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CLNC® Success Stories

I contact LegalNurse.com, and a CLNC® Mentor is always able to help me. I ask all my questions, even if I think they’re stupid, get the answers and the attorney thinks I’m brilliant.

I Make the Rules and I’ve Tripled My Income as a Legal Nurse Consultant in Florida

by Colleen Galligan, RN, BSN, CDDN, CLNC

What’s amazing about the CLNC® Certification Program is that the Institute teaches you absolutely everything you need to know and gives you all the tools to succeed. The most important thing they advise is to use the CLNC Mentors.

I can walk into an attorney’s office knowing nothing about the case and come out with the assignment. Then I contact LegalNurse.com, and a CLNC Mentor is always able to help me sort it out. I ask all my questions, even if I think they’re stupid, get the answers and the attorney thinks I’m brilliant.

The other thing the Institute teaches is to stick together. If everybody succeeds, then we all do better. This is the only job I’ve ever had where people in the business really want to help each other. You won’t find that anyplace else.

I relocated from New York to Florida. Unemployment can be a great motivator, so I decided to go for it all the way as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant in Florida. I figured out what I had to earn to replace my nursing salary, $58,000 a year, with my 20 years of experience in developmental disabilities. To equal that as a CLNC consultant, I only needed to work six to eight hours a week. I did the math three times to believe it, and I knew it was attainable.

I Creatively Turned “No” into “Yes”

I sent out introductory letters and got creative in responding to “No”: “It’s been nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you across the table. Do you know anyone else I should talk to?”

Eventually, “No” started turning into “Yes.” The first time that happened was one of the most fun days I can remember. As I walked into the courtroom to sit in on a plaintiff case, I recognized the attorney across the table. Not long before, he had told me I overcharged and he would never be interested. When he spotted me, the expression on his face was priceless. The next day he called. It’s fun to hear “No” turn to “Yes, please”!

I’m proud to say that my first three attorney-clients are still my best clients. I landed them by sending out letters, knocking on doors, showing up and being nice to paralegals. I know my clients need and appreciate my CLNC services.

Once my CLNC business took off, I got into networking, and my business multiplied even faster. I’m the only CLNC consultant in my networking group, and each week I meet at least 50 people. Now instead of knocking on an attorney’s front door, I go in through the back door – by referral from a golf partner, bridge partner or next-door neighbor. Once I get in with one attorney, they send me to others.

After Only a Year I’m Free to Take Off Whenever I Want

A year after moving to Florida, I work only 25 to 30 hours a week, and I earn three times what I’d be making as a full-time, 60-hour-a-week nurse. I provide my own benefits, but the perks are huge. I make the rules. I can do high-quality work in my pajamas here in Florida. It’s my choice, and that’s unbelievable freedom.

If I want to work 16 hours a day, I can. If I want to take off in the middle of the day and go see a movie, I can do that, too. When I lived in Manhattan, I never had time to see a Broadway show. Now, if my husband comes home and says, “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s go to the beach,” I can go. I have three cruises and two additional vacations planned for the coming year.

Through Referrals I’m Making Money Faster Than I Ever Expected

I thought I’d be doing medical malpractice cases, but two personal injury attorneys opened their doors to me and gave me my first cases. I figured out what they needed and gave it to them. The basis of my business is a report I developed for one of my first personal injury clients. As we discussed his case, I could tell he didn’t quite understand what I was saying about my CLNC services. I told him, “It sounds like you want the good, the bad and the ugly,” just as the Institute teaches. He replied, “That’s exactly what I want.” He called the next week to say, “I love that report. It’s great.”

I later learned that he shared my report with other attorneys. One morning while I was still in my pajamas, I got a call from an attorney I’d never met. He said, “I need one of those GBUs.” I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I asked how he got my name. That’s when I figured it out – he wanted the good, the bad and the ugly.

Now I have lots of attorneys asking for my “GBU” reports. They’re three to five pages long and take five to ten hours to complete. I do five or ten GBUs a week, and they’re really fun.

My CLNC business didn’t develop exactly as I had planned. I do personal injury, not medical malpractice. I’m making more money faster than I ever expected, and I love it. I love the work, I love the freedom I have here in Florida, I love my clients and I love LegalNurse.com for showing me how to make it happen.

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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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