Early on in my career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant I was hesitant to take on the role of a testifying expert and I refused numerous opportunities to testify. Then I decided it was time to jump start my CLNC® business, so the next time an attorney asked me I said yes.
The one case I will always remember and that was special to me as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant was a neonatal case involving an undiagnosed congenital malformation requiring surgical intervention on a term infant in the newborn nursery. From the moment my attorney-client contacted me, I was instantly passionate about the case.
Attorneys must have experts to litigate their cases. While only 5% or less of medical-related cases ever go to trial, attorneys will rarely settle a significant case until the opposing side has put its experts on the table. This is why locating experts is one of the most lucrative CLNC® services a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant can provide to attorneys.
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® Certification Seminar in Las Vegas.
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, who had experience as a consulting expert and testifying expert for plaintiffs, reviewed the records. The OB/GYN found no negligence or deviation to the standard of care on the part of the physician or the labor nurses and could not support a plaintiff’s case for causation in this regard. The OB/GYN found the fetal monitoring strips to showed no distress by the fetus and no causation for the injuries the baby subsequently sustained.
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.
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.
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?
*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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