ADVANTAGE REPRESENTATIVES (based in Los Angeles) assists plaintiff personal injury attorneys by providing reliable, experienced forensic observers to accompany clients (as an attorney's representative) during their Independent/Defense Medical Examination. Our primary function is to uphold limitations, audio-record, document and evaluate the IME/DME. We are also available for expert witness testimony at deposition, arbitration or trial.

Specifically requested by hundreds of personal injury lawyers, Dr. Magarian is readily familiar with many local orthopedic and neurologic defense experts and can thereby provide valuable insight about their particular style and technique.

Since 1988, Dr. Magarian's gracious and professional demeanor, along with discerning and experienced attention to detail, have ranked her as one of the most sought-after independent observers in Southern California.

Areas of Specialization:

Dr. Mary Vrtis is a Legal Nurse Consultant with over 35 years of nursing experience. Dr. Vrtis has an extensive nursing background and familiarity with standards of care, federal regulations and insider knowledge of how the medical care system works. She has reviewed countless charts for standards of care deviations and risk management issues.

Dr. Vrtis' experience includes Home Health, Long Term Care, Hospital, Nursing Education and Critical Care. She works nationwide for plaintiff and defense in cases involving Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Worker’s Compensation, Nursing Home, Elder Abuse / Neglect, Wrongful Death, Toxic Tort and Product Liability.

Services Include:

• Screen Cases for Merit
• Educate on Medical Issues
• Medical Record Review
• Tampering / Missing Documents
• Standard of Care Deviations
• Chronologies and Summaries
• Damages Issues
• Prepare Interrogatories
• Perform Literature Review
• Identify Proximate Cause
• Exhibits

Arleen N. Kaizer is a third generation Pharmacist and a published Attorney with unique business skills honed in managing Retail, Hospital and Mail Order aspects of the profession. She assists attorneys in medical record review and case preparation and has acted as consultant on appellate issues. Her undefeated record arguing appellate cases before the Nevada Supreme Court involved issues relating to:

• Medical Malpractice
• Medicare Part D - PBM
• Pharmaceutical Malpractice
• Environmental Air Quality
• Workers compensation

Ms. Patsy Berry is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) assisting Plaintiff and Defense Attorneys. She has over 32 years of experience, from staff nurse to supervisor, in large and small acute care hospitals, nursing homes, pediatric clinics, home health care, private duty nursing and hospice. Ms. Berry has taught clinical nursing at the LVN / LPN Nursing Program Level in the areas of Medical / Surgical, Neurology, Orthopedics, Team Leading and Geriatrics.

Services Include:

• Medical Record Review
• Screen Case for Merit
• Interview Clients, Key Witnesses & Experts
• Serve as Attorney Liaison
• Prepare Interrogatories & Depositions
• Define Applicable Standards of Care
• Assess Alleged Injuries or Damages

PRINCIPALS & OFFICES

Board certified Emergency Physician and experienced teacher/public speaker offers consultation, chart review, and testimony as an expert witness for plaintiff or defense involving litigation arising from the Emergency Department.

Healthcare Litigation Support is a team of experts - physicians, healthcare administrators, reimbursement specialists, health organization experts, health insurance experts, and other healthcare personnel - with broad, extensive experience and expertise in medical and administrative malpractice issues, physician practice operations, hospital management, health insurance and TPA issues, Medicare and Medicaid, medical billing and collections, fraud and abuse, managed care and other areas.

Healthcare Litigation Support is a team of experienced healthcare experts who consult on litigation issues and testify as needed. In addition to the four Principals, there is a larger group of Associates, individuals with specific expertise and areas of knowledge, we include in order to fully serve the needs of the legal community.

Areas of Expertise:

Deborah Owens, RN, BSN, CLNC has over fourteen years of Nursing experience in Emergency, Pediatrics, Intensive Care and Home Respite Care. She has been a Clinical Nursing Instructor in the areas of medical-surgical nursing and pediatrics.

For over five years, Mrs. Owens has been assisting the legal community with her legal nurse consulting services. Her broad knowledge and experience in the field make her qualified to help lawyers review and prepare their cases for litigation, as well as help them find the expert witness that best suits their need. Her cases include Medical and Nursing Malpractice, Personal Injury and Criminal Cases including Child Abuse.

Consulting Services Include:

Julie Gunn, President of J.R. Gunn and Associates, is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC). With over 30 years of clinical nursing experience in a variety of healthcare settings, she is capable of assessing all aspects of medical care. Ms. Gunn is qualified to work with plaintiff or defense cases involving Medical Malpractice, Criminal Issues, Personal Injury, or Product Liability. She is an active member of the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC) and the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC).

Expertise Includes:

• OB / Gyn
• Infertility
• Ambulatory Clinical Management
• Long Term Care

• Screening Cases for Merit
• Composition of Brief Summary Reports, Comprehensive Narratives and Extensive Medical Chronologies
• Location of Specific Standards of Care

Debbie Fernando, Founder and CEO of Legal Nurse Consultants of the Tri-Cities, is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) with over twenty-seven years of nursing experience. Ms. Fernando's CLNC training allows her to tailor her services to many types of cases, including Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Assault and Battery, Toxic Tort, Social Security Disability, Class Action Lawsuits, Vehicular Accidents, Product Liability and Criminal Cases.

Ms. Fernando was recently honored to become a member of the prestigious Montclair's Who's Who in Nursing as a lifetime member and Cambridge's Who's Who Executive of the year in Nursing Consultancy 2008 as a lifetime member and hall of fame inductee. Ms. Fernando was also honored with Cambridge's Who's Who Executive of the year for 2009 in the Medical-Legal Industry.

Services Include:

• Screening the Case for Merit
• Define Deviations from and Adherence to the Applicable Standards of Care (Assess the Alleged Damages or Injuries)
• Prepare Brief or Moderate Reports from the Medical Records
• Identify and Recommend Potential Defendants

Dr. Raymond R. Lupkas, Jr., MD, PA, is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist practicing in North Carolina. He has been Board Certified since 1991 and is available for medico-legal consultation. Dr. Lupkas practices by the Guidelines of the American Society of Anesthesiologists relating to the Guidelines for Expert Witness Qualifications and Testimony. He has broad experience in clinical anesthesia and can provide opinions in the following:

Specialty Areas:

• General Anesthesia
• Regional Anesthesia
• Intraoperative Recall
• Obstetric Anesthesia
• Post-Anesthesia Care Unit
• Difficult Airway
• Perioperative Medicine

Marie Neshe is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) with over 25 years of nursing experience in Critical Care, Hospital Administration and Wound Care. Ms. Neshe provides unique healthcare perspective from tertiary medical center to rural community hospital settings.

Experience Includes:

• Managing Surgical Bed Units Dealing with Patient Care, Staffing and Budgets
• Development of an In - Patient and Out - Patient Wound Care Program and Foot and Ankle Clinic
• Developing Policies & Procedures to exceed The Joint Commission Requirements
• Clinical Educator Providing Educational Training Sessions for Staff Nurses and Medical Staff on Wound Care Protocols, Prevention and Documentation
• Risk Management Collaboration to Create Hospital - Based Patient Care Standards

Marsha R. Anderson, RN is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant with over 16 years of experience as a Neonatal ICU Nurse. She also has multiple years experience in the Pediatric ICU, Pediatrics, Well Baby Nursery, Adolescent Unit, Women's Health Care, Pediatric Home Health and the Emergency Department.

Ms. Anderson is available to provide legal and medical clients with comprehensive expert service from case development through verdict, whether it is plaintiff or defense. She provides services to attorneys, insurance companies, healthcare facilities and government agencies.

Services Include but are not limited to the following:

• Screen cases for merit
• Define Applicable Standards of Care
• Assess Alleged Damages / Injury
• Causation
• Organize, Summarize, Translate and Interpret Medical Records
• Identify Tampering
• Identify Potential Defendants
• Conduct Literature Search
• Identify and Review Relevant Medical Records, Hospital Policies and Procedures
• Please See Website For More

Dr. Julius S. Piver is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and provides Medical Legal Consulting Services to Attorneys and Insurance Companies. He has been accepted as an Expert in Obstetrics & Gynecology by the First Circuit Court of Appeals of Louisiana since 1999 and represents both Plaintiff and Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

Ms. Roughan is a Rehabilitation Nurse Specialist who functions in the capacity of case manager, life care planner and expert witness. Her company, Roughan & Associates at LINC, is a nationally recognized Case Management and Medical/Legal Consulting service. It has been in existence since 1987, providing coordination of patient care; construction of Life Care Plans; and, consultative services to both the defense and plaintiff bar on simple and complex cases alike. Ms. Roughan has experience with diagnoses involving both children and adults and are knowledgeable in current treatment philosophies, identification of appropriate resources.

Diagnoses include, but are not limited to:

SLConsulting is an independent Legal Nurse Consultancy specializing in the review of Neonatal / Perinatal Malpractice Cases.

SLConsulting is headed by Kim Dimino, a licensed advanced practice nurse in the State of Utah and a former member of the Neonatal Critical Care Services team at Primary Children's Medical Center, a regional level IV pediatric facility located in Salt Lake City. Kim has been working in Neonatology since 1990 and practiced from 1989-2009 as a nurse practitioner in a children's hospital setting and high risk delivery service. In 2009 Kim left her clinical practice to attend Law School at California Western School of Law in San Diego. Kim is still doing consulting work while in school.

Joahnna D Songer RN, CCRN, CLNC is the co-founder and a lead Legal Nurse Consultant with Songer, Valdivia & Associates Legal Nurse Consultants. She has eighteen years of Intensive Care Unit, Emergency/Trauma, High Risk OB/GYN, and Caridac/Cardiovascular Surgery nursing practice at multiple university teaching hospitals, regional medical centers and level-one trauma centers. She is a specialist on CODE BLUE Issues/Procedure.

Ms. Songer actively practices in the hospital setting in Intensive Care, cardio-vascular critical care and trauma/neuro critical care. She has extensive knowledge and experience in the inner workings of hospitals and the health care environment.

Ms. Songer has more than 18 years’ experience reviewing and critiquing medical records for case merit, case development and trial preparation.

Services Offered:

Ellen Richter, founder and coordinator of South Florida Legal Nurse Consultant Service, is an RN certified in Legal Nurse Consulting with a graduate degree in nursing education and 34 years of experience in critical care units throughout New York City and in Fort Lauderdale.

Ms. Richter's career has centered around education, as a Clinical Nurse Specialist as well as a Nurse Educator in Critical Care. Her specialty areas include MICU, SICU, CCU, CVICU, and Neurosurgery ICU and currently practices Critical Care Nursing in an Acute Care facility in South Florida while managing the company.

Areas of Practice

• Medical and Nursing Malpractice
• Personal Injury
• Product Liability
• General Negligence
• Slip and Falls
• Wrongful Deaths
• Workplace Injuries
• Toxic Torts
• Class Action Suits/ Mass Torts
• Cases Related to Health, Illness or Injury