Deborah M. Cotopolis

Deborah Cotopolis is a certified legal nurse consultant. She assists attorneys with the medical aspects of cases, providing them with in-depth analysis in a number of areas—evaluation of medical records, pre-existing conditions, potential missing records, and case strategies based on medical concepts. Deborah provides medical records summaries, medical chronologies, and event timelines highlighting relevant case issues and conducts medical and forensic literature research.

Deborah joined Hinshaw in 2010. Previously, she was a legal nurse consultant at a national firm.

She began her career as a clinical nurse experienced in intensive care, oncology, and medical/surgical units. Deborah was the foundation director for Rocky Mountain Poison Center and a staff nurse, providing acute triage over the phone for poisonings, drug overdoses, and injuries.

For over a decade, Deborah owned and ran her own consulting business, Strategic Medical Legal Resources. In addition, she was a medical bill review specialty services consultant for CSI-Zurich NA Insurance.

She was certified as a legal nurse consultant in 1998 by the National Association of Legal Nurse Consultants and has been licensed as a Registered Nurse in the State of Illinois since 1992.

• American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC)
  • Greater Chicago Area Chapter, Former Board Member

Deborah has spoken about depositions and medical records at the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) and the Legal Nurse Consultant Resource.

Deborah was a regular contributor to her former business's quarterly newsletters, titled the Strategic Medical Legal Resources Newsletter and Navigator.

She has authored a chapter in the following publications:

• "Environmental Mold: Black Mold," LNC Resource, August 2004
• "Toxicology of the Acutely Poisoned Patient," Critical Care Nursing, Lippincott Publishing Co., 1981 and 1984 Editions
• "Understanding Pain and Suffering," LNC Resource, Volume 2, No. 1