Fresno Burn
Injury Attorneys

If you suffered a burn injury, you can file a claim against any individual or entity that may be responsible for your harm if their intentional misconduct or negligent actions caused your injury. Potential defendants can include product manufacturers, dangerous public or private property owners, worksite operators, apartment complex owners, motor vehicle drivers, and others. To be successful in your claim, you will need to establish that the defendant you name was at fault for the accident that resulted in your burn injuries.

The answer is usually yes. Burn injuries are serious injuries, and you must figure out who may be liable for your injury as soon as possible so that you can go after the compensation you need. Experts, such as engineers, fire investigators, accident reconstructionists, vocational rehabilitation therapists, doctors, and economists, can speak to the issue of liability in your case and can help you quantify your damages, which can be vital to substantiate your claims.

Quite often in a lawsuit, the other side heavily disputes fault and damages. That is why it is often necessary to hire one or more experts to testify to these issues in your case. By substantiating your claims concerning your injuries and the extent of your future bills and care, experts can help you go after maximum compensation. 

Yes. Burn injuries can escalate quite quickly. In fact, one fairly common complication that can result from widespread burns is a serious bacterial infection, which can result in sepsis, low blood volume, low body temperature, and fluid loss. Do not wait to get a medical examination, primarily because the extent of the burn injury may not immediately show.

When your doctor examines you immediately after your burn accident, he or she can confirm the severity of your burns, provide you with any treatments you need, and record your injuries in a medical report. This report will help if you choose to file a claim against the person or entity that caused your injury, because it will show a link between your injuries and the accident, countering any arguments by the other side that your burn injury is not serious or that it resulted from a subsequent event. 

The type of treatment you need will depend on the extent of your burns. For instance, victims may treat mild burns at home with over-the-counter pain medication and cooling creams. In contrast, widespread burns or electrical burns need emergency medical care, often in a specialized burn unit.

Typically, if the burn is a third- or fourth-degree burn, surgeons will use skin grafts to treat the burn area. A skin graft is a thin layer of skin taken from a different unburned area of the body to cover the burned skin. Your doctor will examine your injuries and decide on the best course of action. 

Healing timelines vary based on the type of burn injury. A first-degree burn may take anywhere from a week to ten days to heal. In comparison, a second-degree burn will generally take up to three weeks to heal and may result in some scarring. A third- or fourth-degree burn generally requires surgery, skin grafts, and a lengthy recovery period.

Burn injuries can take quite a toll on a victim physically, emotionally, and financially. Not only do serious burn injury victims require extensive medical treatments and therapy in the short term, but some burn injuries can leave a victim with permanent health effects that will require a lifetime of care.

Some of the long-term medical issues that can result from a burn injury include:

• Significant nerve damages;
• Permanent scarring;
• Loss of a limb due to a burn injury-related amputation;
• Infection;
• Numerous restorative surgeries;
• Cosmetic deformities;
• The inability to grow new skin;
• Oversensitivity to individual senses such as cold, heat, or sunlight;
• Extreme emotional suffering; and
• Lifelong psychological trauma.

Burns injuries are expensive injuries to treat. That is why, following a burn injury, you need to contact an experienced Fresno burn injury attorney promptly. When an experienced burn injury lawyer takes on your case, they can start investigating your accident and gathering the evidence needed to fight for the compensation you deserve. 

No.

Following some burn accidents, particularly when there is clear evidence that someone else is likely to blame for your injuries, the other party’s insurance company may start calling you right away. Before you pick up the phone, you need to understand that the insurance company is a business that wants to make money. When an insurance company decreases the amount of your payout or denies your claim altogether, they are serving their own best interests by protecting the company’s bottom line. That is why insurance adjusters will often try any tactic they can to get you to admit fault for the accident so that they can reduce the amount of money you receive.

For these reasons, if the insurance company is calling, be careful what you say. Typically, it is best to leave discussions with insurance adjusters to your attorney. When your lawyer takes over conversations with the insurance company, they can ensure that your case is treated fairly and you do not accidentally say anything that might negatively affect your claim.

No. Before you accept any settlement offer, you need to carefully consider whether the settlement fairly accounts for your past and future accident-related damages, ideally with an attorney’s assistance. Once you accept a settlement, you cannot ask for more money later on. Our firm usually recommends that you get as far along in your recovery as possible before you accept any offer. That way, you can better predict the care you will need in the future and the full extent of your accident-related expenses.

If you receive a settlement offer from the insurance company and cannot decide whether to accept it or not, contact The May Firm and let our attorneys review your claim. We can help you determine if the settlement amount offered to you is fair and, if it is not, we can help you negotiate for a settlement that is. 

Unfortunately, no attorney can provide you with an exact monetary figure you can expect following your burn injury accident. Even if you are entitled to damages, there are just too many factors that can affect your claim’s value.

These factors can include:

• The extent and severity of your burn injuries;
• The scope of your medical treatments and the medical costs involved now and in the future;
• Whether your burn injury resulted in a permanent disability;
• Whether you can work following your burn injury accident and, if not, whether you will ever work again;
• Your level of pain and suffering; and
• The credibility of your evidence and witnesses.

When you meet with the lawyers from the May Firm, we can walk you through every aspect of your claim, discuss which factors may influence the compensation you may receive, and prepare the best case in response to these factors by fighting for maximum damages. 

Not all victims are required to go to court to get the compensation they need. Often, a victim’s attorney can negotiate with the negligent party or their insurance company to settle before heading to trial. However, if the other side is unwilling to reach an agreement, it may be in your best interests to head to court and fight for fair compensation. If our attorneys handle your case, we can walk you through the whole court process and ensure you understand each step of the complicated legal proceedings. 

Anyone can suffer a significant burn injury.

Yet, certain groups are at a higher risk of suffering this tragic type of injury.

• Children: Young children are curious and want to explore new things. However, when this curiosity extends to fire or hot objects, the results can be disastrous.
• Elderly: As a person ages, they may experience slower reaction times, preventing them from reacting quickly enough to avoid a burn injury.

In addition, certain items around the house can increase the risk of someone suffering an extensive burn injury.

These items include:

• Defective water heaters;
• Harsh cleaning supplies that are poorly labeled, such as ammonia or bleach;
• Faulty wiring; and
• Certain malfunctioning appliances such as space heaters or stoves.

When someone dies from a burn injury that occurred due to another person’s negligence, the deceased’s family (spouse, domestic partner, child, or another relative who was financially dependent on the deceased) can file a wrongful death claim. A wrongful death claim is similar to a personal injury case. Here, however, the family files a lawsuit claiming that their loved one passed away because of the wrongful actions of another person or entity. If the deceased’s survivors are successful, they may receive money damages for their losses. These damages typically cover funeral expenses, burial costs, and potential income that the deceased could have earned had they lived.

Sustaining a burn injury can result in extensive pain, serious health issues, and numerous short- and long-term problems. Even worse, burn injury accident claims are incredibly complex, requiring detailed evidence proving liability and damages, a solid understanding of the state’s laws, and sound legal arguments. If you work with The May Firm, you do not have to worry about tackling these legal complexities on your own.

Once retained, our attorneys can:

• Go over your Fresno burn injury case in detail, answer any questions you have, and discuss the legal options you can pursue.
• Investigate your burn injury accident, interview witnesses, and gather critical evidence needed to show what happened and who was at fault.
• Ensure critical motions and legal documents are filed accurately and on time.
• Take over the discussions and negotiations with the insurance company, ensuring you only accept a fair settlement offer.
• If the defense or the insurance company refuses to negotiate, take your case to trial and fight in court for maximum damages.

If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury in Fresno because of another person’s or entity’s negligent or wrongful actions, do not wait. Contact The May Firm today at (559) 385-2090 and let us go after the compensation and the damages you deserve.