NYC Burn Injury Lawyer

What Are the Different Types of Burn Injuries?

Burns are some of the most significant injuries that accident victims can suffer. Not only do they cause pain and disfigurement, but many burn injuries lead to psychological distress, which is difficult to overcome. Each year, approximately 40,000 people with burn injuries go to the hospital for medical treatment, and about 3,400 die. The six most common types of burn injuries are:

• Cold Burns: Frostbite or exposure to low temperatures for an extended period can cause tissue damage.
• Electrical Burns: This type of burn is caused by electrical currents coming in contact with your body.
• Chemical Burns: These are caused by acidic solvents, such as drain cleaners, paint thinners, or gasoline.
• Friction Burns: This type of burn is caused by rubbing the skin against a hard object. An example is road rash, often occurring when a motorcyclist is thrown from their bike.
• Thermal Burns: Heat (usually hot liquid, fire, or steam) causes thermal burns.
• High Doses of Radiation Burns: Patients undergoing cancer treatment often experience radiation burns. (usually as part of cancer treatment).

Any burn injury can cause significant pain and disability. We encourage you to see a medical professional as soon as possible for treatment.

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Do Burn Injuries Vary by Severity?

Yes. Doctors classify burns by degrees. The higher the degree, the more damage these burns cause to a victim’s body. Although every burn is potentially dangerous, some will require more aggressive treatment. Generally, doctors have identified the following classifications:

• First-degree burns: Damage to the skin’s outermost layer. Sunburn is an example of a first-degree burn.
• Second-degree burns: Damage the outer layer and the layer below it, leading to blisters and scarring.
• Third-degree burns: Damage to layers of skin and the tissue beneath it, including nerves, muscle, and bone.

What Causes Burn Injuries?

You can suffer a burn injury in many different types of accidents, including:

• Motorcycle or bicycle accidents: Skidding along hot asphalt leads to a friction burn called “road rash.”
• Fires or explosions: A house that catches on fire can burn you before you can escape in time.
• Car accidents: A car can catch on fire after a crash, or a ruptured battery could fling acid on the skin.
• Defective products: Certain products fail to work correctly or catch on fire (e.g., lithium batteries).

How Do Doctors Treat Burn Injuries?

Burn injury treatment depends on the severity and type of burn. One primary concern is to ensure you receive proper hydration so that you do not experience organ failure. Doctors also prescribe medication to help with pain and reduce anxiety. When you are resting comfortably, you can better recover from the burn. Your medical team will also remove dead tissue and possibly cover exposed areas with skin grafts to close the wound. Skin grafts can lead to scarring, which your doctor should try to minimize.

Is a Burn Injury Serious?

Any burn is potentially serious. Even if a burn is minor, it might be deep and affect nerves, muscles, and bones. Burns also lead to infections and related complications. We recommend you go to the hospital so a doctor can provide appropriate treatment.

What Complications Do Burn Injuries Cause?

In addition to emotional distress, burn injuries can cause multiple problems, like infection and disability.

• Infection: A burn can easily lead to an infection because the victim’s immune system is compromised and unable to fight bacteria such as cellulitis. Some burn injury victims go on to suffer from sepsis and septic shock, which occur when the body’s immune system begins attacking healthy tissue. Although your doctor will probably prescribe antibiotics, some germs are immune to them. Infection is a serious complication that can cause you to spend weeks in the hospital.
• Disability: Serious burns permanently shorten the skin, causing a contracture. Contractures around joints can prevent you from walking or gripping objects like you used to. You might need surgery to “loosen” the contracture or physical therapy to improve the skin’s ability to stretch. Contractures can make returning to everyday life very difficult.

Is Living with a Burn Injury Expensive?

It can be. You might need an at-home attendant to help you bathe, dress, cook, and clean. Even if you have the support of your family, your loved ones might be overwhelmed trying to cope with your injury. As a result, you might need extra help with your daily activities and chores. This might be a lifetime expense because skin contractures get worse with time. Medical expenses are also considerable. If you have a serious infection, you can spend weeks in intensive care and might even need surgery. Emotional distress might also require ongoing behavioral therapy or prescription drugs.

Who is Responsible for My Burn Injury?

When it comes to legal liability, we need to assess your case’s facts. Anyone whose negligent or reckless conduct contributed to your burn is responsible. In legal terminology, this person is “liable” for your injuries and financial losses. Our legal team has sued many of the following on behalf of our clients:

In many cases, you might not know who is responsible for your injury. You know that you feel intense pain and need to go to the hospital. This is one reason to contact an experienced burn injury lawyer at The Platta Law Firm as soon as possible. We can analyze your situation to identify who is liable. Call (212) 514-5100.

Can I Receive Compensation for My Burn Injury?

Yes, if you can show that someone else is to blame, you can receive compensation for your injury. In many cases, accident victims are injured because an individual or company did not use sufficient care. For example, a driver sends a text message while flying down the highway. Unsurprisingly, they drive straight into your car, causing a fire. Or they clip you while you are riding your bicycle, sending you skidding along the road.

The same is true for many fires or explosions in buildings. Faulty wiring or negligent upkeep can lead to disaster. Homeowners and businesses owe you a duty of care, and you can sue them when their failure to maintain their property causes your burns. Also, we might bring a product liability lawsuit under New York law when a defective product burns you. Generally, a product is defective when it doesn’t work how you and other consumers would reasonably expect. A laptop that catches on fire and burns you is a good example of a defective product that fails this “consumer expectations” test.

What Compensation Can New York Burn Injury Attorneys Obtain?

Compensation makes up for any losses you suffered due to accident injuries or property loss:

• Medical Expenses: Burn injuries are expensive to treat. In addition to emergency medical care, you might spend weeks in the hospital. Many individuals who suffer burns need surgery to loosen contractures and rehabilitation to regain a range of movement. Prescription drugs and doctor visits add to the bill. In addition, you might need mental health counseling to fight depression and anxiety. We recommend holding onto all medical bills and receipts for prescription drugs. If you have suffered permanent disability, your attorney can seek future medical care damages. For example, you might need an at-home attendant or nursing care.
• Lost Wages, Lost Income: You might be unable to work as an employee or contract worker due to a burn injury. You can calculate the amount by multiplying your average weekly wage by the number of weeks you can’t work. You might also receive lost future income. For example, a third-degree burn can result in a disfiguring injury, such as scarring. Consequently, you may need to find a new job or be unable to work again. The person liable for your injuries should compensate you for lost future income.
• Property Damage: If the accident caused damage to your property, you could receive compensation. An example is a car accident in which you suffer a burn injury due to a fire. The fire likely destroyed your car, so it will need to be repaired or replaced.

Other Losses Due to a Burn Injury That Are Recoverable

These damages compensate for certain losses that cannot be easily measured in dollars. We seek compensation for our clients for the following losses.

• Physical Pain: Burn injuries can damage nerves, leading to constant pain. Even though painkillers might help somewhat, physical pain can cause sleeplessness and agony.
• Emotional Distress, Mental Anguish: Burns cause serious emotional distress. You could have serious doubts about your future. You might stay up at night, fearing whether you can ever return to work or enjoy your old hobbies. Because burns are disfiguring, you might suffer intense embarrassment.  This distress might require substantial medical intervention. For example, you might need to go to therapy for years. Those medical bills are included in pain and suffering, a compensation component. But the emotional distress itself may also warrant additional compensation.

Can I Receive Punitive Damages for a Burn Injury?

Depending on the facts, you might be entitled to an award of punitive damages. New York law restricts punitive damages to certain instances, so they are not always available. In particular, you must show that the defendant behaved badly, probably by intentionally injuring you. Punitive damages rarely apply, but we can seek them if the facts support such a request.

Can My Spouse Receive Compensation for the Impact on Our Marriage?

Your spouse can possibly receive money damages as compensation for impacts on your relationship. New York law allows spouses to bring a loss of consortium claim when an injury impairs marital relations. A burn injury might prevent you from going outside or enjoying intimate relations. Your spouse could seek compensation for these changes to the marital relationship.

How Can The Platta Law Firm Help Me After a
Burn Injury?

Our legal team can immediately jump in to build a legal case. Here’s what we can do for you:

• Investigate the accident that injured you.
• Bring a lawsuit, if necessary, to protect your rights.
• Interview witnesses who might have seen the accident.
• Communicate with insurance providers and those at fault for your injuries.
• Consult with medical experts to evaluate your injuries and medical expenses.
• Negotiate a favorable settlement with the defendant and insurance companies.

An experienced New York burn injury attorney should be able to do all of the above. Not all cases can settle. As a result, you want someone who can handle your personal injury claim from the hospital emergency room to the courthouse door.

Can I Obtain Compensation if I Was Partially at Fault?

Yes. New York has a comparative negligence law that allows victims to seek compensation even when they were negligent. This is not the law in every state.

In some states, any negligence would prevent you from suing. Fortunately, New York has a more generous law. You can sue so long as someone else is even a little bit at fault.

However, there is a catch: any compensation you qualify for is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, you might have suffered burns in a car fire, but you were also speeding before the crash. A jury might decide you are 50% to blame, so your compensation gets cut in half. If you were 90% to blame, you would receive only 10% of the compensation you otherwise could get if you were not at fault.

How Much Time Do I Have to Sue?

New York requires that accident victims bring personal injury lawsuits promptly. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases requires that you file within three years of the accident. If you file too late, the defendant can ask the judge to toss your case out of court—and judges will do so without hesitation. Three years can pass quickly—especially if you are rehabbing a bad burn injury. Please contact our New York burn injury lawyers immediately. We can quickly get a personal injury lawsuit filed if you are approaching the deadline.

What Do I Need to Prove to Receive Compensation?

Most cases are brought for negligence. Generally, this means the defendant who injured you did not use reasonable care. Negligence has four elements a personal injury attorney must prove to be successful:

• Duty: We must show that the defendant owed you a duty to act carefully. What creates this duty? Sometimes, it is being physically close to you, like driving on the same road. In other situations, you are owed a duty because you were invited onto someone’s property or you bought a company’s product.
• Breach of the Duty: The second element is that the defendant breached their duty by not acting with sufficient care. Examples are a speeding motorist or a homeowner who doesn’t fix faulty wiring.
• Causation: With the third element, we must show that the defendant’s breach caused your burn injury. Many times, this is easy to do. But in some cases, there might be a question as to whether the defendant’s conduct was too far removed from your injury to be linked to it.
• Damages: The fourth element is damages, meaning losses caused by your burn. Damages can include medical care, lost income, and other financial losses.

How Do I Choose the Right New York Burn
Injury Attorney?

First of all, you’ll want an attorney with experience. Your attorney should have handled multiple personal injury cases, particularly burn accident cases. Someone might be the best divorce lawyer in the state, but they might lack knowledge of burn injury cases. Secondly, your attorney should be a compassionate advocate for clients. You can understand the lawyer’s style by scheduling a free consultation. Finally, you’ll want someone who will work hard and diligently to complete the job.

Contact a New York City Burn Injury Lawyer at
The Platta Law Firm

Suffered a burn injury in New York? An experienced personal injury attorney at The Platta Law Firm can help. We have represented burn injury victims in New York for years. Our seasoned legal team has the skills necessary to seek maximum compensation in an insurance claim or burn injury lawsuit. For a free case evaluation, contact The Platta Law Firm by calling (212) 514-5100 or contacting us online.