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An In Depth Look At Legal Nurse Consulting

Nurses with an appetite for both emergency-room trauma and courtroom drama may have a future in legal nurse consulting.

Legal nurse consultants work at the intersection of medicine and law, consulting with attorneys and others in the legal arena on medical malpractice, personal injury, workers’ compensation and other healthcare-related cases. Thousands of nurses have already carved out a professional niche in legal nurse consulting, and their ranks are growing.

“Our main role is educating attorneys, and we can be a huge aid to them,” says Martha Holley-Jones, BSN, RN, one of three legal nurse consultants at MLCC Medical-Legal Nurse Consultant Company in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. “We’re like their ace in the pocket.”

Making the Case

About half of all legal nurse consultants work on staff at law firms, insurance companies and other institutions, where their salaries are approximately the same as those of hospital nursing administrators, who earn about $80,000, according to a 2004 Nursing Management salary survey. The other half of legal nurse consultants work independently, earning $100 to $150 an hour or more.

Legal nurse consulting allows nurses to branch out of the clinical setting while still making use of their experience and knowledge, says Sherri Reed, BSN, RN, past president of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC). Reed works as an in-house legal nurse consultant for an Indianapolis plaintiffs’ law firm specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability and aviation. She interviews clients, reviews medical records, researches and summarizes medical literature, helps evaluate liabilities and damages, assists with depositions, prepares exhibits, and identifies and retains expert witnesses.