E. Brant | Legal Nurse Consultant

What is a Legal Nurse Consultant?

A legal nurse consultant (LNC) is a registered nurse that works with attorneys and other legal professionals to help them better understand the medical details of a case in order to achieve the best possible outcome for their clients.

Some of the most common LNC tasks can include:

Participating in client interviews
Analyzing medical records
Conducting case merit screenings
Defining medical standard of care practices
Writing and/or interpreting medical language in legal documents
Conducting medical research
Locating and preparing evidence for trial
Testifying as an expert witness
Assisting legal teams in preparation for depositions and trials

Why hire a Legal Nurse Consultant?

Aside from saving time and money and lightening a legal team’s workload, there are plenty of other reasons to add a legal nurse consultant to your case.

Help Assess Damages & Decide Whether or Not to Litigate

In order to argue that damages were sustained by the client, it’s important to have adequate knowledge of the severity of their injuries and any future medical treatment they might require. A legal nurse consultant can review the treatment administered and explain the typical outcomes of such treatments. They can also recognize any pre-existing conditions that may have affected the client’s medial treatment, and help the legal team decide whether or not to pursue litigation.

Conduct Accurate Medical Record Analysis

Medical records are often lengthy and filled with all sorts of medical jargon. Instead of asking attorneys to devote their precious time and resources to comprehend these complex documents, it’s more efficient to assign that task to someone with a medical background. LNC’s can review and extract the most important information pertaining to the case, allowing the lawyers to focus their expertise where it’s needed most.

Determine Legal Cause of Injury

LNC’s can pinpoint the causes or factors which led to the cause of injury sustained by the client. With their credible experience and knowledge, they can provide detailed scientific analysis as to why actions or inaction by other medical professionals led to the result.

Advise on Standard of Care

Legal nurse consultants tend to have extensive familiarity with standard of care, or the reasonable care a skilled medical professional should provide under a patient’s circumstances. They can provide insight as to what a medical professional should or shouldn’t have done to result in the case at hand, and help attorneys define the standard of care as it relates to their client.

Want to Learn More?

Request a free 30-minute consultation to learn more about how an LNC can help with your case.