Fires and other incidents that cause severe burns can be life-changing, coming with long-lasting trauma, stress, and in the worst cases, injuries that cause long-term debilitation or disfigurement.
To make matters worse, medical bills and lost wages can pile up while you are struggling to recover.
Pursuing a personal injury claim after a burn caused by a defective product or someone else’s negligence may enable you to recover some of these financial losses, providing you and your family the compensation needed to turn towards a normal life again.
A burn injury lawyer can help you pursue all applicable damage you have suffered from all at-fault parties.
The team at CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is here to help. Our years of experience in dealing with burns and other traumatic injuries means we have the skills and knowledge to give your case a high chance of success.
Your first appointment is always free, and with a contingency arrangement, you’ll pay nothing upfront for our services — and nothing at all unless we are able to recover damages for you.
Find out how much your case could be worth and the process of filing an injury claim during your free, confidential case evaluation. Use the contact form on this page to schedule your free consultation with a burn injury lawyer near you today.
How Can a Burn Injury Attorney Help Me?
When looking for a burn accident attorney, it’s important to understand exactly how they’re equipped to handle your case.
The right burn injury lawyer should have ample experience in cases like your own so they can help you achieve justice, securing appropriate compensation for all of the damages you have suffered.
Burns are serious and can result in dire consequences both physically and financially, such as:
- Painful, expensive medical treatments
- Loss of income because of missed work
- Mental anguish from the trauma
- Scarring, disfigurement, and cosmetic damage that may last a lifetime
- Related chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders
- Anxiety, depression, and nervous system disorders
- Weakness, long-term pain, and issues with thermoregulation
- Change in body image and consequent psychological health
Keep in mind that even small burns can lead to lasting issues. Accepting a settlement for just the initial treatment costs could mean leaving out a lifetime’s worth of follow-up care.
Further, delaying medical treatment or only accepting partial remedies could mean a greater risk of complications. Always follow up with a burn, and accept all of the care recommended for a full recovery.
This includes visiting a specialist and accepting any standard procedures for stabilizing the wound(s). Your burn injury lawyer will then see to it that any potential settlement — or court award — includes compensation for all of the medical costs: past, present, and future.
What Are the Common Causes of Burns?
Burns can happen in a number of scenarios, from chemical spills at work to kitchen accidents at home. Common causes of serious burns include:
- Open Flame, Heat, and Hot Objects: A scald from hot steam or liquids, contact with hot surfaces like stove burners, or direct exposure to flames and explosions.
- Electricity: Not only contact with high-voltage wires but also sparks from faulty electrical wirings.
- Chemical: Exposure to acids or caustic substances, including those used during professional cleaning or home renovations.
- Radiation: Exposure to concentrated ultraviolet light, radiation therapy or nuclear energy.
- Friction: Entrapment of bodily appendages or contact with high-velocity belts and other mechanical components can cause burn-like injuries, as can being dragged or contact abrasions, e.g., “road rash.”
Different jobs also carry a risk of burn injury — some more than others.
Firefighters are naturally more exposed to fire, while electricians and welders are exposed to an open flame and possible electrical shocks. Workers in petrochemical industries face the risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals and potentially explosive gasses.
If you believe your serious burn was caused by someone else’s negligence or a defective product, it’s important to get the answers you deserve.
What Are the Different Types of Burns?
Each of the following burns correlates with one of the major causes outlined above. In any situation, it’s important to understand how they are defined, so you can approach your case with the right verbiage.
For example, thermal burns are created by contact with hot objects, like open flames and hot liquids, while electrical burns will occur after one is shocked by an electrical current.
Similarly, chemical burns happen when your skin is exposed to acids and alkalis, and radiation burns are created from prolonged exposure to radiation like ultraviolet rays from the sun or X-rays.
Additionally, friction burns may stem from friction between two objects, as is the case with skidding or sliding on pavement.
Can You Build a Burn Injury Case Around Any Kind of Burn?
Before building your burn injury case, you’ll need to determine whether another party is responsible for your burns. After that, you’ll need to determine what kind of burn you’ve incurred and how serious it is.
Different types of burns are classified according to their severity into varying ‘degrees.’ A quick overview can illustrate the following:
First-Degree Burns
These are called ‘superficial’ burns and only affect the outer layer of the skin. This layer is called the ‘epidermis,’ and these burns will often appear red, painful, and dry — but without blisters.
First-degree burns can nevertheless lead to significant discomfort and secondary conditions, including increased risk of heat stroke and skin cancer.
Second-Degree Burns
These burns affect the lower layer of the skin, which is called the ‘dermis.’ These burns will also appear red, but they will also often blister and become more swollen and painful.
Second-degree burns can take days to recover from and can severely inhibit motor functioning as well as the victim’s overall quality of life. Further, they may lead to permanent scarring or disfigurement.
Third-Degree Burns
Third-degree burns completely destroy both the top and lower layers of the skin. They burn through the epidermis and dermis to expose the innermost layer of skin, which is called ‘subcutaneous tissue.’
Often, these kinds of burns will appear white, black, or even charred. These burns can easily create permanent damage to muscles and nerves while requiring intensive procedures to treat, such as skin grafts.
Fourth-Degree Burns
To be classified as a fourth-degree burn, the injury must go even deeper than the subcutaneous tissue, to the point of possibly involving the muscle or bone. After a fourth-degree burn, you will lose feeling in the burn site, as all nerve endings will be destroyed.
Individuals with a fourth-degree burn may experience loss of the limb, permanent loss of function or feeling in the affected appendage, extensive wound care, intensive surgeries, significant scarring, and permanent nerve effects, including chronic pain and paralysis.
The more severe the burn, typically the greater compensation you may be eligible for, as your damages pay for the past costs you have already paid as well as the future losses you will endure, including loss of use or loss of enjoyment of life/
What Kinds of Common Situations Warrant a Burn Injury Case?
In most cases, one of the most common questions we see is, ‘Can I sue my employer if I was burned at work?’
The answer is that it is possible, but usually only when the burn was the fault of a defective product used at the workplace, a third-party entity like a contractor crew or property owner, or otherwise not trying to hold the employer directly liable.
Any employer that provides workers’ compensation insurance for their employees is immune from liability in most instances. In certain extreme circumstances, an employer could be held liable, however.
An example of this is if the employer intentionally caused the accident that led to the burn or the employer engaged in a pattern of gross negligence and reckless endangerment.
When a burn is caused by a defective product or a third-party, such as a company that installed a faulty water heater, these organizations or individuals can be held responsible for the consequences of a burn.
Common accidents that can lead to a burn injury case include:
- Electrical accidents
- Chemical accidents
- Gas explosions
- Fluid overheating
- Fires
- Defective products
- Negligence by contractors
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Burn Injury Case?
Burn injury cases can easily become complicated, so it’s critical to identify possible sources of liability from the onset. Nevertheless, it’s not always easy to tell who is at fault in a burn injury case, and it will often come down to how particular circumstances inform the facts of the case.
When analyzing liability for a burn injury, ask yourself: who had a duty of care toward you?
In legal terms, a Duty of Care is defined as the expectations and guidelines that govern our actions in order to minimize the risk of harm to others. Many organizations, such as employers and product manufacturers, have specific duties of care governed by laws and regulations.
In general, everyone has a duty of care to avoid taking certain actions that might cause others harm. This could mean an employer or supervisor, a business, property owners, or any other individuals involved.
Products Liability
Product manufacturers have specific duties of care to design products that are reasonably safe and manufacture them according to standards that reduce the risk of performance issues, including issues that compromise the health and safety of the general public.
In some states, product manufacturers can be held strictly liable, which means the customer only has to prove that they were using the product as directed (or as could be reasonably expected) and that their injury was caused directly by the use of the product.
Injury victims in other states will need to prove that some defect existed, leading to the burn, that the company either knew about or reasonably should have known about.
Other Factors in Establishing Liability in Burn Injury Cases
You’ll also want to consider other factors, such as negligence or recklessness related to your burn injury. Other questions to ask include:
- Was there an adequate warning about the potential hazards?
- Were safety measures appropriate?
- Was the equipment or product used properly by all parties?
- Could any foreseeable risks have been avoided?
- Did any supervisors violate company regulations or laws concerning workplace safety?
- Was there evidence that the manufacturer was aware of potential problems with products used on-site but failed to alert customers or take action?
- Were proper procedures followed when disposing of hazardous materials on-site?
While this list is by no means exhaustive, it’s a helpful tool in initially determining who can be held liable for a burn injury. Be sure to reach out to an experienced burn injury attorney team to review the circumstances of your case and determine all possible liable parties involved.
What Kind of Compensation May I Be Entitled to in a Burn Injury Case?
Generally, depending on the severity of the injury, you may be entitled to damages that can cover the following:
- Costs for medical treatment and related expenses, such as medication, surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, and medical equipment
- Lost wages and income due to an inability to work
- Pain and suffering caused by the burn injury
- Loss of enjoyment of life due to disfigurement or physical limitation
- Any issues caused by a permanent disability, including loss of earning capacity
- Loss of ability to bond with family or provide domestic services
- In some cases, punitive damages may be available if there was extreme negligence on behalf of another person or organization.
If My Loved One Died From a Burn, Can I Bring the Responsible Party to Court?
When a loved one dies as a result of another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, it is possible to bring a wrongful death action to civil court. In the case of a burn injury, if your loved one died, you may be eligible for compensation for any damages stemming from the wrongful death.
This may include funeral costs, lost wages from the deceased, damage due to the negligence that caused your loved one’s death, and pain and suffering endured by the deceased prior to their demise.
No amount of money can replace your loved one, but it can help alleviate some of the financial burdens of losing them in such a devastating way. You can ensure that your family is provided for by holding the at-fault party accountable for the loss of income caused by the decedent.
Will the Lawyer Take My Burn Injury Claim to Trial if Necessary?
When it comes to choosing a burn injury lawyer, you need to know that they’ll be willing to take your case as far as it needs to go in order to exhaust all viable strategies. That means some cases will need to become a lawsuit and proceed to trial in front of a jury.
Ali Awad and the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm team have trial experience and a proven history of favorable verdicts for our clients. We prepare every case knowing that the evidence we procure and the legal justifications we use for liability could be tested in court.
This approach puts pressure on insurers and other liable parties to settle, but it also means we’re ready to put everything in front of a jury with confidence in your case.
Knowing that the lawyer has the experience and capability to take your burn injury claim to court can put your mind at ease. You want a lawyer who will fight for your best interests, even if that means going up against big insurance companies through a lawsuit or trial.
Many burn injury cases involve substantial losses, meaning it is of the utmost importance to gather all evidence possible and prevent measures that reduce at-fault parties’ exposure to liability, such as the distribution of non-disclosure agreements or liability waivers.
In cases of severe injury, loss of use of a limb or bodily organ, or death, we will often file a civil complaint (lawsuit) in order to secure discovery powers and preemptive motions to preserve evidence, even when, ideally, a settlement will be negotiated.
Put simply: we will use the most effective legal strategies available in order to maximize the chances that your case will result in successful recovery of the damages you have suffered.
Contact a Burn Injury Lawyer Who Can Help You Start Building Your Case
Burn injuries are often serious, but they don’t have to place you or your family in a tough financial position. Contact the CEO Lawyer at (833) 254-2923 to get started on exploring your options for pursuing a personal injury claim.
We can help families find the resources they need to get through this trying time, as our sole goal is helping you move towards a better life.
Your first case review is always free, and it can help you learn exactly what legal options are available for pursuing the damages you have suffered. Talk to an experienced burn injury lawyer near you when you complete our simple contact form today.
