Long Beach Burn Injury Attorney

Burns are potentially devastating injuries that our clients suffer in a variety of accidents. Burns vary in terms of size and depth, but any burn could potentially become infected and lead to complications. If you were burned in an accident, reach out to El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers at (213) 985-1120. We offer a free consultation with one of our Long Beach burn injury attorneys, where we can discuss your accident and anything else you have on your mind. California empowers victims to seek financial compensation, but you have a short deadline.

Can You Receive Compensation for a Burn?

Possibly. The key is to identify whether you have a valid personal injury claim. In California, most cases are based on negligence. This is the failure to use sufficient care, which ends up hurting someone.

We often bring lawsuits for:

• Car accidents. A fire could break out after an accident, or a burst car battery might splash acid on passengers. We might bring a claim against the motorist who caused the accident.
• Motorcycle accidents. Bikers are burned when they fall off a bike and touch the exhaust. They can also suffer a friction burn when they skid along the asphalt.
• Workplace accidents. Workers with a variety of injuries are burned by steam, water, and chemicals. An injured worker can sue if someone other than their employer is at fault for the accident that resulted in a burn.
• Defective products. All sorts of products can catch on fire, including batteries, clothing, bedding, and appliances. A person can also be electrocuted by a dangerous product, causing internal burns. We might sue the manufacturer or designer of the product in a product liability claim.
• Premises liability cases. Fires on someone’s property could be the fault of old wiring or dangerous products. You might sue the owner of the property for refusing to fix a defect or warn you of it.

Reach out to our law firm at your first opportunity. We can begin gathering evidence to see what happened. For example, a distracted driver might have smashed into your car, leading to a fire. You are burned before you can get out of the vehicle. In this example, we might sue the distracted driver for negligence.

Whether you can sue will depend on the facts of the situation. If you are solely responsible for your injuries, no one is held accountable.

Burn Severity & Your Recovery

Doctors classify burns based on their depth. More serious burns damage tissue deeper and cause more substantial damage.

• First-degree burns injure the outermost layer of skin. Some burns caused by steam or hot water are first-degree burns. They can usually heal on their own, requiring only aspirin or ibuprofen to manage pain.
• Second-degree burns cause more damage, reaching the lower layers of skin. These burns can blister and are very painful. A second-degree burn requires a trip to the hospital so a doctor can clean and dress the burn. Also, watch for signs of infection.
• Third-degree burns go through all layers of skin. Patients might need skin grafts to help close the wound. Third-degree burns are more likely to cause permanent scarring.
• Fourth-degree burns are the deepest of all. They can damage tissue beneath the skin, including nerve endings, muscles, and bones. Damaged limbs will probably require amputation.

Recovery will depend on the treatment. Someone who loses a limb will need to learn how to re-do daily tasks like cooking and bathing. Skin grafts could require time to recover in the hospital.

Burns also cause intense emotional distress, which can last for years. Victims often express fears about the future, including their ability to continue working and provide for their families. Therapy, including family therapy, is common.

Compensation for a Burn Injury

The attorneys at El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers strive to win the maximum compensation available for a burn injury client. These are expensive, disruptive injuries. Any settlement should offer compensation for:

• Medical treatment
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• Income loss
• Future expenses, such as ongoing medical care
• Loss of earning capacity
• Property damage (like a car damaged in a wreck)
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of consortium
• Scarring or disfigurement

A settlement will also need to account for your contributory negligence. California is a pure comparative negligence state which compares your negligence to the defendant’s share. Your compensation is reduced proportionally.

For example, you might have suffered a burn by a defective product. But you failed to use the item carefully. Consequently, you share some of the blame for getting burned and are not 100% blameless. If you are 30% at fault, you’ll get 30% less in compensation.

Our goal is to know so much about your accident we can downplay your negligence. At the same time, we’ll shine a spotlight where it belongs: on the defendant’s actions.

Why El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers?

Anyone suffering a burn injury should immediately begin searching for a lawyer. The reality is that recovery is tough. Many burn victims are consigned to bed for months, while others are struggling with life-threatening infections. During this time, it is virtually impossible to begin compiling evidence for a case. Unfortunately, the defendant might already be building a case against you.

Our law firm knows the steps to take to obtain compensation for an injury:

1. Investigate the incident in depth. We usually speak to witnesses, review a police report, and visit the accident scene. If a product burns you, we might show it to an engineer or other expert who can pinpoint a defect in the construction or design. You want to preserve as much evidence as possible, so we make investigations a priority.
2. Meet with doctors and other experts to fully understand your prognosis. You can seek compensation for future expenses which are reasonably certain. We want to know how your burn will impact your life moving forward.
3. Fill out necessary insurance forms, take phone calls, and answer questions from the defendant. They often bury our clients with paperwork, and we’ll handle it all for you.
4. Negotiate effectively with the other side. Our lawyers know how to push to increase the pot of money available for our burn injury clients. We often know more about how the accident happened than the defendant’s insurer or lawyer.
5. File a lawsuit before the statutory deadline. In California, you have two years in most cases to sue for a burn. Should you miss the deadline, then you can lose out on the ability to obtain any compensation. We’ll get legal papers filed in the correct court to protect you.

Our results testify to the dedication we bring to our cases. Your case is in good hands. Our experienced lawyers have handled the full variety of burn cases, and we have sued individual drivers and large, powerful corporations.

Call Our Long Beach Burn Injury Attorney

Burns changes lives, but victims and their families can take control of the situation by seeking the right legal help. Call El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers. Our firm is dedicated to the rights of accident victims like you—people who are injured in a traumatic accident and need compensation. We understand how burns can dramatically weaken your finances. Struggling with pain and disfigurement, many burn victims cannot work, which causes their standard of living to nosedive.

Let us fight for your right to meaningful compensation in a personal injury claim. Call us today at (213) 985-1120 to speak with a representative at our firm.