Consulting with Attorneys as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Can Sometimes Feel Like an Extreme Sport
Certified Legal Nurse Consultants get paid big bucks. To get paid those big bucks, we have to get off the fence and take a stand, even if that means not always being right. Every successful CLNC® consultant has had that cliff-hanging moment of doubt. Here’s what one Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, Dale Barnes, learned from one of those experiences.
“Early in my CLNC® career I researched a case and concluded it was meritorious. Well into the case, what I thought was impossible occurred. The plaintiff started to improve, and the damages started to disappear before our eyes. The case was not as tragic and not quite as “slam dunk” as I had led my attorney-client (and myself) to believe.
Once I overcame my embarrassment, I immediately confronted the issue and was honest with the attorney. He was obviously not happy. Based on my opinion, he had put a lot of his own money into the case. I told him that I had not foreseen a recovery and that I would assist him in developing a new strategy. We altered our strategy for damages by focusing strictly on the losses during the shorter time the plaintiff had been affected. The attorney canceled the life care planner and scaled down our demands. This strategy worked and the case was resolved.
This case taught me to peel away many more layers before formulating a definitive opinion on merit and outcome. I learned to confer with my colleagues and with experts and to research every possible foreseeable outcome extensively.
My attorney-client shared that because I was honest with him about what I should have done differently and because I tried to help him resolve the dilemma, he was able to trust me and to this day we still work together.”
Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC
Like Dale, go ahead and take a stand. Like her, you won’t always be right. The moment you identify that you’re having a cliff-hanger moment, notify your attorney-client and determine how you will prevent it the next time. The only thing wrong with mistakes is not admitting it or not taking corrective action to prevent the next one. Remember, the person who doesn’t make mistakes often doesn’t make anything. While you don’t want to embody the phrase “often wrong but never in doubt,” you do want to be willing to take that stand based on the information you have. Like Dale’s attorney-client, you’ll end up with a better relationship afterwards.
Success Is Inside (the guardrails)!
P.S.Comment and share how you’ve realized success from a mistake you’ve made in your CLNC® business.
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The National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) is the largest and oldest association of legal nurse consultants.
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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.
