CLNC Services
Melissa Varnes, Legal Nurse Consulting, LLC offers services that will enhance the link between healthcare and the legal system. I provide invaluable insights and support, ensuring that legal professionals have the medical knowledge they need for their cases. A focus on accuracy and clarity, I help attorneys understand complex medical and nursing issues and enhance their case strategies. Trust me to be your partner in navigating the intersection of law and medicine by bringing me onto your cases from the start.
Screen Cases
Bring me onto your cases early and I can...
1. Offer you efficiency and cost-effectiveness by screening cases for merit for plaintiff attorneys. I can keep non-meritorious cases out of the legal system. In medical malpractice cases, I can determine whether all four elements are met: duty, breach of duty, damages, and causation.
2. Screen cases for defense attorneys by providing recommendations and formulating a strategic plan based on my professional opinion on the medical and/or nursing issues in the case. I can incorporate my medical and nursing knowledge to help defense attorneys defend against non-meritorious cases.
Organize, Summarize, Translate, & Interpret Medical Records
As a nurse practitioner, I specialize in reviewing, translating, and interpreting medical records every day. I can organize records and identify missing records or possible tampering of records. I can identify and make requests for production to complete the entire picture of the case.
Develop Medical Chronologies and Timelines
Both medical chronologies and timelines can be incorporated into any written report. Chronologies include: the date/time of the care provided, who provided the care, what care was provided, and comments regarding any deviations from the standards of care, conflicting/contradicting components of the medical record, and identification of missing notes or tampering of the record.
Define Deviations From and Adherences to Applicable Standards of Care
I can identify deviations from and adherences to established standards of medical and nursing care by my expertise in analyzing and interpreting medical records. With my master's education in nursing, I can comment on both nursing and medical standards of care. Through authoritative research of standards of care identified in Practice Acts, accreditation organizations, professional associations, and scientific literature, I can reinforce my professional opinions.
Identify & Assess Alleged Damages/Injuries
With my experience as a nurse practitioner, I can identify and assess relevant damages/injuries. I am able to determine if the damages are a direct result of the causes and not from pre-existing conditions. I can also discuss the prognosis and future needs of the client.
Identify Potential Defendants & Identify Arguments for Plaintiffs & Defendants
From the first screening of a case, I can anticipate opposing arguments from the other side to help you better prepare to prosecute or defend your client. I can identify any unique problems for the plaintiff and defense and identify potential defendants.
Help with Discovery and Preparation of Interrogatories & Deposition Questions
Based on my expertise in reviewing and analyzing medical records, I can help legal teams draft interrogatories and deposition questions and make requests for production.
Conduct Authoritative Literature Research & Integrate with Standards of Care into Case Analysis
My master's education makes me uniquely qualified to comment on medical and nursing issues in a case. I am able to identify relevant topics to conduct authoritative research to help bolster my professional opinions. This research will prove invaluable in identifying deviations and adherences to the appropriate standards of care. Research includes summarizing the etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and its risks, prognosis, and application of scientific theory of the relevant damages/injuries alleged.
Develop Brief, Moderate, or Comprehensive Written Reports for Use as Study Tools for Attorneys
As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I have the role of the educator and can assist the attorney in persuading the opposition in written reports. Reports can be brief to comprehensive depending on the attorney preference and extent of damages. They can be written in different formats including: narrative, medical chronology, outline, as well as utilizing tables, charts, and/or graphs. I can integrate the analysis by incorporating relevant prior, current, and subsequent medical records into the report.
Identify & Locate Potential Expert/Testifying Witnesses
I can recommend the best types of expert/testifying witnesses for a case as early as the initial case screening. I can also locate testifying/expert witnesses for attorneys to interview and choose.
Coordinate and Attend Independant Medical Examinations (IMEs)
If a client's mental or physical capacity is in question, I can be present during the exam to ensure that the client's exam is appropriate and fair. I can maintain objectivity.
Serve as a Liaison & Attend Depositions, Trials, Review Panels, and Arbitration & Mediation Hearings
Nurses are skilled at providing comfort to those around them. My presence can be encouraging to witnesses at depositions and trials. I can also serve as a liaison between the legal team and testifying or factual witnesses in the coordination of any legal-related meetings.
Assist in Exhibit Preparation
Nurses are natural educators. My pediatric expertise makes me uniquely adept at translating complex medical conditions, to my patients and their families, in layman's terms. I often need to keep my patients engaged by being creative. My everyday professional experience can be utilized to keep jurors engaged and understand complex medical issues by assisting legal teams with exhibit preparation.