St. Louis Burn Injury Lawyer
Burn injuries may be one of the most painful injuries a person can endure. A wide variety of accidents may result in burn injuries. Victims of these injuries have a long and expensive road to recovery, which often includes costly plastic surgery procedures such as skin grafts and tissue expansion. Often, even after these costly procedures, scars can remain for a long time - sometimes forever. These scars, and the psychological trauma associated with them, can sometimes make it hard for a burn victim to get back to their everyday life. It does not help that the effects of these burns can prove to be very unpredictable. What initially seems like a minor burn may end up turning into a severe infection that affects multiple parts of your body. For this reason, some burn injuries require highly specialized treatments in burn units, along with long term medical care and rehabilitation to get the victim as close to their previous “normal” as possible.
It is vital to have an experienced attorney when it comes to these burn injuries. The attorney’s at Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry can ensure that you get the financial compensation that you deserve for the medical and emotional damages your burn injury has caused - no matter how large or small. Our experienced legal team at Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry can assess your specific situation and discuss all legal avenues that may be available to you. In trying to represent yourself or in choosing an attorney who lacks expertise in this area, many intricacies of this area of law may get overlooked. Your injury may have resulted from another individual, product manufacturers, product distributors, utility companies, building owners, or property management companies. Regardless of how many people may be involved, if multiple parties can be held legally responsible for your injury, we will make sure to hold them accountable. In assessing your situation, our team thoroughly investigates your case and determines the best legal avenue available for you to seek justice.
Burn Injury Treatment
Treatment of burn injuries will vary based on the seriousness of the burn. First degree burns (and sometimes second-degree burns) will heal on their own without professional medical treatment. If you suffer what you believe to be a minor burn, run under cool water immediately and keep it clean to allow it to heal.
On the other hand, if you believe that you might have suffered a severe burn injury, it is crucial to immediately seek professional medical care. Third-degree burns may cause damage to deeper tissues and even nerves and bones. Sometimes a victim suffering a third-degree burn may not even feel pain due to the severity of the nerve damage; a lack of pain such as this actually makes it even more pressing to seek medical attention. If severe burns are left untreated, it can lead to even more serious conditions such as shock and infection. Unlike minor burns, if you try to simply run cool water over a larger severe burn too quickly, you may risk getting hypothermia. Do not attempt to treat severe burns at home and put off seeking medical attention until your symptoms get worse or infection occurs. Seeking medical attention immediately will maximize your healing process by reducing and preventing further risks.
Compensation for Burn Injuries
Given you have an experienced burn injury attorney on your side, the following effects of a burn injury may be compensatable:
- Past and Future Medical Expenses
- Past and Future Income
- Loss of Earning Capacity
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life
- Loss of Consortium
- Pain and Suffering
- Emotional Distress
- Disfigurement
The amount compensated depends heavily on the facts of your case. When evaluating your case, some things to consider are how the burn happened and where the burn is located on your body. Burn injuries can be attributed to many different scenarios, whether it be an accident at home or in your workplace. How the burn happened is essential in determining who will be held liable - and how liable. If the defendant is a large corporation, the settlement will likely be a larger number than if the defendant were an individual. If the burn is located on a more prominent part of the plaintiff’s body (e.g., face), the settlement is likely to be a larger number due to the victim’s likelihood to experience more emotional distress, embarrassment, and loss of enjoyment of life.
In some cases, your attorney can prove that the defendant who caused the burn did so intentionally or with gross negligence. In these cases, burn victims may be entitled to punitive damages. Punitive damages essentially come into play when the defendant exhibited some form of wrong-doing rather than it simply being an accident. Punitive damages go beyond actual damages like compensating the victim for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, etc. The purpose of punitive damages is more about penalizing a person or company for their misconduct so that similar situations do not occur in the future.
With burn injury cases, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. This means if you are a victim of a burn injury, it is your responsibility to prove that the defendant’s action or negligence caused the injury you suffered. If you are unable to prove this, you will not be able to receive any compensation. This is why it is crucial to have an experienced burn injury attorney handle your case to ensure you receive the best settlement available to you.
Life-Threatening Burn Injuries
If you or a loved one has been affected by a life-threatening burn injury where there is a lot of loss involved, it is essential you are represented by an experienced legal team with all of the resources you need to win your case. A lot can be on the line in cases like this; knowing that you will be in good hands will make the entire process much less stressful and will ensure you receive all of the compensation you are entitled to.
Our experienced legal team knows exactly how to handle all different types of life-threatening burn injuries resulting from a number of accidents:
- Fires
- Explosions
- Electrical Burns
- Chemical Spills and Leaks
- Radiation Exposure
- Car and Truck Accidents
- Industrial Accidents
- Scalding Accidents
At Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry, we know how emotionally and physically draining the legal and recovery processes can be when dealing with accidents and traumatic experiences. Here, we hope to lighten the load of the legal process, which hopefully aids your entire recovery process. Our goal is to guide you through the confusing legal process and get you the compensation you deserve for the loss you have suffered.
What Types of Burns Should I Get Legal Help For?
Burn injuries, no matter the severity, can be painful and can alter one’s life immensely. Burn victims can suffer physical and emotional trauma, resulting in serious changes in their everyday lives. Adjusting can be difficult, and there is no real way to prepare for accidents like these. For this reason, what you do after the accident is crucial, and getting an experienced attorney can make a huge difference. Burns can be categorized into three different types, determined by the severity. Knowing which type of burn you have can determine the amount of compensation you are entitled to receive - if any. Here are the three different types of burns:
- First Degree - The first layer of skin is damaged but not completely destroyed. The color of the skin may turn pink or red. You shouldn’t expect a blister from a first-degree burn, but the skin may peel off over the course of a few days. These are the least severe types of burns and the easiest to heal, typically healing within a couple of weeks.
- Second Degree - This type of burn can range from moderate to severe; the first and second layers of skin become damaged. Second-degree burns often result in blistering, and depending on the severity, may require a skin graft. This type of burn can heal anywhere between two and eight weeks.
- Third Degree- These burns extend to the deepest layer of skin, making them the most dangerous and severe. All three layers of the skin are entirely destroyed and can blister, which often causes severe scarring. Burns like this may even cause nerve damage so severe that the victim is unable to feel any pain from the injury. A skin graft or some form of plastic surgery is almost always necessary in these cases.
Though each of these different categories has different characteristics, pain levels, and scarring - each of them can be potentially life-changing for the burn victim. You may feel like you will never be the same again, physically or emotionally, after being affected by a burn injury. At Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry, we help you throughout the healing process of these physical and emotional scars. We hope to help you out in your time of need and take the burden off of you. There are many stresses involved with cases like this, and one should never try to handle a burn injury claim on their own. Instead, let us work on your behalf so you can focus on getting well.
From surgery to therapy, the recovery process can be extremely costly. Our team of burn injury lawyers will do everything it takes to make sure you receive the compensation you are legally entitled to for any and every service you need to get well. You may be facing a challenging time in your life, but our goal is to let you look forward to your path to recovery and not worry about the money involved in getting you where you need to be.
Another goal of ours is to hold the responsible person (or persons) accountable for the injury you have endured. Let our team help you to obtain justice. If you or a loved one has been affected by burn injuries, we advise you to seek legal representation as soon as possible. Our experienced legal team can guide you from the very beginning to the very end to ensure you get the best possible outcome available to you. You do not have to be alone.