Each May, nurses are celebrated for the vital role they play in our health care system through the observance of National Nurses Day, Nurses Week, and International Nurses Day. Goodman Allen Donnelly would like to spotlight the firm’s nurse paralegals who play an important role, assisting our attorneys in matters at the intersection of nursing, health care, and the law.

Nurse paralegals bring healthcare expertise into a legal context

Our nurse paralegals are collaborators, strategists, educators, and valued colleagues. Above all, they excel at translating complex issues into clear, simple terms, understandable by the legal team, juries, and judges, and bring special nursing and health care expertise to the work they do in a legal context. Nurse paralegals are appreciated for their ability to call attention to information that may have been omitted or falsified, or protocols that were not followed. With a unique understanding of the complicated healthcare system, they often pick up on subtleties in the medical records that a non-medical professional might not.

Goodman Allen Donnelly’s nurse paralegals are an essential part of our healthcare legal team

With both hands-on nursing experience and extensive legal training, these professionals bring a unique and important skillset to healthcare legal cases. We are particularly appreciative of the outstanding talents, perspective, and professionalism of our nurse paralegal team.

Joanie Young is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with over 15 years of clinical nursing experience in NICU, PICU, Cardiac Surgery, ICU, L&D, ER (community and teaching hospitals). As a result of Joanie’s extensive clinical experience, she has a tremendous ability to narrow the issues, review, prepare documents for expert review, and evaluate matters that pertain to hospital, clinical, and nursing issues.

“I’ve worked with Joanie for 15 years, and she has taught me so much about nursing. She has a wide array of nursing knowledge, and she is an invaluable resource (and a good friend).” – Robyn Ayres, Attorney

Michele Boughan has more than 15 years of clinical nursing experience in critical care, including emergency department and medical intensive care at a level 1 trauma center. Prior to joining Goodman Allen Donnelly, she worked in personal injury as a medical records analyst presenting treatment information in various formats and providing medical case management services for her clients. Michele’s background provides her with the ability to easily navigate medical records and identify the most relevant aspects of a case.  

“Although no longer involved with direct patient care, our nurse paralegals continue to provide us with invaluable support in the legal defense of healthcare providers during the pandemic.” – A. William Charters, Attorney

Erica Brown joined the firm after a decade of experience as an OR nurse. Her ability to organize and digest medical records and locate and extract requested information makes her a valuable resource in med-mal matters, workers’ compensation claims, and personal injury matters.

“Erica is such a valuable – and valued! – member of our Norfolk Litigation team. She brings a wealth of experience, a great attitude, and precision that surely comes from her years as an OR nurse to her job here at Goodman Allen Donnelly every day. She makes my job as a med mal defense attorney easier and more efficient. And working with Erica is truly a joy!” – C. Thea Pitzen

Nurse attorney Eileen Talamante passionately advocates for her fellow nurses

Among their other responsibilities, our nurse paralegal team supports their fellow nurse, attorney Eileen Talamante, in a variety of healthcare legal matters.

Eileen Talamante, RN, JD concentrates her practice in the representation of Virginia nurses and physicians in licensing and discipline matters before the Board of Nursing and the Board of Medicine, as well as other health care licensees before their respective regulatory boards. As a registered nurse herself, Eileen is passionate about advocating on behalf of fellow nurses and other health care providers. She brings a unique understanding and perspective regarding the myriad of difficult issues nurses, physicians, and other health care providers face in today’s complex and highly regulated healthcare environment.

For Eileen’s perspective on nursing challenges in context of the COVID-19 pandemic, read her blog, “2020 is designated as “The Year of the Nurse”…Wow is it Ever.”

“I cannot say enough good things about working with Eileen. During one the most uncertain, and difficult times in my life she was by my side and I feel like she really stood up for me and had my back.” – client

Goodman Allen Donnelly’s nurse paralegals and nurse attorney are essential members of our healthcare legal team and for them, we are thankful!