After a serious burn injury: should you consider legal action?

Planning for your future

Severe burns can leave a person with devastating, life-changing injuries. A person who has suffered severe burn injuries faces a long hospital stay, and even after discharge, the likelihood of multiple surgeries to restore function and appearance, and continued rehabilitation after surgeries. Treatment is lengthy, painful, and expensive.

Burn injuries may leave you significantly disabled, unable to work, unable to take care of your family, and unable to enjoy the life you enjoyed before you were burned. After burn injuries your first concern must be getting the best medical and rehabilitative care, and the best possible resolution of your injuries. During this process, as you or your loved one face the changes ahead; you will likely begin to think about how you will deal with the financial consequences.

If you or a loved one has been seriously burned, or if a loved one has died from burns, you may be facing serious changes in your health, your lifestyle, your earning power and your expectations for your and your children’s future.

An experienced San Diego burn injury attorney knows what burn injuries can mean to a person and their family and can help them think through their needs.

Should you consider legal action?

A person who has suffered severe burn injuries as a result of another’s negligence has the right to compensation for damage to their health, their earning power, and the loss of well being. Compensation can include reimbursement for medical and hospital bills rehabilitation costs, lost wages and future earnings, pain, physical distress, and psychological suffering as a consequence of injuries and losses. If the changes in lifestyle, a need for modifications in the home, and diminished future earnings caused by burn injuries are extensive, a life planning consultant should be engaged to help calculate long-term medical and financial needs.

Many serious burn injuries are caused by the negligence or misconduct of another person, corporation or government entity. Issues of product design and product safety also may have contributed to the burn injuries. Negligence is conduct which falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm. Negligence and misconduct can occur in public settings, in which public employees fail to take sufficient care. Misconduct is improper or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts.

If your burn injury occurred as the result of negligence or misconduct, an attorney experienced in dealing with burn injury cases may be able to achieve a settlement that will recover your medical and rehabilitation costs, both current and future.

If you decide to pursue legal action, you should contact a San Diego burn injury attorney as soon as possible for review of your situation. There are deadlines called statutes of limitation, set by laws which regulate the filing of lawsuits which vary state by state. If you or a loved one have suffered a serious burn injuries and feel that faulty product design or negligence or misconduct were involved, you should not delay in contacting a burn injury attorney. If the statute of limitations expires, your right to pursue a claim may be forever barred.

The usual arrangement for hiring a lawyer in a burn injury case in San Diego is a contingent fee agreement. The burn attorney agrees to be paid a fee only if the client's case is ultimately successful, either by settlement out of court or by a judgment following a court proceeding. The burn injury attorney then receives a percentage of the final amount recovered. This fee arrangement is helpful for most people with severe burn injuries because it does not require the person bringing the case to pay any money up front. Often the burn attorney may also be willing able to advance part or all of the costs of litigation until the conclusion of the case.

If you or a loved one has suffered serious burns, you should immediately contact a plaintiff’s law firm that handles burn injuries. When you contact Casey Gerry, one of our experienced San Diego burn injury attorneys will discuss your case with you to help determine the best way to proceed. Casey Gerry would be pleased to be among those that you interview and would be honored to be the firm you select.