What kinds of compensation can a burn survivor recover in a lawsuit?

A lawsuit is often the only means of obtaining the compensation needed to cope with burn injuries. The types of compensation that can be recovered depend on the particular circumstances of each individual but typically include monies for medical expenses (both past and future), rehabilitation costs and attendant care, assistive equipment and technology, home modifications to accommodate disabilities, lost income, lost earning capacity, pain, suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, and disability.

Since 1936, the law offices of Keller and Keller have been representing their clients with professional care and compassion. Please don't hesitate to call our offices for a free consultation as well as discuss the type of compensation that may be rightfully yours. Top

If a burn injury occurs in the workplace, can the employer be sued for compensation?

Typically, employers cannot be sued for injuries to an employee that occur during the scope and course of employment. Under those circumstances, the employee must make a claim for worker’s compensation. However, most states have some exceptions to the general rule that an employer cannot be sued for work related injuries. For example, when a worker at a job site is negligently injured by someone other than the employer (such as another subcontractor at a construction site), the negligent party ordinarily can be held responsible in court for the injuries. Please contact the law offices of Keller and Keller to ensure your rights are not dismissed in your burn injury case. Top

If a person dies from a burn injury, can loved ones bring a claim for the injury?

Claims for the wrongful death of a family member are often allowed, although all states have restrictions on which family members are permitted to make claims. Unrelated individuals are ordinarily not permitted to make a claim for the death of a loved one, although some states have limited exceptions to this general rule. The law offices of Keller and Keller are available to you and your loved one's for a free case evaluation to help you make this determination. Top

Who can sue for a burn injury?

Anyone, child or adult, whose burn injury was caused as a result of another party's negligence or intentional misconduct. If this holds true for your burn injury, you may be entitled to compensation. Top

Who can be held responsible for a burn injury?

Any person whose negligent or intentional misconduct caused the injury can be held responsible to the injured plaintiff. This may include a large list of potential defendants from vehicle drivers, product manufacturers, construction site operators, owners of dangerous private or public property and others. Top

Will the law offices of Keller and Keller need to retain experts to prove liability and damages even though my injury is so obvious?

Because of the seriousness of your injury, it is critical that liability, i.e., fault, is pinned down as soon as possible after an accident against at least one potential wrongdoer and hopefully more. If needed, liability experts will assist our offices in a collaborative effort in this matter. These experts include mechanical engineers, metallurgists, fire investigators, accident reconstruction and human factors experts who can address the liability factors in the accident.

In addition, if there is any issue as to whether a defendant's wrongdoing caused your injury, the retention of bio mechanical engineers and biomedical engineers can be extremely helpful.

With regard to damages, the answer is always yes. Although the fact that you are injured may be obvious, the consequences of the injury will not necessarily be obvious and will usually be highly disputed by the defendants. At a minimum, you will need to retain at least one doctor to testify to the medical effects of your injury. You may need a vocational rehabilitation/life care need expert to testify to your loss of earning capacity and your need for future care and treatment. Finally, you may need an economist to testify to the amount of damages that are necessary to compensate you for all of your losses. Top

Is it important to quickly investigate an accident that results in a burn injury?

Absolutely. Given the seriousness of the injury, it is imperative that you preserve facts and proof as quickly as possible. A thorough investigation should include an examination of the scene, the instrumentalities involved in the accident, interviews with witnesses and the collection of reports from investigating agencies. Further, if at all possible, the instrumentalities causing the accident should be maintained in their post-accident condition, i.e., motor vehicles should not be repaired, malfunctioning machines should be preserved and not repaired, fire scenes should not be rebuilt until the cause of the fire and burn injury can be clearly established.

The investigation will be important in order to establish fault on the most obviously culpable defendant; establish a lack of fault on the part of the plaintiff; and establish fault on wrongdoers other than the most clearly at fault defendant who may be in a better position to fully compensate plaintiff for a serious burn injury. The law offices of Keller and Keller will ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted and that your rights are upheld. Top

What are the different types of burns?

First Degree Burns -First-degree burns are red and very sensitive to touch, and the skin will appear blanched when light pressure is applied. First-degree burns involve minimal tissue damage and they involve the epidermis (skin surface). These burns affect the outer-layer of skin causing pain, redness and swelling. A sunburn is a good example of a first-degree burn.

Second Degree Burns- Second-degree burns affect both the outer-layer (epidermis) and the under lying layer of skin (dermis) causing redness, pain, swelling and blisters. These burns often affect sweat glands, and hair follicles. If a deep second-degree burn is not properly treated, swelling and decreased blood flow in the tissue can result in the burn becoming a third-degree burn.

Third Degree Burns- Third-degree burns affect the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis, causing charring of skin or a translucent white color, with coagulated vessels visible just below the skin surface. These burn areas may be numb, but the person may complain of pain. This pain is usually because of second-degree burns. Healing from third-degree burns is very slow due the skin tissue and structures being destroyed. Third-degree burns usually result in extensive scarring. Top

What are inhalation injuries?

Fire has been associated with 3 different types of inhalation injuries. More than a hundred known toxic substances are present in fire smoke. When inhalation injuries are combined with external burns the chance of death can increase significantly. The three types of inhalation injuries are:

Damage from Heat Inhalation- True lung burn occurs only if you have inhaled a hot air/flame source, or have high pressure force the heat into you.

Damage from Systemic Toxins- Systemic Toxins affect our ability to absorb oxygen. If someone is found unconscious or acting confused in the surroundings of an enclosed fire, systemic toxins could be a possible cause. Toxin poisoning can cause permanent damage to organs including the brain. Carbon Monoxide poisoning can appear symptom less up until the point where the victim falls into a coma.

Damage from Smoke Inhalation- Smoke intoxication is frequently hidden by more visible injuries such as burns as a result of fire. Patients that appear apparently unharmed can collapse due to major smoke inhalation, as 60% to 80% of fatalities resulting from burn injuries can be attributed to smoke inhalation. Top

What are some of the most common causes of burn injuries?

• automobile accidents
• fires in structures
• electrocution or electrical burns
• thermal burns
• chemical burns and
• on the job accidents.

Electrical burn injuries result from exposure to high voltage electricity. The burn injuries are a result of electric current flowing through the body and causing a severe exit wound. It is possible that high voltage will cause the heart to stop beating and result in the death.

Flammable clothing burn injuries are tremendously dangerous, as it may spread through the clothing and create severe burns all over the body. Clothing sold in the USA must comply with the Flammable Fabrics Act.

Thermal burn injuries occur when there is exposure to, or contact with steam, flames, flash, and hot surfaces or hot liquids with a temperature of 115 degrees.

Automobile fires typically result from auto accidents, putting passengers at great peril. Automobile fires may be caused by gas explosions as well as contact with another object in a collision.

Chemical burn injuries are caused by contact with acids or strong bases such as alkaloids. Often strong chemicals are used in laboratories and place on the job workers at risk. Very strong chemicals will dissolve skin at contact and are difficult to wash away at contact exposure.

Structure fires and burn injuries are often associated with residential or office building fires. When these events do occur it is not uncommon to find that heating and electrical equipment has malfunctioned and resulted in serious burn injuries or death to unsuspecting victims.

What are the consequences of serious burn injuries?

When skin is severely burned, scar tissue is formed. This burn scar tissue loses many normal characteristics because of the severe scarring.

• Loss of Ability to Regrow: When the skin suffers third-degree burn injuries, it may lose its ability to regrow. In this instance, the surgeon will transplant undamaged skin from another part of the body to the damaged area. Modern medicine has also developed artificial skin to cover severely burned areas of the body.
• Loss of Elasticity: Skin normally maintains the much needed characteristic of elasticity. Unfortunately, loss of elasticity is a consequence of burn scar tissue.
• Loss of Sense of Touch: As humans we rely on our sense of touch to tell when objects are hot or cold. Loss of sense of touch is a consequence of severely burned & scared skin tissue.
• Loss of Ability to Perspire: One way the body acts to stay cool is to perspire. Perspiring brings the fluid to the skin surface, so the fluid can evaporate and we then feel cooler. Perspiration also helps the body eliminate waste. A seriously burned victim's skin may not perspire normally as the quality and ability of the skin tissue has been compromised. This loss of ability to perspire means that the body's own way of cooling itself can no longer function.
• Need for Protection From Weather: Severely burned skin, even after healing, must be permanently protected from the sun and weather elements.
• Risk of Infection: Dead skin needs to be removed to make a clean, raw area for skin grafting or new skin to grow--this is called debridement . Debridement is necessary to help prevent infection since dead tissue from burns is a breeding ground for bacteria and infection.

Is technology important to my case?
Technology is invaluable to the pace of modern society, and this proves no less true in the business of personal injury. The law offices of Keller and Keller uses a highly advanced case management system to track deadlines and to provide reminders, as well as document damages, witnesses, and valuable case data. Our staff is adept at researching the internet and making use of technologies to effectively investigate and validate your claim. Our use of mobile computers can carry images of massive numbers of documents and depositions that are available to us and our clients during those times we are called away from the office. During trial the laptop and digital projector can be used to present video depositions, exhibits and visual aides to assist the jury in understanding often complex and technical issues. Generally, the more complex the case and the more serious the damages, the more technology can be used to maximize the odds of your case prevailing over the insurance company's defense. When you hire the law offices of Keller and Keller, you are ensured that our firm has the necessary technology to present your case in the most effective way possible.

If you or a loved one has suffered from a burn injury, the law offices of Keller and Keller are available to you for a free, confidential consultation with an attorney from our firm who is experienced in handling personal injury claims. You can either contact us by phone at 1-800-2KELLER or through the use of our Free Case Evaluation submission form.

Should you decide to retain our services after the initial consultation, we will work on a contingent fee basis. This means that our offices will only be paid for our services once we make a recovery on your behalf from the insurance company. Top