By Patricia Raymond

Patricia Raymond is the co-founder and managing partner of Raymond & Raymond Ltd. In additional to being an attorney, Patricia received her BSN from Loyola University of Chicago, and she practiced as a nurse at a major medical center in Chicago for nine(+) years. 

If you’re a nurse, you’re already an advocate. You fight for your patients when no one else will. You push for the right tests, the right medications, and the right care—sometimes going toe-to-toe with doctors or administrators to make it happen. Nurses are with patients 24/7, it is the nurses who are with the patient when there is a change in condition and notify the doctor, they catch mistakes, prevent harm, and stand beside their patients through their worst moments.

So if you’ve ever thought about going to law school, let me tell you: You are already built for this. I know because I was once in your shoes.

Before I became a medical malpractice attorney, I was an ICU nurse in downtown Chicago. I loved my job, but I also saw injustices that I could not ignore. One of those moments changed the course of my life forever.

The Moment That Led Me to Law School

At the hospital where I worked, we nurses were called into a meeting one day by the administration. The administrators told us that we were no longer going to be paid hourly—we were being switched to salary pay. They tried to spin it as a promotion, saying it made us more “professional” because we would no longer have to punch a clock at the beginning and the end of our shift.  But I knew ( we all knew) the truth: it was about money. They wanted to cut costs by eliminating our overtime pay.

I sat there, listening, fuming. Every nurse in that room had a degree, many of us had advanced certifications, and all of us were professionals. Yet we were being treated like we couldn’t see what was really happening. It was a slap in the face.

I remember thinking, Someone has to fight for us. Someone has to do something.

That day, I decided to go to law school. At the time, our hospital didn’t have a nursing union—there was no one looking out for us when we were looking out for our patients. So I wanted to learn the law, to see if there was a way to make things right.

Years later, after I graduated, I went back to the hospital with a petition, hoping to rally my fellow nurses to push for change. Unfortunately, they were not ready to organize.  The majority were concerned that organizing would threaten their jobs and others said that they would never leave their patient’s bedside to strike. 

When people don’t have a voice, they need someone who can stand up and fight for them. That’s what being a lawyer has meant to me.

How Nursing Made Me a Better Lawyer

When I started law school, I wasn’t sure how my nursing background would translate. But I quickly realized that everything that made me a good nurse—critical thinking, reading between the lines, advocating for patients, and standing firm under pressure—made me a good lawyer too. Because of my experience, I am also in the unique position of actually having been at the bedside—so I can tell when a medical professional is not being honest, and as an advocate I am happy to let them know.

When I graduated, I sent my resume to both plaintiff and defense firms. I got calls from both sides, but Barry Goldberg, one of the top medical malpractice plaintiff attorneys in Chicago at the time, saw my nursing background as an asset. My medical knowledge does give me an edge—whether it was understanding the medicine in complex cases, knowing when the hospital chart does not add up, or simply being able to talk to health care providers as a peer and not as an attorney.

Working at Goldberg & Goldberg was an incredible experience. I learned from some of the best and built the foundation of my career. I stayed there until I had my second son, Clark, who was born with Down syndrome in 1990.  Following his birth I went back to nursing as a weekender.  The flexibility nursing provided allowed me to be home with my children during the week and work during the weekends. When my son began preschool, I was able to go back and work at another medical malpractice firm—where I was for ~twelve years. In 2004, I took a leap—and joined my husband, Clark Raymond, as a partner of Raymond & Raymond, Ltd. For the past twenty-one years we have enjoyed advocating for and helping patients who have been harmed due to medical malpractice. 

Today, we have the pleasure of working with our oldest son, Robert, who is also an attorney, Timothy Borchardt, another wonderful and skilled attorney, and our son Clark Jr. (who has Down Syndrome) works as an assistant at the firm.  

Looking back, I can see how everything—nursing, law school, my early legal career—led me to this moment.

Nurses Make the Best Lawyers – Here’s Why

I still believe that nursing is the best training for being a lawyer representing the injured. Why? Because nurses know what it means to truly care. We understand the medicine, the injuries and the damages…we also know when the injuries can be avoided. We know how to fight for people who are vulnerable. We know how to stay calm when things go sideways. And we know how to call out a system when it’s failing the very people it’s supposed to protect.

That’s exactly what I do now as a medical malpractice attorney. I take the same fire I had as a nurse and use it to fight for patients and families who have been harmed by medical negligence. And trust me, having a nurse’s knowledge in the courtroom? It’s a huge advantage.

So if you’re a nurse who has ever thought about law school, my advice? Do it. Your experience, your compassion, and your ability to think under pressure will make you a phenomenal attorney. I know because that’s what made me one.

And if you ever want to talk about making the change, my door is always open. Because at the end of the day, whether at the bedside or in the courtroom, we’re all here for the same reason—to fight for the people who need us most.

If you would like to speak with someone about this article please contact Courtenay Raymond at (708) 853-6346 or courtenay@rr-law.com.