If you’ve ever accidentally touched a hot pan in the kitchen, gotten too close to evaporating steam, or just stayed out in the sun too long, you know how annoying and painful even a minor burn can be. Severe burns caused by traumatic accidents like car crashes or house fires can be excruciatingly painful, as well as financially and psychologically devastating—something our experienced catastrophic injury attorneys are all too familiar with.
Fortunately, if you can prove that someone else’s negligence was the main and direct cause of your recent burn injury, you may be able to make them pay financially for every form of harm your injury has caused. No matter how your burn happened or what specific damages you need to seek civil compensation for, a skilled Eatontown burn injury lawyer’s help will be vital to getting the best possible case result and maximizing the money you receive.
What Are the Different Degrees of Burns?
One of the biggest factors that determine the financial value of a burn injury lawsuit is how bad the burn is—or what degree of burn you’ve suffered. Small burns from kitchen accidents and a lack of sunscreen are examples of first-degree burns, which typically affect only the outermost layer of skin. They often don’t need any medical treatment beyond basic first aid and aren’t typically severe enough to justify a lawsuit, even if they’re caused entirely by someone else’s negligence.
Second-degree burns usually require immediate medical attention since they damage multiple layers of skin, cause noticeable blistering and skin discoloration, and may cause permanent scarring even with prompt medical care. Finally, third-degree burns can be life-altering and even life-threatening injuries since they penetrate completely through all the skin layers to damage fat layers, muscles, tendons, and even bones underneath those layers. Support from a knowledgeable Eatonton burn accident attorney can be especially crucial to recovering fairly for this last type of burn.
Proving Someone Else Liable for Causing a Burn
You can only get paid civil compensation for a burn injury if you can prove someone else directly caused you to suffer that injury through negligence. You need to show it’s more likely than not that all the following things are true:
- The person you’re suing owed you a duty of care to act responsibly in a specific way under specific circumstances—for example, the duty motor vehicle drivers have to follow traffic laws and pay attention behind the wheel
- The person breached their duty through a specific reckless, careless, or illegal act
- That breach of duty was the main and direct cause of an accident that likely wouldn’t have happened without that breach
- That accident was the main cause of the burn injury you’re suing over
If you can meet all these requirements with a burn injury lawsuit in Eatontown, our lawyers can help you demand money for every negative effect that injury will have, including medical bills, lost working ability, physical pain, and mental suffering.
Talk to an Eatontown Burn Injury Attorney Today
High-degree burns can change the course of your life at a moment’s notice. Often, an injury like this can be traced directly back to negligence by someone else. If you’ve found yourself in this kind of situation, you may have limited time to enforce your right to civil recovery.
A winning Eatontown burn injury lawyer will work tirelessly to get you paid what you deserve without piling too much additional stress on you or your loved ones. Learn more by calling Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today.