I Made $142,000.00 in My First Year – Part Time

by Lynn Hydo, RN, MBA, CLNC



I’ve worked in New York hospitals for 20 years, in surgical ICU and critical care. Before I became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant^CM (CLNC^®), I was already reviewing cases to help my boss. He took all the credit and enjoyed all the success. A colleague suggested I enroll in the CLNC^® Certification Program and become an independent CLNC^®. I did, and since then, tremendous things have happened.

My CLNC^® training taught me to focus. Instead of spending time on irrelevant research – looking for a needle in a haystack – I learned to get to the heart of a case quickly. I know how to single out the key elements. Attorneys appreciate this, and I’ve stayed busy completing a case a week. In my first year as a part-time CLNC^®, I did about 50 cases at an average of nearly $3,000.00 per case.

Caring for Attorneys the Way I Care for My Patients Keeps Them Coming Back

I’ve done a little marketing – business cards, Christmas cards, a few Christmas gifts to my biggest clients – but most of my business comes through referral. Word of mouth is the best. All it takes to generate referrals is giving your attorney-clients the same individualized care you’d give a patient.

If an attorney needs information on a particular product, disease or other subject, I can find it. For one of my cases I did extensive research on a rare germ found in a patient. But hands down, my post popular product is the chronology – that’s what I deliver most often.

If a case is time sensitive, I push it to the head of the queue. I can turn a case around in less than a week, working on it day and night, if that’s what my attorney-client needs. Providing this kind of service wins me repeat business as well as good referrals.

I Used to Come Up Short Financially – Now I’m a Woman of Means

Succeeding as a CLNC^® takes perseverance, not only when business is good and you have more work than time, but also when your desk is empty and you wonder if you’ll get another case.

I’ve been doing this for a year, and time is my biggest obstacle. I maintain a full schedule as a hospital nurse so I’ve had to learn a lot about managing and growing my business. I’ve improved my response to attorneys and standardized my approach to working my cases.

Before I became a CLNC^®, I was doing all right financially, but occasionally I came up a little short when it was time to pay the mortgage. Now I’m a woman of means. The most exciting thing that’s happened to me is watching that balance grow in my business bank account. I can hardly believe it’s real – $142,000.00.

I know my business will get even better over time. When you do a good job, there’s always another case around the corner. Someday I’ll consider becoming a full-time CLNC^®, but for now part time is paying off big. I finally have a bank account that makes me feel secure. What’s more exciting than that?

Lynn Hydo, RN, MBA, CLNC is the owner and president of Decisive Edge Consulting Group, Inc. in New York. Her areas of expertise include critical care and trauma. In addition to legal nurse consulting, she has published over 150 articles in the field of critical care.

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Make crime pay: Prepare yourself for success. Just do it! Get ready to get lucky. Make a plan and follow it. Use every resource to the max. "If a relatively new, 'green' consultant like me can do it, you can, too. I put myself in the right place at the right time." "I was the only person in Vickie's seminar who didn't even know an attorney. For once, I wished I'd graduated from a bachelor's program, had more certifications after my name." "I 'just did it.'" "I could feel my face flushing the moment I realized I was holding the medical records of Rodney King! This was unbelievable. I had just landed what was possibly the most controversial case of the decade." "None of the physician experts on the state's side had touched on my observations." "For two hours the attorney listened intently as I pointed out the most basic nursing practices and observations of which he was totally unaware." "My training in Vickie's seminar was absolutely correct: Pieces of information that seemed simple and basic to me were important news to an attorney who had never taken Nursing 101." "My questions brought out many points that made a definite impact on the opposition." "My attorney-client is now sold on using legal nurse consultants and has been quick to share his discovery with his colleagues."