Job Responsibilities
Meticulous review and analysis of medical records from hospitals, physician
offices, rehabilitation facilities, home health care providers, prisons, etc.
Construct medical chronologies. Medical literature research including development
of causation issues.
Obtain or assist in obtaining medical experts. Interview
potential experts. Organize the records. Educate the attorney on the medical
issues via summaries, terminology indexes, or face-to-face discussions. Obtain or
assist in obtaining trial exhibits including working with tech companies or
finding medical illustrations.
|
Job Requirements
It's most advantageous if you worked as a nurse in a variety of settings such as
ER/ICU, psych., med-surg., peds or OB. Those nurses who have limited clinical
experience do not do well in the legal office as their background is just not
comprehensive
enough. You need at least 10 years of heavy clinical experience
to deliver a quality work product to the attorney.
|
Uppers
The best part of the job is you get to sit down. No joke.
|
Downers
Sometimes it can be difficult to work with attorneys because a lot of them are
arrogant.
|
Lifestyle
You can actually wear normal clothes for this job. Although, sometimes you may
miss just putting on scrubs and putting your hair in a ponytail. There aren't
any social events as the attorneys typically don't invite the staff to functions.
Independence in the job is a definite plus.
|
Compensation
Base salary is around 60K. No bonuses at my firm but some do give bonuses
although they are not much. Some firms have employer-contributing 401K plans and
some do not. Health insurance and parking are standard.
|
Advice to Jobseekers
This is a great job for those who worked in nursing and love medicine. If you
are working in one area, get your experience and move to another area. The
attorneys think it's great if you can talk intelligently and informatively about
peds one minute then geriatrics the next.
|
