How a Burn Injury Lawyer Can Do Wonders in Your Claim

by | Mar 25, 2024 | Personal Injury | 2 comments

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Overview

Burn injuries have become a severe problem in developed countries. For economic development, industries have become the norm. Chemicals have blended throughout the universe. As a result, burn injuries are almost certain to occur.

A mild burn injury affects the outer layer of the skin alone. We can treat such injuries with petroleum jelly or burn healer ointment. When someone is affected by severe burn injury due to others’ negligence, the consequence will be catastrophic.

As we know, the pain of a burn injury is unbearable. It will cause an everlasting scar not only in the body but also in the mind. Burn injuries may demand a long treatment process and recovery time. Burn injury compensation claims can help the victim to reduce the financial burden. The question is, how far the claimant would be able to extort money from the defendants? In this case, a burn accident attorney can assist in obtaining justice.

Burn Injury

Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that around 1 million people are affected by burn injuries each year in the U.S. Burn injuries may occur due to fire, chemicals, electric sources, friction, gas explosion, or nuclear radiation. Most of the burn injuries are caused by heat from fire or hot liquid. There are three types of burn injuries. First-degree burn damage, second-degree burn damage, and third-degree burn damage.

First-degree burn damage is mild and, it affects the only top layer of the body. The affected part turns red and, it will be painful. There won’t be blisters in first-degree burns. It heals within a week.

Second-degree burn damage is a little more severe than first degree. In this, the top layer and lower layer will be affected. The damaged area becomes extremely red and swollen. Blisters with pain will be there. It may appear shiny, or it may involve skin loss and fluid leakage. It may take a week or more to heal.

Third-degree burn damages are severe and affect all three layers of skin. It entirely damages the skin. The skin may appear burnt or have white, brown, or black spots. Acute burns can even harm muscles, ligaments, nerves, tendons and cause permanent scarring, as well as death in some situations. The person who is affected by this should take medical attention without fail.

The illustration below would help you to understand more about the type of burn injuries.

stages-of-burns

Burn Injuries and Personal Injury Claims

Motor vehicle accidents always pose a high risk of explosions, heat exposure, and smoke inhalation. A report from the U.S. Fire Administration indicates that 16 percent of all fire accidents handled by the fire department are due to fires in highway vehicles. Minor road accidents like bicycle accidents can result in friction burns. During motor vehicle accidents, the gasoline in the vehicle can ignite causing massive explosions and burn injuries. If vehicle occupants sustain burn injuries occur due to the negligence of the driver, he could be held accountable.

Burn Injuries and Workplace Liability

Any person can be affected by burn injuries in their workplace. However, some workplaces offer more chances to get burn injuries. For instance, electricians, chefs, firefighters, mechanics, janitors, etc are more prone to burn injuries. The common types of workplace burn injuries are listed below.

  • Electrocutions
  • Scalding from hot liquids or steam
  • Chemical accidents
  • Gas explosions

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States have particular rules and regulations for workplace fire and burn safety. They also have some standards for the use and handling of hazardous substances and gases that may cause burn injuries in the employees.

If you meet with a fire accident in your working place, because of others negligence you can sue them. When the injury is due to the owner’s negligence, you can file a lawsuit against the owner. An industrial burn lawyer specializing in workers’ compensation claims would help you get a settlement in such claims. Burn injury attorneys would determine the value of burn injury claims and get the best compensation for your losses.

Burn Injuries and Premises Liability

Any public or private property, including shopping malls, restaurants, apartment complexes, hospitals, residences, hotels, and more, may be subjected to premises liability for burn injuries. The person or company who caused the burn injury is accountable for damages to the victim. Property owners must take necessary precautions to prevent their workers, guests, residents from avoidable burn injury.  It is their responsibility to keep others safe from threats on their property.

For example, the resident’s owner is aware of an electrical short circuit in the switchboard, yet does nothing to mitigate it. The switchboard is unintentionally used by the guest who gets burned. In this case, the owner is responsible for the injuries of the guest as he failed to give a warning about the impending danger.

Burn Injuries and Product Liability

Defective products may create dangerous burn injuries to the customers. The following are some examples of defective or unsafe products that can cause a burn injury.

  • Safety flex connectors
  • Cell phones
  • Kitchen appliances
  • Cleaning chemicals
  • Flammable clothing
  • Toasters
  • Batteries
  • Space heaters
  • Pressure cookers

When a defective product causes a burn injury, the customer has the right to initiate a lawsuit and seek compensation from the responsible parties. The manufacturer, the shop that sold the defective product to the consumer, the person who assembled the defective product, etc. could all be held accountable. For instance, a patient in a hospital sustained burn injuries when he used a water heater with a manufacturing defect. The heater manufacturer was sued and the claim was settled for $5000.

Compensation for Burn Injuries

It’s too hard to go back to your life after a burn injury. It may create an impact on both your family and you. You may not, be able to go to work or do your daily task. Burn injuries can leave you in disfigurement and disabled for the rest of your life.

Recovering the compensation is based on numerous factors. It includes the severity of the injury and partially at fault. The restitution amount can be reduced if the claimant is partly at fault. The settlement will be paid according to the depth of the burn injury. Burn injuries claim process may take several years to settle when you go for a trial at court. But with the help of a burn attorney, you can recover the restitution as much as possible sometimes, within a month.

The settlement is determined based on the impacted area’s location. Face scar causes more damage than scars on the back. It does not include the severity of the injury alone but the size of the damage too. For instance, a person is affected by 50 percent of second-degree burns gets more settlement than the person is affected by 15 percent of third-degree burns damages. The compensation may vary by the percentage of the damage.

The plaintiff who was in a fire accident in an auto repair center sustained first-degree burn damages to his face. The judge awarded $5000 for his injuries. In another case, an improperly installed defective toy resulted in an explosion causing second-degree burns to 15 percent of the victim’s body. The claimant was a ten years old child.  Her face was damaged permanently due to burns. The jury awarded $7.5 million for the claimant’s second-degree burn. Another victim was affected by a third-degree burn to the body, leg, neck, and hand from a bus accident. The claim was settled for $7.0 million.

For burn injury cases, claimants can recover the settlement for lost wages, medical treatment, and pain and suffering. The insurance company will try to settle low compensation as possible. Filing a burn injury lawsuit will help the victims to compensate for the damages. To increase the winning possibility, keep knowledge and experienced burn injury lawyer on your side. They handle your claim effectively and get maximum restitution for your case.

Types of Burn Injury Lawsuits

The victim can file a burn injury lawsuit for the following accidents

  • Motor vehicle accidents
  • Tanker explosions
  • Building fires
  • Truck accident
  • Defective products
  • Electrical accidents
  • Chemical spills
  • Nuclear power explosions
  • Fires in hotels, restaurants, etc.

How do the Burn Injury Lawyers Determine the Restitution? 

The burn injury lawyers review the information such as treatment cost, medical bills, transportation charges, surgery costs, etc. about treatment. Then they collect the required receipts and records to estimate compensation. After gathering all the information, they calculate an estimate for the future treatment costs and the medical bills.

It is significant to gather all the evidence to prove who is at fault. Hence the plaintiff should submit all the evidence to the burn injuries lawyer to fight for his rights.

Needed Evidence to Boost the Chance to Win

The burn injury-proof alone is not enough to file a burn injury lawsuit. The plaintiff must prove when, where, and how it happened. Moreover, they have to prove who is responsible for the burn injury. To boost the chance to win victim needs the following evidence.

  • Seek medical attention as much as possible. It helps you to prove your injury
  • For workplace burn injuries, report the injury immediately to the concerned official
  • Take the photograph of the scene before it is removed
  • If any CCTV camera footage is in that particular area, collect the footage
  • Write down everything in detailed
  • Write the witness details
  • Collect accident report form from police if possible
  • Get a medical record copy from the physician
  • Report from fire departments

Types of Burn Injury Damages

Based on the degree of the burn injuries, the burn injury victim may collect both economic and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages 

Economic damages are financial losses that include lost wages, medical bills, lost earning capacity, property damages, burn unit treatment, emotional distress, other lost income, travel expenses related to the accident, and future treatment.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are non-monetary, include emotional distress, loss of enjoyment, pain, and suffering, disfigurement, discomfort, and loss of consortium.

Punitive Damages

When fire accidents happen because of the purposeful and reckless behavior of the defendant, punitive damages may be obtained.

Let’s listen to what the burn injury lawyers in Nevada has to say on the cause of burn injuries and how to sue for burn injuries.

Why do we Need a Burn Injury Lawyer?

You might have a thought, why do we need a burn injury lawyer for my case? Here is the answer to your question.

They Know About the Burn Injury Lawsuit

Burn injury comes under personal injury and the personal injury law is more complicated than other types of laws. To successfully handle burn injury lawsuits, you must be well-versed in both federal and state law. And you must know how the court system works.

As we don’t know to run the burn injury claim, it is required to get the help of a burn injury lawyer on your side. Hiring process for fire injury lawyers plays a crucial role in the claims. Burn injury lawyers who have experience in similar cases can appropriately handle the claim. Trial experience in the court and their knowledge about the burn injury law would help the claimant with a deserving compensation.

A burn lawyer examines your unique situation and assists you throughout the process. When you go to court for a trial, your lawyer ensures that you are adequately prepared. The fire injury lawyer will take care of the entire process for you.

They Know How to Deal With the Insurance Adjuster

After the fire accident or you get burnt, you may receive calls from the insurance adjuster hired by the insurance company. Their target would be making you agree with low compensation. With their strategy, they may force you to accept the settlement they provide.

Negotiation with an insurance company would be challenging and, we cannot make dealing with them. A burn injury lawyer from your side would determine the severity of your burn injury and deal with the case successfully.  He would negotiate with the insurance adjuster and derive the best possible restitution based on the type of injury, disfigurement, and disability you sustain.

They Know the Statute of Limitations

The plaintiff in a burn injury claim should file the case within the particular period which may vary by state. For burn injury lawsuits, in California, the statute of limitation is two years. If the claimant fails to file the claim before the deadline, he would lose the chance to file the lawsuit. Burn injury attorneys know the statute of limitations for burn injury lawsuits and they would move the paper works accordingly.

They Calculate the Total Damage

The burn injury lawyers calculate the total damages for your burn injuries. The whole damages are calculated by adding both economic damages and non-economic damages. It would be very challenging to calculate the value of pain and suffering which is very critical in burn injury and the related disability. The attorney uses some formulas to calculate the value of pain and suffering. They review your case, determine the exact value of your losses, and fight for your rights.

They Save Time & Reduce Your Stress

The burn injury lawsuit process is a long and complicated process. For a successful claim, you must prepare all the proof, collect the documents, make all the submissions about the lawsuit. It may take more time to do all the procedures. Hiring a burn injury lawyer will be helpful for you to save time. He would handle the claim carefully and reduce your stress.

They Help You with Your Recovery

Having a burn accident lawyer on your side will be helpful to get recovery soon. He can make sure that you are getting the best treatment possible. Burn injury attorneys would investigate the treatment provided to their clients and help them with a speedy recovery.

Conclusion

Severe second-degree and third-degree burn injuries may end up in further complications like life-threatening infections and organ damages. The victim may need reconstructive surgical procedures to correct disfigurement and scars. Lifelong assisted care and rehabilitation may be required in some cases.

Many fire injury law firms provide expert assistance to burn injury victims to win their reparation. With the help of an expert burn injury lawyer, the victim can concentrate on his quick recovery, simultaneously proceeding with a burn injury lawsuit. He would help his client to collect the maximum compensation without going to court multiple times.

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MedLegal360 is a specialized author in medical-legal matters, providing clear, authoritative insights on healthcare legislation and personal injury litigation for professionals and the curious.

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