What is an LNC?
The utilization of a Legal Nurse Consultant is an efficient use of a client’s time, money and resources. The Legal Nurse Consultant [LNC] is a licensed registered nurse who performs a critical analysis of clinical and administrative healthcare practice, facts and issues and their outcomes. This analysis is provided for the legal and healthcare professions and other organizations that represent consumers of healthcare. As licensed registered nurses, LNCs bring specialized healthcare education and clinical experience to the medically-related issues of the litigation process. This education and experience distinguishes LNCs from Paralegals and Legal Assistants and provides the foundation for the LNC’s ability to recognize, interpret and analyze all relevant medically-related information in a claim or case. It also makes the Legal Nurse Consultant uniquely qualified to assess adherence to, and deviations from, standards of practice and other guidelines of healthcare practice as it applies to nursing, medicine, and other healthcare professions.
Services Provided by a Legal Nurse Consultant:
Reviews, analyzes and organizes medical records
Prepares reports in narrative form or time-line chronology
Defines pertinent medical terms, procedures and disease processes
Performs healthcare research
Identifies adherences to and deviations from standards of practice
Assists with determining merits or defensibility of cases
Assesses damages and pain and suffering issues
Assists with preparing areas of inquiry for depositions
Attends and reports on Independent Medical Examinations
Provides trial support services such as trial strategy and preparation of exhibits
Locates and confers with experts witnesses
Provides expert witness testimony
Areas of Practice of a Legal Nurse Consultant:
Personal Injury
Product Liability
Medical and Nursing Negligence and Malpractice
Toxic Torts
Workers’ Compensation
Disability
Risk Management
Criminal
Legal Nurse Consultants Practice Settings:
In-house plaintiff law firms
In-house defense law firms
Insurance companies
Specialized insurers for healthcare professionals
Hospitals and other health-related facilities
Government agencies
Independent consultative practice