If you were badly burned in an accident due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, The Florida Law Group’s skilled, compassionate lawyers can help you hold the guilty party accountable for their actions and recover the maximum compensation you deserve. Our nationally acclaimed attorneys have offices in the Greater Tampa Bay area, in Orlando, and Miami so that burn injury accident victims anywhere in the state can have access to quality legal representation. We pursue sizable settlements for burn injury victims on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you pay us absolutely nothing unless and until we win your case. Call one of our Florida offices today to schedule your free consultation!

Types of Burn Injuries

Our experienced personal injury attorneys understand that any type of burn injury can be excruciatingly painful. Burn injuries are classified into four categories, depending on how deeply your skin has been damaged.

  • 1st-degree burns are the least serious. Only the outermost layer of skin is burned, and while there may be swelling and redness involved, no medical attention is usually required, and the burn should heal on its own within a week or two.
  • 2nd-degree burns are worse – both the outer layer and the dermis layer (second layer) have been burned, which can cause blistering, swelling, and scarring. 2nd-degree burns can permanently change the color of your skin.
  • 3rd-degree burns are very severe. They completely ravage the two outer layers of the skin, including the nerve endings. While 1st and 2nd-degree burns may turn red, 3rd-degree burns may look black and charred or white in appearance. Skin grafts are often used to treat 3rd-degree burns.
  • 4th-degree burns are the deepest and most serious burn type. 4th-degree burns can destroy all layers of skin, bones, muscles, tendons, and even organs. These types of burns may be life-threatening.

Causes of Burn Injuries

When a severe burn injury is not your fault, it may be the result of someone else’s carelessness. Because burn injuries can be extremely painful, require expensive medical treatment, and may forever alter your lifestyle or appearance, you should not have to suffer alone without financial restitution! Burn injuries can have many different causes, such as car or motorcycle accidents, chemical compound spills, scalding water spills or showers, electrical failures, radiation treatment, explosions, cooking hazards, and more. Sadly, burn injuries are more common than you might realize; burns are the fifth most common cause of non-fatal childhood injuries, according to the WHO, and though almost 97% of those treated in burn centers survive, they face lifelong physical difficulties, according to the American Burn Association.

Consequences of Burn Injuries

Whether a burn happened as a result of a kitchen fire, a defective product, or a car accident, the consequences of a burn injury can be significant. Regardless of degree, burns can cause pain and suffering, which can prohibit you from doing activities you love, going on planned vacations, engaging with your spouse and kids, and more. You may not be able to return to work for some time, meaning that you will miss out on your wages, and some burn injuries are so severe that you will never be able to work in the same position again.

Medical costs to treat burn injuries can add up to be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. You may have to pay for costs related to:

  • Ambulance rides
  • Imaging tests (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc.)
  • Hospital stays (overnight, multiple days)
  • Doctor & specialist visits
  • Surgery or plastic surgery (or both)
  • Reconstruction
  • Therapy and rehabilitation
  • Prosthetics
  • Medications
  • Medical devices (wheelchairs, crutches, etc.)
  • In-home health care
  • Travel to specific out-of-state medical facilities that specialize in treating burn victims
  • And more.

All of these medical costs plus the costs of lost wages and future lost wages are known as economic damages and can be sought in a burn injury settlement. Burn injury victims can also seek damages for non-economic (intangible) costs like pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement (which can cause permanent social embarrassment or mental anguish), and loss of consortium (loss of sexual, physical, or emotional relations with a spouse).

How Our Florida Burn Injury Lawyers Can Help

Depending on the circumstances in which you sustained your burn injury, you have a right to take legal action and seek compensation. 

  • If you were burned on someone else’s property, a premises liability suit against the negligent property owner could be your best option. 
  • If a defective device/vehicle/electrical system caused the burn, you may be able to file a product liability claim. 
  • If you were burned in an accident at work, you may try to recover damages through a worker’s compensation program. 
  • If you were hit by a drunk driver and a resulting fire caused your burn, you may be entitled to file a negligence lawsuit. 

Besides just being awarded economic and non-economic damages, you also have a chance to be awarded punitive damages. These could be awarded if your burn injury was the result of someone else’s reckless conduct, and are designed to set an example for other people who would engage in recklessness.

Your insurance company may withhold the full amount that you deserve, which is why it is important to have an experienced local lawyer who has won many burn injury accident cases advocate for your best interests! The right attorney will be able to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care and breached that obligation, then draw a causal connection between their breach of duty and the accident that led to the burn. They will be able to demonstrate the economic and non-economic costs that you had to pay for as a result of your burn injuries and recover the damages that you are rightfully entitled to!

Contact the Florida Burn Injury Lawyers at The Florida Law Group Today for a Free Consultation

Whether you were burned due to an accident at work, burned due to an accident on the road, or burned due to another reason, The Florida Law Group knows how devastating being burned can be. We will help you to understand all of your legal options and also connect you to the quality care you need to get better! It’s free to call, and you are under no obligation. If our Florida burn injury lawyers can help, we will. Contact us today online or by calling 833-271-1011.