At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency rooms were overflowing. Keli Heskett, a travel nurse at the time, remembers the chaos clearly.
“There were moments I’ll never forget—patients lying in hallways, needing care we simply couldn’t give. The system wasn’t just overwhelmed; it was failing,” she says. “That was the breaking point. I knew I couldn’t keep doing the same thing. But I didn’t yet know what was next.”
For her longtime friend and fellow nurse Justine Hanna, the realization came during a 12-hour shift surrounded by understaffing, exhaustion, and the haunting knowledge that their voices often went unheard.
“We didn’t feel like we had any power inside the system,” Hanna says. “So we asked ourselves: what if we built something outside of it?”
Today, Heskett and Hanna are the co-founders of Mass Tort Medical Consultants (MTMC), a fast-growing, seven-figure firm that provides litigation strategy support to law firms across the country. With a team of more than 60 nurses and growing, they serve as the connective tissue between complex medical facts and the legal teams representing injured patients.
From the Bedside to the Boardroom
Their model is deceptively simple: combine deep clinical experience with medical insight to bridge the knowledge gap in mass tort litigation. In practice, it means their team helps law firms interpret medical records, verify case validity, and craft narratives that resonate in court.
“Most firms focus on paperwork,” says Hanna. “We focus on people. We bring the human story forward in every case.”
And that clinical lens is proving especially valuable in one of the fastest-growing litigation areas in the country: PFAS.
The PFAS Litigation Wave
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals linked to a wide range of illnesses—from thyroid disorders to certain cancers. Often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or the human body, they’ve become the centerpiece of environmental lawsuits nationwide.
MTMC is at the forefront
“We’re seeing women with reproductive challenges, families impacted by rare cancers, and entire communities drinking contaminated water,” says Heskett. “These aren’t just cases. They’re people—and they need advocates who understand both the medicine and the legal fight.”
MTMC recently consulted on a national partnership campaign involving professional athletes and nonprofit outreach, and will be featured in an upcoming 30-minute PFAS special airing across digital and national platforms.
Scaling with Purpose
Despite their rapid growth, Heskett and Hanna are still nurses at heart. They review every case. They vet every partner. And they hire only those who share their values.
“We built this company to feel like the kind of workplace we always wanted,” says Hanna. “Supportive, rigorous, and rooted in purpose.”
When asked what’s next, both women smile. “We’re not chasing the next big thing,” Heskett says. “We’re building something lasting—something that lets patients be heard, and lawyers win the right way.”
Advice for Future Founders
To other women—especially nurses—who feel stuck in burnout or bureaucracy, Hanna has this advice: “You’re more qualified than you think. Your instincts, your experience, your ability to care—those are entrepreneurial superpowers.” And as Heskett adds, “You don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to start.”
