6 Ways to Connect Your Legal Nurse Consulting Report to the Jury Box

You’ve written a stellar legal nurse consulting report for the attorney, but have you also written the report to the jury who will ultimately decide the case? Here are 6 ways to connect your report to the jury box.

1. Emphasize the importance of involving you as the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant on the attorney’s cases at the beginning of litigation. This gives you the time and capacity to help the attorney strategically develop themes, positions and arguments that will bring the case to life for the jury.
2. Keep your report clear and in chronological order. This helps the attorney to tell the story to the jury. Collaborate regarding the type of report that will best prepare the attorney to present the case to the jury.
3. Define medical terminology in layman’s terms.  Keep it relevant so the jury can identify with the information presented. This can also be done using anatomical diagrams. Most jurors have little to no medical or nursing experience.
4. Address causation issues in a way that the jury can connect the dots. For example, the plaintiff suffers a fall which results in a hip fracture. The plaintiff is bedbound as a result of the hip fracture. One month later, the patient develops pneumonia as a result of being immobile. You can help make the connection between the fractured hip and pneumonia by highlighting had it not been for the fracture, the patient wouldn’t have been bedbound, which in turn increased the risk for developing pneumonia.
5. Describe the severity of the injury and the potential future damages. How long did the plaintiff miss work following the incident? How have the injuries impacted the plaintiff and family members? Is the person permanently disabled? Does the case necessitate a life care planner?
6. Assist with demonstrative evidence. Create graphs or charts which are pertinent to the key issues of the case and will help depict the damages. For example, if the attorney’s client developed a pressure injury, instead of just documenting the stage of the wound (which means nothing to most jurors), showcase the significance of damages by including a photo of the horrendous wound.

Thanks to Suzanne Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC, Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PhN, CLNC, Marcia Bell, RN, BSN, CAPA, CLNC, Dorene Goldstein, RNC, BSN, CLNC, Robert Malaer, RN, MSN, FN-CSp., SANE, CNLCP, CALM, CLNC, Michelle Neal, RN, BSN, CLNC and Patrick Stonich, RN, BSN, BS, CLNC for sharing how to connect your legal nurse consulting report to the jury box.

P.S. Comment and share the strategies you use to help the attorney connect your report to the jury box.