Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Building an Attorney’s Medical Reference Library


As I’ve been writing these various articles covering a wide range of medical-legal topics over the past few years, many readers have contacted me with questions regarding the references that I use. While some are interested in specific references for specific topics, I have noticed that most are just interested in building a good medical reference library for use in their practice. I believe that that is an admirable goal.

While my reference library is filled with a wide variety of anatomical atlases, cellular biology texts, chemistry texts and multiple surgical atlases, I would never dream of recommending that the average personal injury or medical malpractice attorney spend the money it would require to build such a library. I set out to try to come up with a comprehensive and affordable list and one of my first steps was to call Ms. Janabeth Evans Taylor, a widely known and respected medical-legal consultant to see if she had any recommendations. Luckily, I discovered that Janabeth has already written a great article on this topic and she has agreed to let me share it with you.

Janabeth Evans (Taylor), R.N., R.N.C., Paralegal, has been a successful medical-legal consultant since 1990. She has assisted attorneys in both state and federal court proceedings and is well recognized and highly respected for diligence, thoroughness, accuracy, and excellent communication skills. Ms. Evans (Taylor) has authored and co-developed a broad variety of publications and presentations for lawyers, paralegals and other professionals. Representative topics include medical research, internet search strategies, low speed vehicular crashes, drug litigation, soft tissue injury, placental pathology, and medical expert deposition preparation techniques.

Click here to read her excellent suggestions for Building Your Medical Library.