because of you that we won this case.”

Becky Mungai, RN, BA, CLNC

Most Certified Legal Nurse Consultants consult with attorneys behind the scenes and never testify on a single case. Despite the fact that you can build a very successful CLNC^® business without serving as an expert witness, I always encourage CLNC^® students to be open to this amazing and challenging experience.

I wanted to share how three Certified Legal Nurse Consultants regard testifying. These three experiences literally took their breath away.

I remember how scared I was to take on being a testifying expert when I became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. I knew that I could support my opinion, but was I ready? Having been an obstetrical nurse for over 15 years, I was sure that I was an expert. I just had to do it. I met with my attorney-client the day before I was to testify and we went over what to expect. This was my first deposition and he knew it. I asked him questions until I felt like I was ready.

The next day I arrived ready, but nervous, for my deposition. The deposition was over three hours long. I felt very confident and kept saying in my head, ‘I know so much more than the attorney does about fetal monitoring strips.’ When the deposition ended my attorney-client looked at me and said, “Wow! That was great. I don’t know how you prepared for this but you did a great job!” It was at that moment that I knew my training from Vickie and her Institute had really paid off. I truly believed I could do anything. I had given my first deposition and now I had the fever! Bring on the next one!

– Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC

I was defending a nursing home as an expert witness. The plaintiff attorney had been a nurse. The expert witness for her case was also a nurse with impressive credentials. What she lacked that I possessed, however, was real, on-the-job experience working as a nurse in nursing homes. I was able to demonstrate actual knowledge of nursing responsibilities, documentation and experience with the nursing home medical record. I was able to prove to the plaintiff attorney that the allegations were not substantiated by the medical record. She was clearly frustrated and embarrassed during the deposition. The case settled.

I cannot express in words how exhilarating it is when you experience these breathless moments. They make me realize what a great profession legal nursing consulting is. As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant I have chosen to make a difference in this world.

– Sandra Higelin, RN, MSN, CS, CWCN, CLNC

For three Administrative Law Judge Medicare hearings, the testifying physician was called away unexpectedly. The attorney elected to go ahead with the hearings without the testifying physician, provided that the Administrative Law Judge in question was willing to allow it, which, under the circumstances, he did. The RN testifying expert was unable to attend and the substitute nurse froze. So, I stepped up and agreed to be sworn in to testify. It was a matter of putting surgical procedures and the ramifications for the particular patient into layman’s terms for the judge to understand. Since this is done telephonically, there were no visual aids. My testimony helped us win all three cases!

– Camy Joyner, RN, CCM, CLNC

I’m excited to have Dorene, Sandra and Camy share their expert testifying experiences with nurses everywhere. It is clear they love what they do as Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. “We Are Nurses and We Can Do
Anything!^®”

Success Is Inside!

Locating testifying experts for attorneys can add a huge amount of revenue to your legal nurse consulting business. As part of the screening process, Certified Legal Nurse Consultants research the background of the potential expert witness candidates. Most people just get on the web and start Googling or binging away with variations of the name of the unsuspecting searchee. Some will go to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to see what can be learned about the search subject.

But it gets better after you’re finished with this blog. People like our Chief Techie Blogger, Tom, have long known and used the so-called “invisible Internet” to discover information. Today, the average Certified Legal Nurse Consultant has those same tools (some of them anyway) at their fingertips. By using these new tools, you can learn more about a search subject than the subject knows about themselves!

How? Using one of the new “deep-web” search engines. Sites like Spokeo.com, CVGadget.com, Spock.com and Pipl.com will all give you more information than is typically available through a regular search engine. Depending upon the site or service, they’ll search not only the social networking sites but also look for things like the wish lists and reviews a person posts on Amazon.com. They also search blog postings and comments associated with the person’s name and can even look for anything associated with a person’s email address. This includes photos the search subject posted on Flickr or that have been tagged with the subject’s name (these can be quite revealing). Some of the search sites will give you basic information and then “default” to the public information sites that sell information while others provide it for free.

Whether you’re searching for information on a potential expert witness, future attorney-prospect or just your daughter’s prom date, “deep-web” search engines can reveal more information than most people know is out there.

I’ve recommended in past blogs that every legal nurse consultant search for variations on their own names at least once a month. Now you should add a few more searches using a “deep-web” tool and if necessary, take steps to remove any potentially damaging or incorrect information. Remember, while you’re searching for information on other people, they may be searching for the same about you.

To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from the movies, “Here’s looking for you, kid.”

Success Is Inside (and the truth is out there)!

Vickie,

I was hired by an attorney to locate a testifying expert. When I sent the contract to the attorney to sign, he sent it back requesting that I put the plaintiff’s name in the contract instead of his. I learned in the CLNC^® Certification Program that the contract is always between the law firm and me and that is how I have always done it. Should I consider his request or stick with the way I was taught?

Leann E., RN, CLNC

Hi Leann,

You are absolutely correct. Stick with the way you were taught. The contract should always be between you and the attorney, never with the plaintiff or defendant. Contact the attorney and politely emphasize that your contract has to be with the attorney, not the plaintiff and that all invoices will be submitted to and paid by the attorney. Communicate that your standard business practice is to collect a retainer check for the amount of your location fee and the signed contract. Upon receipt of both, you will begin work to locate a testifying expert.

Success Is Inside!

Vickie

P.S. The new CLNC^® Certification Program catalog has just been mailed. If you did not receive it, please call my office at 800.880.0944.

P.P.S. Great news! We have renegotiated lower hotel room rates for our 2009 CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminars. Call 800.880.0944 for details.