Legal Nurse Consultant

Certificate Program

Effective Spring Quarter 2007, the Legal Nurse Consultant Certificate Program will no longer accept new students. Courses will continue to be taught through Summer 2007 so that continuously enrolled current students may complete the required courses for the certificate.

The American Bar Association (ABA)-approved California State University, East Bay Certificate in Legal Nurse Consulting teaches California registered nurses to assist attorneys with medical nursing and healthcare-related cases. This can be a fascinating and lucrative new career opportunity for currently-practicing nurses.

Those who complete the program pursue a variety of career paths. Law firms that specialize in personal injury, medical malpractice, toxic torts, product liability and workers compensation hire legal nurse consultants as independent advisors or even as employees, as do government agencies, insurance companies, risk management organizations and hospitals and other health care providers.

Students who take advantage of our ABA-approved program enjoy maximum convenience and flexibility. Classes are held in the evenings and on weekends, year-round, at all three Cal East Bay campuses (downtown Oakland, Hayward Hills and Concord), making them easily accessible for those who live or work in the East Bay Area or San Francisco.

Legal Nurse Consultants cannot provide legal advice, except as directed by an attorney, nor can they establish a client/business relationship or represent a client in court.

Program Objectives

• To provide graduates an understanding of the role of legal nurse consultants in a wide range of legal matters and to provide the legal knowledge and training required to evaluate, analyze and render informed opinions on the delivery of health care and the resulting outcomes.
• To give graduates an understanding of the health care industry, the insurance industry and related government regulations.
• To give graduates a grasp of substantive law and procedural practices relating to medical/legal issues in various areas, including personal injury, products liability, professional negligence and toxic torts.
• To develop in graduates the ability to work with and as an expert witness.
• To prepare graduates to establish and maintain a practice as an independent legal nurse practitioner or gain employment in law firms, government agencies, insurance companies, risk management organizations, hospitals and health care providers and other organizations.
• To give graduates expertise in conducting factual, legal and medical library legal research, analyzing and summarizing medical documents and records for use in legal matters, handling various aspects of discovery and trial preparation in legal actions and drafting necessary correspondence, memoranda, legal documents and exhibits.
• To give graduates the knowledge and confidence necessary to meet the highestprofessional and ethical standards.

Who Should Attend

• Registered nurses (RNs) interested in the legal field and in broadening their career options.
• RNs who seek to become LNCs and require the necessary training.

Program Highlights