Legal Nurse Consultant

What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?

The legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse who uses the expertise as a health care provider and specialized training to consult on medical-related legal cases. LNCs bridge the gap in the attorney’s knowledge by utilizing experience and knowledge of medical terminology and healthcare issues to achieve the best results for the client. While the attorney is the expert on legal issues, the LNC is the expert on nursing and the health care system. The legal nurse consultant acts as a specialized member of the litigation team whose professional contributions are often critical to achieving a fair and just outcome for all parties.

What Makes a Legal Nurse Consultant Distinct?

A Legal Nurse Consultant is a registered nurse who uses existing expertise as a healthcare professional to consult on medical-related cases. Unlike a paralegal or legal assistant, the Legal Nurse Consultant utilizes the foundation of education and clinical experience of nursing, to bridge the gap in the attorney’s knowledge with the ability to recognize, interpret and analyze all relevant medical-related information in a claim or case. The LNC provides attorneys with a cost- effective review of medical records and an expert understanding of nursing, the healthcare system and its inner workings.

What Does a Legal Nurse Consultant Do?

Independent Medical Exams (IMEs)
Identify, locate, review and interpret relevant medical records, hospital policies and procedures, to include other essential documents and tangible items
Summarize, translate and interpret medical records
Screen cases for merit
Organize, tab and paginate medical records for easy reference
Determine records that are missing
Prepare chronologies and summaries of the medical events involved in a case
Identify, locate, summarize and interpret applicable standards of care
Identify adherences to and deviations from the applicable standards of care
Identify causation issues, contributing factors, and assess damages/injuries
Identify and recommend potential defendants
Identify issues of tampering with medical records
Search and summarize medical and nursing literature, integrating results of the search in the case analysis
Analyze the validity of research studies relied on by all parties
Identify, locate and interface with testifying experts
Provide support during discovery, depositions, trial and other legal proceedings
Attend court room proceedings when relevant
Assist in resolution of cases through alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration and mediation