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The CLNC® Pros Share 8 Things You Should Be Doing Differently to Launch Your Legal Nurse Consulting Business

I asked our CLNC Pros to share what they would have done differently when launching their CLNC business. They are all successful Certified Legal Nurse Consultants today. Pay attention to what they have to say and your legal nurse consulting success is guaranteed to come easier.

  1. Probe and Ask Questions

    Like many RNs who have nursing jobs in hospitals, I was accustomed to taking orders from bossy physicians, no questions asked. While nursing autonomy and practicing assertive nursing were emphasized in nursing school, I found it difficult in the real world.

    When I received my first case, I hadn’t “officially” launched my CLNC career. As a consequence of seldom interacting with physicians, I found myself not interacting with my attorney-client as often as I should have. For example, my first case comprised over 5,000 pages of a plaintiff’s medical records. I didn’t ask my attorney-client if I should organize them, so I simply wrote my report and referred to the various documents as needed. I placed Post-It® notes on the pages I had referenced and turned in the “stack” of pages along with my report. I thought my work was done. But alas, I received a call from the attorney and was asked to organize the medical records. I felt embarrassed but I learned an incredible lesson: don’t be timid when it comes to asking questions and extracting the necessary information required to complete your CLNC assignment to assure that your attorney-client’s satisfaction is guaranteed!

  2. Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC

  3. Don’t Procrastinate

    If I were starting out now, I would immediately make a business plan, as I learned in LegalNurse.com’s CLNC Certification Program. I made the mistake of procrastinating and that slowed me down in the long run. If I’d had a plan to go by, I could have focused differently on my legal nurse consulting business. Even though I acquired attorney-clients quickly, the process would have been smoother, and I would have grown my CLNC business even faster.

    My advice to new legal nurse consultants without a business plan, is to stop and write one now and continue to modify it as needed. It will keep you on track, focused and will accelerate your CLNC business to the next level.

  4. Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC

  5. Overcome Professional Bradycardia

    When I began my career as a newly trained CLNC consultant back in September 2000, I procrastinated due to pure unadulterated panic-stricken fear…fear of getting my first medical-related case! My fear held me back for almost two years. It was my own self-doubt between my own two ears that led me astray and nearly did me in. Once I obtained my first case, however, I soon realized just how well I had been prepared by Vickie to become a successful CLNC consultant and how easy, exciting and enjoyable it was to work on cases. What a great feeling it is to have cases under my CLNC belt. Knowing that now, I would have sent out my marketing packets immediately rather than to have waited nearly two panic-stricken years to do so.

    I will always remember what Vickie taught me – “We Are Nurses and We Can Do Anything!®” Yes, I was suffering from what I have termed professional bradycardia, but after becoming a CLNC consultant I took control of the paddles and shocked my life and my nursing career into RSR (regular success rhythm). Thank you Vickie for changing my life. Thank you Vickie for being you!

  6. Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC

  7. Don’t Be Afraid to Leave Your Hospital Job

    I wish that I had left my hospital nursing job sooner once I was certified as a CLNC consultant instead of holding on to my job 80 miles away from my home.

    I remember how Vickie talked about being afraid to leave your nursing job but what was I afraid of? I was making enough money to supplement what I would lose not working nights and I could certainly use more sleep.

    When I finally did leave my nursing job at the hospital, even my daughter commented that she noticed how much happier I was.

  8. Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC

  9. Stay Connected

    The one thing I would have done differently when I started my CLNC business, was to stay better connected with and continue to market to the attorney-clients I had already consulted with. I had several small attorney firms I was consulting with when I began to grow my CLNC business. I kept marketing to new attorneys, and forgot to reconnect with my established attorney-clients. While I established new contacts and clients, I realized my existing clients were not sending me as many cases as I expected. I quickly learned the value of an established attorney-client relationship and the importance of reconnecting with them.

  10. Debra Gross, RN, MSN, CPC, CCM, CLCP, MSCC, CLNC

  11. Leverage Yourself and Your Time

    When I first started my legal nurse consulting business, attorneys solicited me. Consequently, my CLNC business grew quickly. And, I was still working full time at the hospital. As my legal nurse business grew, I was working harder, not smarter because I did not use Vickie’s tools for CLNC success. Four years later, I finally quit my hospital job. I hired an assistant to help me with the administrative tasks of running a successful CLNC business because my caseload was becoming unmanageable and more cases were coming in all of the time. I can now devote my time to what I do best instead of being so scattered.

    My advice to all new CLNC consultants, or even CLNC consultants who are working “harder and not smarter,” is to follow Vickie’s plan for success. One of which is to hire an assistant. It will save you a lot of frustration and your CLNC business will grow a lot faster and you and your business will be healthier ensuring your success.

  12. Sandra Higelin, RN, MSN, CS, CWCN, CLNC

  13. Network with Your CLNC Peers

    I would have networked more with other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants for building my CLNC business. In the beginning, it was my desire to be an independent CLNC consultant. Unfortunately at that time, I did not network much. I thought I could do it all on my own. I used my CLNC Mentoring which was a great help, but I didn’t know many other CLNC consultants. Personally, looking back I can say it was a mistake.

    I was very protective of my business and attorney-clients. I hate to admit it, but I viewed other CLNC consultants as competition. It may have been in part to my naivete as a business owner with a healthy dose of just being a nurse. As nurses, we are very determined (or shall I say stubborn). I regret it now. We all can help each other even if it is just for emotional support. When I began my nursing career 28 years ago, I was thrown to the lionesses. Rarely did the more experienced nurses offer to help, and I think some of them even got pleasure from seeing the new nurses make mistakes. We had to sink or swim and I believe that determination had a lot to do with me thinking that I had to do everything on my own.

    I now look forward every year to the NACLNC® Conference. It’s such a great way to meet Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. I always come home with a fist-full of business cards and great connections.

  14. Jane A. Hurst, RN, CLNC

  15. Broaden Your CLNC Business

    I would have broadened the types of cases I marketed to attorneys. I emphasized psychiatric and neurological cases which worked well, but in retrospect I should have presented a broader range of services to attorney-prospects and subcontracted with CLNC consultants on the cases outside of my expertise. The need to subcontract with other CLNC consultants arose as my attorney-clients continued to ask me to handle a broader range of cases.

Brian Johnson, RN, PhD, CLNC

Thanks to all the CLNC Pros for such great and varied advice.

Success Is Inside!

5 thoughts on “The CLNC® Pros Share 8 Things You Should Be Doing Differently to Launch Your Legal Nurse Consulting Business

  1. Excellent advise! I have also made some of these mistakes, but fortunately I keep current with all the support and services LegalNurse.com provides so I have been able to correct my errors. Thank you all so much for sharing these stories.

  2. Thanks for the tips! I have experience with procrastination and not following up with existing attorney clients.

  3. This is an excellent article. Thank you to all 8 of you for your tips, wisdom and insight. Thank you, specifically, to Lawrence. I definitely don’t want to suffer from bradycardia as a CLNC®! I know that bradycardia can sometimes be a good thing in real life (possible signs of a strong heart and active lifestyle), but it’s not good to be bradycardic as a CLNC®.

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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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