Usually, a retainer is required of the attorney. The retainer is a flat fee, paid up front by the attorney, and used for working expenses by the LNC as they work on the case until completion at which time the fee is paid in full. Which brings us to a business issue of being able to collect on financial obligations from customers. This is a skill that is definitely needed by the LNC in this business. An LNC must be assertive and be able to work with parties who are slow to pay in order to keep the business running smoothly and keep financial records up to date and accurate.
Annual income is dependent on the size of the consultant's practice.
This could be done on a part time, infrequent review basis, or a consultant could have a very busy practice with several clients running at the same time. Some consultants claim to be making salaries in the six-figure range, but more realistic are those practices in which consultants are making a comfortable profit, usually higher than their annual income as a staff nurse if the practice is active. If you have specialty experience, you will be valuable on cases pertaining to that specialty as well as general standards of care. You need to know your limits so that you do not get involved with cases outside of your clinical experience. If a case was presented to you that would involve standards you were unfamiliar with, you could take the case and contract out to another nurse to assist with the aspects of the case that you needed assistance with.