Vickie Milazzo ads and truth

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We have all seen the glossy ads indicating that you can make $150 /hr (altho her site brings it down to $125...I do not know why) and many of us have thought WOW this is it!!!

I am bringing up this topic because I want to know if anyone else have felt she has overstated the earning and lifestyle.

My experience with lawyers is that they are getting laid off, cutting corners, and are not hiring "outside help" when they can google it. And learn enough for a deposition and trial. I have heard things like "...the last thing I need is to have to pay a consultant...I have expert fees from MDs I can't pay..."

And therein lies the rub...I have been down this road and the downside or truth of what it takes $$$ to get to a point where you can count on this for income is disappointing. I have had attorneys not pay bills on many occasions, or delay until they were threatened with collections...

I opened my Nursing Specturm issue and there it was, and I could not let it go again, esp. in this economy... the gloss is just that... the ad makes promises that are way out there and the one testimonial I read on her site is telling of that this is not the road to riches.

Lawyers could care less about the accreditation - at least that is what I am hearing in the midwest - if you want to do this...you have all of the tools already, and can simply send your resume to every lawyer in town...then good luck. If you do get an assignment it is usually limited and trust me, most attorneys are NOT making $150 an hour so it is highly unlikely you will see this type of money. The highest I have seen is $45 for a review and many attorneys will attempt to "cut the bill" stating that the review could not have taken 4 hours. This is the reality that I have seen with this particular company,

The fees for the "products" mount up and sad to say ... but I have to go back to the old adage, if it looks to good to be true... - you know the rest.

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if you type "vickie milazzo" into the search window at the top if this page, you will find enough reading on this topic to keep you occupied for a month. there's more on the legal nurse forum, and on google under "vickie milazzo complaints." suffice it to say that about 1 in 100 of her "graduates" succeed as they are promised. her clnc certificate is not a certification, there is no guarantee that the loan you take out to pay for her ridiculously expensive course will ever get repaid, and shame on her for marketing it to nurses the way she does.

if you are interested in legal nursing, there is the american association of legal nurse consultants (american association of legal nurse consultants (aalnc)). check them out for education and support; they have a great listserv that has a lot of helpful people on it who are generous with time, advice, and resources. they also have the only legal nurse consulting certification that's approved by the american board of nurse specialties, the lncc. you can take their coursework before you sit the exam, or study independently. they have a 2-volume core curriculum which is pretty comprehensive, and they run a 5-session refresher-test prep webinar, one every other week for the 10 weeks before the exam. they also do educational seminars around the country.

but remember: even if you get the lncc, work is not guaranteed. building a practice can take even the best legal nurse years, so don't quit your day job.

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Agree 100% - the fees alone should send up a red flag that something is not right with this picture.

You are correct there are other ways to go about this if you want to waste your time trying to get

a lawyer to pay you ... i will just say it again... THE LAWYERS DO NOT EVEN MAKE what she claims

you can make... hope this thread helps prevent financial disaster for at least one person.... because

that is where her glossy over the top promises lead.

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Thank you for this post! If it sounds too good to be true..it is!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.

I opened my Nursing Specturm issue and there it was, and I could not let it go again

Yes, every issue it is there!!!:eek: And it seems that whenever there is a career fair in the area, she has a table set up there. The program just seems so fishy to me. And like GrnTea mentioned, there are a few threads on this site that just confirm my suspicions.

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You should ALWAYS get a retainer up front before accepting any case. How does a lawyer know that a case, "couldn't have taken four hours to do"? They should know how long it takes to read medical records, they used to do it before they started to hire nurses. Do not let them cut down you fees.

Before you accept an case, after you leave the attorney's office send him/her a letter summarizing what was agreed on.

I can tell you that they pay doctors ALOT MORE THEN THEY PAY NURSES, and doctors to not let them get away with what they are trying to do to nurses. Nurses let them get away with it, and that is why they do it.

Nurses are not used to putting a value on their expertise. The lawyer is paying for YOUR EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND EXPERTISE, just like they are doing to doctors, and doctors charge ALOT MORE THAN NURSES. I am talking about hundreds of dollars per hour!! Many of the specialists charge in the thousands!!

Again, do not let them get away with only paying you $45 for a review. You have to pay taxes out of that, you are paying for your supplies and equipment, you are paying for your house/apartment, utilities, etc, to run your business. Just like they do. The ITS requires you to make a profit to be called a business, and take business expenses deductions. You time is worth more than that.

Do not let them wear your down or intimidate you. Nurses are too used to being doormats, are not assertive, and the lawyers know that. Get a retainer before starting work, draw up an agreement for fees, etc, to have them sign, THEN start work.

You might be intersted in taking low cost business and markting classes at a local community college, and meet with the Small Business Association or SCORE, for FREE advice, etc, Look them up.

You might also call the AALNC, and speak to someone for advice. They also have very good books on starting a legal nurse business that are very reasonably priced. When I started to do this 15 years ago, there were not alot of nurses doing this. VM changed all that, she has flooded the market with LNC, who are now a dime a dozen, and are scrambling for work.

You might consider doing Medicare Set Asides, as a business, as alot of Legal Nurse do that in addition to Legal Nursing. There is a web site you can do to. The nurse who teaches it, has been doing it for a number of years, and has only good things said about it. PM me if you want. Hope that I have been a help.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Specializes in NICU, Peds..

I was always very suspicious of Vickie's ad's and her enormously high prices!!

The only person making money in the equation is VICKIE!!

Lawyers are looking for work themselves and getting laid off in this economy.

They don't have the means or work to support LNC's!

I feel sorry for people who fall for Vickie's lies and go into debt paying for her

classes!

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

i have one thing to say.... "all that glitters is not gold" william shakespeare:cool:

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You should ALWAYS get a retainer up front before accepting any case. How does a lawyer know that a case, "couldn't have taken four hours to do"? They should know how long it takes to read medical records, they used to do it before they started to hire nurses. Do not let them cut down you fees.

Especially since so many lawyers work on contingent basis. It's silly to expect to be paid $125-$150 an hour if the attorney doesn't even have the guarantee of pay yet.

That whole website just looks like a scam.

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IT IS!!

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

she is not really lying - after all, SHE is making that money selling her idea!!!

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"especially since so many lawyers work on contingent basis. it's silly to expect to be paid $125-$150 an hour if the attorney doesn't even have the guarantee of pay yet."

well, a well-run law office that retains exerts (and we're experts) should have a fund set aside for exactly that. it's considered unethical for a nurse expert to be paid on a contingent basis, because the idea is that we could be shading our testimony one way or another. i don't ever want to tell someone that my pay depends on the outcome of the case-- my expertise is a service to the court in its trying the case, and i can't be biased. i am asked to tell the truth. the atty who hires me indeed does pay me up front for deposition or testimony, and a retainer for work to be done in preparation. "so, nurse grntea, are you being paid for your opinion here today?" "no, sir, i am being paid for my time."

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