Board of Directors

Because our past presidents remained active and interested in maintaining the integrity of our chapter we thought it wise to tap this invaluable resource. We have developed this advisory board to facilitate our Past Presidents' continued input, and we benefit from the wealth of their combined experiences. The Past Presidents meet with the current Board of Directors each June to review the Chapter's Strategic Plan and suggest means to keep the chapter vigorous and interesting. Additional Past President meetings during the year may occur to discuss challenges or new issues confronting the Chapter. We are continually grateful for their commitment to our Pittsburgh Chapter of AALNC.

Ms. Colville is a professor of nursing at CCAC. She has held that position for over 20 years, teaching Nursing Fundamentals and Advanced Medical-Surgical Nursing. Ms. Colville has recent experience as a staff nurse, working in the float pool at Allegheny General Hospital. She has been doing work as a legal nurse expert consultant for the past 5 years.

Ann Marie received her BSN from Vanderbilt University in 1982. Most of her clinical experience is in Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing but she also has experience in Labor and Delivery and Pediatric Home Care Nursing. Ann Marie received her paralegal certificate from Duquesne University in December 2000. In February 2001, she joined the law firm of Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Conboy as a legal nurse consultant/nurse paralegal, specializing in Plaintiff medical malpractice. She has been a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultant's for 6 years and is currently the President of the Chapter.

Deborah Howarth is a nurse consultant with the law firm of Ogg, Cordes, Murphy and Ignelzi. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh and her Master of Science Degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining OCMI, Deborah held various health care positions which included staff nurse, assistant professor at a community college, certified childbirth instructor, clinical specialist, nurse manager, case manager for a subsidiary of Highmark, and as an expert for obstetrical medical malpractice cases

Mary Janet Johnson is a 1974 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing with 34 years of varied nursing experience. She has worked in both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas, and while her experience is primarily in cardiovascular nursing, it also includes maternity, pediatrics, home care, patient education, and nursing management. She has completed the Legal Nurse Consulting and Forensic Nursing course at the University of Pittsburgh, and has practiced as an independent Legal Nurse Consultant and Expert Witness. She is currently employed as an in-house LNC at the firm of Davies, McFarland & Carroll, P.C., and works in the area of medical malpractice defense.

Sally graduated from nursing school in 1977 and is celebrating her 30th year in the profession. Nursing has provided her with many opportunities which have included camp nursing, working in a small rural hospital in Southwest Colorado as a member of the Traveling Nurse Corp and was a shipboard nurse on Semester at Sea, a program sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh. This was a 3 month excursion that sailed around the world, docking in 11 countries. The majority of her clinical experience was at Shadyside hospital where she worked in CCU, post-open heart unit and the IV Team. After taking time off to raise her daughter, she is now an independent Legal Nurse Consultant, working on defense and plaintiff cases. She also attends IME's as a patient advocate for attorneys. She recently took a full-time position as an IV Nurse Specialist for a privately owned IV company and travels Western PA servicing Long Term Care facilities and private homes.

Lori Klingman is a graduate of nursing from Clarion University ADN, the Pennsylvania State University BSN, and received her masters at LaRoche College MSN. Lori has been published in several medical journals and text books. She has over 30 years of nursing experience primarily in Med-Surgical nursing as both a faculty member and as a clinician. She is currently employed at Ohio Valley School of Nursing as Coordinator/Instructor for Adult and Gerontological Nursing, teaches Introduction to Nursing, Med-Surgical Nursing, and also Coordinator/Instructor for Leadership in Nursing. Lori has an independent Legal Nurse Consultant and Expert Witness practice and has been a member of AALNC since 1999.

Linda Lewis is a graduate of the nursing program at Community College of Beaver County. She has devoted her entire career to long-term care where she has thirty years experience, including Director of Nursing and Administrator. For the past 11 years she has been self-employed as a Nurse Consultant and began doing legal reviews/expert testimony in 2006, joining the Pittsburgh Chapter of AALNC that same year. Linda has a Master of Public Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University and professional certification as a Nursing Home Administrator from the American College of Health Care Administrators. She is currently pursuing certification as a Legal Nurse Consultant.

Selena is currently employed as a Transplant Case Manager for Cigna Healthcare. Her specialty involves prior authorizations, Catastrophic Case Management, Telemetry, Operating Room and Immunizations. She is certified in Case Management and recently completed Life Care planning course from Kaplan University and is preparing for her certification examination. She is also the Nurse Leader for Sigma Theta Tau International Honors Society of Nursing.

Mary A. O’Connor, Ph.D., RN is Professor at California University of PA’s RN-BSN program. Dr. O’Connor earned her Ph.D. and MSN from the University of Pittsburgh and her BSN from Carlow College . She has had an Independent Legal Nurse Consultant business since 1981; served as Director of Medical-Surgical-Rehabilitation Nursing at St. Francis Medical Center and Director of Critical Care & Medicine at Mercy Hospital . Previous teaching experience includes full time faculty and coordinator at La Roche College’s Graduate Program of Nursing Management, where she developed the Legal Aspects of Nursing course; and doctoral teaching fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, where she developed the Legal Nurse Consulting course. She has presented numerous local, regional and national seminars on legal nurse consulting. Dr. O’Connor serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting and, in addition to mentoring and reviewing authors’ manuscripts, she has also published in the JLNC. Dr. O’Connor also serves on the Advisory Board for LIFE Pittsburgh , a program that provides complete services to the poor elderly.