Legal Nurse Consultant Expert Witnesses: 10

Tanja Johnson, MSN, FNP-C, ENP-C, LNC, is a Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner with over 25 years of experience in healthcare roles from Registered Nurse to Nurse Practitioner. Ms. Johnson earned her Master of Science in Nursing, becoming a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner, a board-certified Emergency Medicine Nurse Practitioner, and then adding a PMHNP postgraduate degree. She has also obtained a Legal Nurse Consultant certificate to further facilitate her ability to contribute to the legal community.

Qualifications: Ms. Johnson has experience working in mental health, long-term care, hospice, medical/surgical care, and emergency medicine for a 20-year span as a registered nurse. The past 8 years have been spent practicing in emergency medicine as a nurse practitioner.

Areas of Expertise:

Hospital Care Medical / Surgical Care Emergency Medical Care Acute Care in Emergency / Urgent Setting Long Term Patient Care

Hospice Care Inpatient Hospital Care Patient Complaints Medical Board Allegation Case Review Medical Terminology Translation

Litigation Support  - Ms. Johnson is available for both the defense and the plaintiff’s counsel providing a factual synthesis of any issue requiring the medical expertise of a medical care provider. She assists legal teams with navigating medical records and understanding terminology for legal cases such as medical malpractice, personal injury, insurance fraud, and worker’s compensation. Ms. Johnson provides knowledge and insight for care from nursing professionals, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, as well as physician practice.

Advanced Practice Nurse Consulting Services

Medical Expert Witness Hospital Case Review Lon Term Care Case Review Merit Review

Analyze Medical Records Literature Searches Synthesize Evidence Respond to State Medical or Nursing Board Allegations

Dr. Adrine S. Adams, CRNA, has been a Registered Nurse for 46 years with experience as a Certified Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN), Certified Post-Anesthesia Nurse (CPAN)  and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).  She retired from the Army Nurse Corps Colonel, after 30 years of service. Additionally, she  has a background in Business Administration, Health Services Administration, and Information Systems.

Dr. Adams is a member of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) and enrolled in the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Certification (CLNC) Program. As a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) in the capacity of a legal nurse consultant (LNC), she is willing to work on behalf of plaintiffs, defendants, and to testify in deposition or in person at trial.  With her board experience and doctoral degree, she has the capability to perform medical research. 

Background Experience - Dr. Adams is actively practicing at numerous outstanding facilities, including level 1 trauma units. She is experienced in numerous clinical settings with proficiency of several Anesthesia Health Informatics Systems, including EPIC and Cerner.  

In August 1996, Dr. Adams received a Master in Nurse Anesthesia degree with extensive didactic and clinical experience from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate School. She has knowledgeable in anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and pharmacology as they relate to anesthesia. With over 24 years of experience as a CRNA clinical practitioner, Ms. Adams is competent with a variety of anesthetic agents and techniques for numerous types of surgical and obstetrical procedures, both general and regional anesthesia, IV sedation, and monitored anesthesia care. 

Dr. Adams possesses the skills necessary to deliver anesthesia care to patients of all ages, including infant, pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric population. With several years of highly responsible clinical experience in the military, numerous critical care capacities, level 1 trauma facilities, and excellent training in nurse anesthesia, I can contribute to your organization. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Adams is available to extend her anesthesia clinical experience as a consultant and an expert witness. Her services include medical record review for standard of care, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. Cases have been related to (but not limited to) the following surgical procedures:

General, Ophthalmologic, Otolaryngologic, Oral and Dental, Vascular, Thoracic, Cardiovascular, Plastic / Reconstructive, Neurological, Orthopedic, Podiatric, Urologic, Gastroenterological, Gynecologic, Obstetric, and Pediatrics.

Areas of Expertise:

General Anesthesia Regional Anesthesia Peripheral Nerve Blocks

Monitored Anesthesia Care Mild and Deep IV Sedation Pre and Post Anesthesia Care Adult and Geriatric Anesthesia Care Pediatric and Adolescence Anesthesia Care

Lisa M. Cocca is a Legal Nurse Consultant and Psychiatric RN with decades of experience managing Behavioral Healthcare Hospitals. Since 2014, she served as the CEO and managed the day to day operations of a 121 bed behavioral healthcare facility in Youngstown, Ohio. Her duties included regulatory compliance oversight, performance improvement, and risk management for the 46 inpatient child / adolescent psychiatric beds, 56 child / adolescent residential beds, a partial hospitalization program and behavioral health outpatient department.

Litigation Support - Currently working as an independent Legal Nurse Consultant and Behavioral Health Care Consultant, Ms. Cocca uses her expertise as a healthcare professional to consult on medical-related cases. She is comfortable assisting attorneys with reviews of medical records, and understanding the terminology and subtleties of the healthcare system. Ms. Cocca has been qualified to render an opinion in legal cases as a nurse expert.

Areas of Expertise:

Behavioral Healthcare Healthcare Administration Pediatrics Risk Management

Performance Improvement Regulatory Compliance Legal Nurse Consultant Medical Record Review

Services - Ms. Cocca reviews cases for both plaintiff and defense, assisting Behavioral Healthcare facility’s as well as attorneys with complex behavioral healthcare issues that arise during medical malpractice cases. Services include chart reviews and analysis, literature review, experience giving deposition testimony, trial preparations and court testimony.

Yolanda Anderson, RN, BSN, CEN, CLNC is a Registered Nurse and has been working in the Emergency Department for more than 25 years. A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant with a detail-oriented approach, Ms. Anderson is knowledgeable about all aspects of Hospital Care and Standards of Care for Physicians, Nurses and Ancillary Personnel.

Ms. Anderson's background experience includes work in the Emergency Department of Los Angeles County, USC Medical Center, a level I Trauma Center and in the Emergency Department at Saint Anthony Hospital Central in Denver, Colorado, a level I Trauma Center where she helped initiate the Hyperbaric Medicine program. For 15 years, she worked as a staff RN, Charge RN and Assistant Nurse Manager in the Emergency Department at Littleton Adventist Hospital - Littleton, Colorado, a level II Trauma Center. There, she helped with the expansion and reconstruction of the current Emergency Department facility.

Ms. Anderson has been retained as an Expert 27 times. Her litigation support services include chart review for merit, chronologies, medical care research, Independent Medical Assessments, and more. Ms. Anderson's services are available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

Emergency Department Care Inpatient Hospital Care Trauma, Cardiac, Neurological Emergency Adult, Pediatric, and Infant Care

Triage & Documentation Nursing Home Care Electronic Medical Records Worker's Compensation

View Yolanda Anderson's Consulting Profile.

Kimberly M. Pearson, MHA, MBA, RN, CCHP is a Correctional Healthcare Consultant with over 37years of experience in the healthcare industry, including correctional healthcare (both medical and mental health), clinical nursing, management, and administration in a variety of healthcare venues. In her role as Deputy Agency Director for the Orange County Health Care Agency, Ms. Pearson was responsible for all medical and mental health care provided in the Orange County (California) adult and juvenile detention facilities. The adult jail system ranks in the "top ten" in the country in terms of size, with an average daily population of over 6,500 inmates. She has been honored as a National Award Recipient for Excellence in Executive Leadership at the 2016 Nurse.com Nursing Excellence GEM Awards (Giving Excellence Meaning). 

An expert in her field, Ms. Pearson delivers seminars and lectures on Correctional Healthcare topics around the country. In 2019, she  spoke on “The Art of Managing Regulatory Inspections,” to the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on “Clinical Management for High-Risk Patients in this Litigious Environment,” to the American Correctional Health Services Association in San Jose, CA, and “Sticking Together: A Cohesive Correctional Healthcare Delivery System,” to the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare Leadership Institute in Las Vegas, NV. 

Litigation Support - Ms. Pearson previously provided Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death case reviews as an in-house consultant for two law firms in the Midwest. She is currently the CEO/President of KP Consulting LLC, consulting on policy and procedure development and comprehensive correctional health system review and recommendations. Ms. Pearson has served as a correctional healthcare expert witness in over 100 cases in the past six years. Her services are available to attorneys representing plaintiffs or defendants and includes comprehensive written reports for both federal and state cases, standard of care evaluation, and correctional health care deviation identification.

Jason C. Goodwin, MS, MPH, RN, CNOR, is a highly skilled and decorated Veteran Nurse Corps Lieutenant, honorably discharged in 2006. As a Registered Nurse, Operating Room Manager, Director, and Administrator, he has extensive experience with regulatory mandates, expertise in national clinical standards, and ensuring best practices in procedural safety culture.

As a procedural department administrator and clinician, Mr. Goodwin has personally supervised the safe care in and around various procedures and operating room venues for 17 years, totaling approximately 300,000 individual patient encounters. An expert with quality and safety compliance regulation, he has successfully prepared teams for Joint Commission, AAAHC, Medicare, Inspector General, and State audits.  Mr. Goodwin has experience managing as many as 20 managers, 4 Lean/Six Sigma process-improvement personnel, 500 total employees, and $1.8 Billion in annual gross revenue.

Clinical Experience Medical Surgical Nursing Shock / Trauma Intervention Procedural Services Preoperative, Intraoperative, and Postoperative Care Procedural Sedation Clinical Educator

Operational / Leadership Experience 2003 Iraqi War Veteran Multi-site Surgical Venues - UC Davis Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Level 1 Trauma Academic Medical Center – UC Davis Medical Center Military – Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Operation Iraqi Freedom Fee for Service Ambulatory Surgery Services – ABSMC Surgery Center Clinic Management – Perioperative Medicine Clinic, Kaiser Permanente

Litigation Support - Mr. Goodwin provides expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. He has been retained in approximately 30 cases. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

Surgical Standard of Care Medical / Surgical Units Operating Room Injuries Sterile Processing Adverse Quality / Safety Events Pre & Postoperative Complications Pain Procedures / Procedural Sedation Positioning Injuries Wrong Site Surgeries

National Nursing Standards Regulatory Guidelines Nursing Administration Medical Devices Patient Falls Medication Errors Failure to Rescue Team Communication Emergency Preparedness

Georgia J. Persky RN, MBA, PhD, CLNC, CNOR is a Columbia University trained nurse researcher with over 40 years of broad Clinical Nursing experience and 25 years of senior leadership in Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Home Health organizations. She also has 20 years of Surgical Nursing and Operating Room experience. Dr. Persky has expertise in the micro issues in nursing for adult patient care and the broad management, quality, and regulatory issues in hospitals. 

Background Experience - Dr. Persky served as Vice-President of Nursing and Patient Care Services for the past 25 years and most recently at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. For nine years, she was responsible for Patient Care Services, Risk and Quality Management and Patient Satisfaction for a 750-bed academic hospital. She directed a $200 million budget with 33 patient care units and Care Management, Respiratory Therapy, Social Work and Admitting Departments with 9 direct reports and 2,000 patient care employees.

Litigation Support - As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and Quality Reviewer, Dr. Persky has investigated hundreds of Malpractice and Injury cases as a quality reviewer and can assist in legal case review with chronologies, timelines, and evidence-based reports. She has testifying experience in malpractice and personal injury cases, as well as, with human resource and employee discrimination with an ability to attest to standards of care in clinical litigation. Dr. Persky's services are available to attorneys for the plaintiff and defense seeking an expert in nursing and patient care with a strong understanding of how heath care organizations work.

Areas of Expertise:

Nursing/Hospital Standards of Care Nursing Home and Skilled Nursing Surgical and Perioperative Nursing Quality and Risk Management Fall and Pressure Ulcer Prevention

Hospital Policy and Procedure Medication Safety Medical Device Safety Hospital Administration State, Federal, Joint Commission Regulatory Compliance

View Dr. Persky's Consulting Profile.

Research & Planning Consultants, LP (RPC) has been assisting clients with expert services for over 45 years, including consulting and expert witness testimony for personal injury, healthcare litigation, commercial litigation and Certificate of Need matters. RPC also offers a wide selection of health data. They have served clients across the U.S, from Alaska to Florida and from New England to California. 

A Complete Team of Damages Experts for Personal Injury Litigation

Research & Planning Consultants, LP provides the following services: 

• PERSONAL INJURY - RPC provides comprehensive damages analysis in personal injury litigation. Their expert team has life care planners, vocational evaluators, board-certified physicians, economists and neuropsychologists. 

Areas of Expertise include: Life Care Plans, Loss of Earning Capacity or Support, Present Value of Damages, Medical Bill Analysis, Chargemaster Analysis, Neuropsychological Testing & Traumatic Brain Injury, Vocational Evaluations, IMEs, Section 18.001, Prestanding ED Chargemaster Analysis

• COMMERCIAL LITIGATION- RPC has provided expert analysis on commercial litigation concerning many industries: chemicals, refining, forestry, waste management, pipelines, water resources, oil and gas EDP, fisheries, agriculture, electrical generating plants, transmission lines, telecommunications, and real estate development. Our special expertise in the healthcare industry has proven valuable to business litigators unfamiliar with this complex industry.

Areas of Expertise: Breach of Contract / Commercial Economic Damages, Construction Disputes, Litigation over Non-Competitive Agreements, Environmental Torts and Toxic Torts, Commercial Disparagement, Wrongful Termination

• HEALTHCARE LITIGATION - RPC offers economic, statistical, data and clinical analysis in a wide range of healthcare litigation. They have experience with payment disputes, qui tam litigation, physician-hospital disputes, practice valuations and construction litigation. 

Areas of Expertise: Qui Tam Healthcare Litigation, Medical Staff Disputes, Professional Liability, Payment Disputes, Health Facility Construction Disputes, Freestanding ED Chargemester Analysis

• CERTIFICATE OF NEED - RPC provides Certificate of Need (CON) planning services nationwide. We have over 35 years of experience developing regulatory strategy, preparing applications and testifying in public and administrative hearings.

Areas of Expertise: Satellite Hospitals, New Hospitals, Relocation and Transfer of Beds, Observation Beds, Geriatric Psychiatric Units, Children’s Hospitals, Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Units, Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Open Heart Surgery Services, Long Term Acute Care Units, Projects that exceed CON Capital Threshold Limits, Projects for Specifically Listed Services, Programs Requiring CON, Hospices, Senior Living Facilities

Ronald T. Luke, JD, PhD, is a principal consultant and President of RPC, LP. Ron joined RPC in 1976 and became its president and principal owner in 1979. He has consulted on projects for health care providers, managed care plans and public agencies in more than 25 states. He also serves as an expert witness in trials, administrative proceedings and legislative hearings.

Active in the Health Policy Arena, Dr. Luke has been accepted as an expert in Economics, Socioeconomic Impact Analysis, and Policy Analysis by state and federal courts, and state administrative agencies. The types of cases in which he has provided expert testimony include personal injury, contractual disputes, health care payment disputes, construction defects, utility construction permitting, and certificate of need. He has testified on health care matters including market structure, billing fraud and abuse, reasonableness of charges, medical staff credentialing, workers’ compensation fee guidelines, utilization review, physician contracts, and managed care contracts.

Kacy L. Turner, MS, CRC, CVE, CLCP, is a Certified Life Care Planner and Vocational Consultant with RPC. She has over 20 years of experience in Rehabilitation. Ms. Turner has experience writing life care plans for both plaintiff and defense clients. She has experience as a rehabilitation consultant in three states and has been qualified as a testifying expert in state and federal court.  

Ms. Turner has worked on cases in several states as well as the country of Trinidad. To determine the pre-injury and post-injury employability in personal injury cases, she provides vocational testing, transferable skills analysis, job requirements analysis, rehabilitation plans, and definition of reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act. She is a member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, the Texas Association of Rehabilitation Professionals and Providers of Services, and Vocational Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals.

Brian Piper, PhD,  is an Economist with RPC specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modelling. He works on a variety of cases including personal injury and certificate of need. He is experienced in data extraction, management, simulation, and analysis using STATA, SQL, ARC GIS and a variety of other programs. Dr. Piper has taught graduate classes in statistics and econometrics in both MBA and Ph.D. programs.

Dr. Piper is an experienced expert, providing testimony, reports, and affidavits on the issues of economic damages in personal injury litigation, healthcare litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and other commercial litigation. He has testified on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. 

Dr. Piper specializes in the economics of healthcare. He has been retained by healthcare providers and insurers in payment disputes. He has analyzed the reasonableness of charges and expected payment for past and future medical services for providers, insurers, plaintiffs, and defendants. Besides work in litigation, Dr. Piper has provided analysis of Certificate of Need applications and the economic impacts of proposed legislation.

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:

• Neurological Injuries (Brain and Spinal Cord Injury)
• Burns
• Orthopedic Injures
• Amputation
• Chronic Pain
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Services Include:

• Expert Testimony
• Life Care Planning
• Mini/Preliminary Life Care Plan
• Video Services
• Medical Record Review
• RN Independent Medical Exam
• Medicare Set Aside Trust Analysis
• Medical Bill Auditing
• Questions: Deposition Cross Examining

Timothy P. Luckett, BS, RN, CNOR, CRNFA, CIC, LNC a Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) gives expert opinions and testimony in all types of medical malpractice cases for both Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Luckett is a Registered Nurse Expert in Surgery, ICU, Nursing Home Neglect, Outpatient Surgery Center Matters, and Hospital Surgical Matters.

Mr. Luckett has served as a circulating nurse, RR nurse, and as a registry nurse in General Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Gynecology, Vascular and Urology Surgeries. He has given numerous laser safety lectures and is a clinical assistant for the University of California at Los Angeles, Registered Nurse First Assist (RNFA) program. Mr. Luckett has also served as a case consultant and reviews nurse malpractice cases for the California Board of Registered Nursing.