Burns can be painful, with the most severe cases leaving the victim with physical and psychological scars. Business and property owners are responsible for maintaining safety standards in order to prevent fires. If they don’t do so, the results can be devastating. People also suffer burns due to car accidents and defective products.
If you believe that you or a family member sustained burns because of another party’s reckless, negligent, or intentional actions, we at Crockett Law Group can help you seek justice. Our Santa Ana burn injury lawyers know what it takes to win
personal injury cases. Call us today at
(800) 900-9393 to book a free consultation with a burn injury attorney, or visit our law office in Santa Ana, California, to learn more about how we can help.
Common Causes of Burn Injuries
Most burns are associated with minor mistakes. Some are due to the victim’s negligence or recklessness, while others are attributed to another’s actions. We have seen some of these cases involving severe burns where the victims need extensive medical treatment and care. Some of the common causes of burn injuries include:
Vehicle Accidents
Cars sometimes will catch fire or explode after a
collision or crash. The fires and fed by the vehicle’s fuels and other flammable materials, and these accidents are often fatal if the vehicle’s occupants are trapped inside.
Faulty Products
Electric appliances with a manufacturing defect can malfunction, overheat, and catch fire which can burn the user, set a house ablaze, or cause severe burns and deaths.
Industrial and Construction Accidents
The manufacturing, construction, and industrial sectors have risky professions in which workers face a significant risk of electrical burns, chemical burns, thermal burns, or contact burns attributed to work-related explosions, fires, and other accidents.
Chemical Accidents
Most chemical accidents occur in industries and labs dealing with liquids. Nevertheless, we also have to deal with burn cases where the victims were involved in a chemical accident at school, home, or other places.
Categories of Burns
Burns differ in type and severity, and each is categorized under a particular level or degree as determined by burn injury specialists or doctors. The factors used to classify a burn injury are essential in building a solid burn injury compensation case. Thus, our Santa Ana burns injury lawyers work closely with your doctors to ensure we have the essential information to help determine your case’s worth.
The categories medical experts use to classify burns include:
1st Degree Burns
First-degree burns are less severe but will have a lingering pain even after treatment. The burns can be treated at home using over-the-counter medications and routine first aid. For instance, you can run cold water over the burnt area, apply ointment, and dress it as recommended. Since first-degree burns impact the topmost skin layer (the epidermis), victims might experience pain, reddening, and inflammation. The burnt area can take about a week to heal.
2nd Degree Burns
Second-degree burns go slightly deeper, impacting the second skin layer (the dermis), causing painful sore or blisters and swelling. Victims might also experience throbbing pain. Professional medical diagnosis and treatment are the best options, even though you can treat and manage some second-degree burns at home. We recommend letting medical experts treat the injuries if sensitive body parts are burnt. It is also the best bet to reduce the pain and manage the healing process to mitigate scarring.
3rd Degree Burns
Third-degree burns are more severe than second-degree burns. They reach the deepest parts (the subcutaneous layer) and can even extend to the muscles and nerves, leaving the injured area looking leathery, charred, waxy, or white. Third-degree burns can also result in internal organ damage and failure.
The victims will require special medical treatment and care to reduce the risk of infections and promote proper healing to mitigate extensive scarring. Victims will also need medications to help them cope with the excruciating pain. In instances where extensive bodily damage will require surgical procedures to remove the damaged tissue, repair what’s left, or even include skin grafts.
4th Degree Burns
Fourth-degree burns are mostly fatal because they damage the skin and extend to the muscles, nerves, and bones. Victims can lose their sense of touch and pain and be left disfigured. At times, the medical practitioner must remove the damaged body part to help save the victim’s life. The treatment and recovery for fourth-degree burns are extensive and can take weeks or months.
What Damages Are Recoverable Through a Burn Injury Claim?
Under California laws, burn victims can suit those responsible for their injuries, seeking compensation for their pain, loss, and suffering. At Crockett Law Group, we guarantee our clients will get dependable legal counsel and representation. Our Santa Ana burn injury lawyers will be committed to fighting for your rights while pursuing the following damages:
Economic Damages
Economic damages that cover all losses with a monetary value, which will include your medical expenses, recovery therapy costs, lost wages, and other financial losses. You can also recover damages for future medical expenses and decreased earning capacity.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages to help you recover losses that might not have substantial monetary value but have a life-changing impact. Such damages are primarily emotional, physical, and psychological and include loss of consortium, permanent disfigurement,
wrongful death, etc.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages could also be considered depending on the findings after our comprehensive investigations into your claims. Your attorney will request punitive damages if we find the actions of those responsible for your burn injuries were showed gross indifference to the safety of others.
How Long Do You Have to File a Burn Injury Claim in Santa Ana, CA?
Under California laws (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1), burn injury victims must file a lawsuit against those they believe responsible within
two years from the accident’s date. The timeline is different if the lawsuit seeking compensation is against a California state or local government agency or employee. In such a situation, you are required to file your claim within six months from the date the incident happened.
That means you have a short window of time to get everything in order before filing the case. Thus, it is best to contact an experienced burn injury attorney to help you start the legal process and beat the deadline. The process can prove challenging if you handle it without help from law professionals. Call us at
(800) 900-9393 to speak to our lawyers and know the steps to take when starting the claim process.
How Much Will It Cost to Hire a Santa Ana Burn Injury Lawyer?
The idea of paying a lawyer when facing medical bills and other financial burdens can make you reconsider working with the attorney. Nevertheless, the lawyer is your best bet of winning and getting full compensation, especially if you are confident you have enough facts supporting your claim.
At Crockett Law Group, we conduct thorough investigations to help determine if we should take on your case and if it will be worth doing so on a contingency fee agreement. In such an arrangement, you get to pay us if we win the case and help you get compensation. That means you need not worry about legal fees when you come to us for help.
How Can a Burn Injury Attorney Help My Claim?
With us on your side to fight for your rights, you will have a team with vast knowledge and experience in burn injury lawsuits. The lawyer representing you shall handle three chief issues:
Case Preparation
Preparing the case requires thorough investigations and gathering the evidence needed to support your claims. The process might include talking with your doctors and caregivers, reviewing the medical records, and meeting the deposing witnesses. Your attorney will then consider the information gathered to craft a strategy for winning the case before filing the claim as stipulated by California’s personal injury statute of limitations.
Settlement Negotiation
Once you hire us to represent you, the attorney handling your case will oversee negotiations with the defendant’s legal team and insurance providers on your behalf. That means you will not have to respond to them directly or deal with their shrewd tactics.
Trial and Representation
We will be confident of taking the matter to court if the negotiations fail because your legal team prepared the case and will cover possible loopholes before heading to trial for a judge’s or jury’s verdict.
Hire a Dependable Santa Ana Burn Injury Attorney From Crockett Law Group
Whether your burn injuries are attributed to a car accident, workplace accident, defective product, or other reasons associated with another party’s deliberate, negligent, or reckless actions, the law gives you the right to sue them seeking compensation for your pain, loss, and suffering. At
Crocket Law Group, we are more than glad to help you hold them accountable for their actions.
Our Santa Ana burn injury lawyers know what it takes to win and ensure you are compensated if you believe that you or a family member sustained burns because of another party’s recklessness, negligence, or malicious action. We represent clients on a contingency fee agreement. In such an arrangement, you get to pay us if we win the case and help you get compensation. That means you need not worry about legal fees when you come to us for help.
Call us at
(800) 900-9393 or visit our
law offices in Santa Ana, CA, to know more about how we can help.
