Severe burns can be both excruciatingly painful and extremely debilitating for years after the incident that causes them. Even a minor burn that heals completely can still result in substantial medical bills and lost work income, not to mention emotional scars that may persist long after physical marks from the injury disappear.
Whatever circumstances resulted in you getting seriously burned, you could potentially seek monetary compensation for the harm done to you with help from an Altus burn injury lawyer. In this kind of situation, a qualified catastrophic injury attorney’s assistance could make the difference between achieving comprehensive financial recovery for your losses and having to pay for someone else’s negligence all by yourself.
Establishing Fault for a Burn Injury
Various forms of reckless or careless conduct could lead to someone sustaining a serious burn, on top of numerous other physical, financial, and emotional losses. In addition to auto collisions, injuries of this nature can also come from defective consumer products, fires and electrical shorts stemming from poor property maintenance, and even accidental exposure to caustic chemicals.
When it comes to demanding civil compensation for a burn injury, the important thing is not necessarily how the injury occurred, but rather who might have directly caused it to occur by acting in an irresponsible way. In order to prove someone else liable for a burn, the injured party generally must show that their named defendant owed them an implicit or explicit duty of care. They must also show that the defendant violated that duty in some way and therefore caused the incident that led to their injury.
Guidance from a knowledgeable Altus burn accident attorney can be crucial to collecting and presenting comprehensive evidence of fault for a burn injury. Legal counsel could also play a key role in contesting allegations that you hold some negligence for what happened. If the court believes that you played some role in your injury, the amount of compensation you receive could be reduced.
How Burn Severity Impacts Recoverable Damages
Any burn that is substantial enough to require professional medical care beyond basic first aid could serve as grounds for litigation, so long as that injury stems from someone else’s negligent conduct. Importantly, the value of a burn injury claim depends on the specific losses that a burn causes you to suffer. This means that more severe burns usually allow for greater financial recovery since they are more expensive to treat and lead to greater lifestyle changes.
Widespread first-degree burns and mild or moderate second-degree burns may only leave you with some extra medical bills, a few days or weeks of missed work wages, and short-term physical pain, all of which could be factored into a civil claim. On the other hand, recovery for severe second-degree burns and virtually all third-degree burns may need to account for both past and future medical bills, lost future earning capacity, lost enjoyment of life, and other repercussions of permanent disability or disfigurement. A burn injury lawyer in Southwest Oklahoma could go into detail about the damages that may play a role in your particular case during a free confidential consultation.
Contact an Altus Burn Injury Attorney Today
Seeking financial recovery following a severe burn can be a complex task, especially if you have no experience with civil law. Between the confusing legal precedents and restrictive laws regarding when and how you can file suit, it can be difficult to recover compensation for even a minor injury without professional legal guidance.
An Altus burn injury lawyer can provide the assistance you need to achieve the positive case resolution that you deserve. Learn more by calling us today. We do not get paid unless you win, so you have nothing to lose.