Burn Injury Lawyer

Miami, Florida

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 180,000 deaths every year are caused by burns. People who have sustained a burn injury at the fault of their employer, a business establishment, landlord, or other party may be entitled to seek compensation for injury-related damages.

According to the American Burn Association, burn injuries are one of the leading causes of unintentional death in the United States. About 97 percent of individuals who are treated in burn centers survive—yet commonly leave these treatment settings with permanent disabilities, scarring, and other chronic health issues. Our top-rated Miami burn injury lawyers have the expertise needed to pursue your claim and get you every penny in compensation that you deserve.

What are Common Types of Burn Injuries?

Burn injuries can be classified as first-, second-, third-, or fourth-degree burns. First-degree burns are the mildest, and fourth-degree burns are so severe that they can result in death.

First-degree burns impact just the first layer of a person’s skin and may or may not require medical attention. This type of burn can result in mild to moderate pain, swelling, and redness of the skin.
Second-degree burns affect two layers of the skin and will likely require medical attention. This type of burn may cause blistering, a glossy appearance, pain, deep reddening of the skin, and possibly loss of some skin.
Third- and fourth-degree burns are the most severe types of burns, often resulting in serious and permanent injuries, disabilities, or death. These burns can appear black or white and may cause the skin to become leathery in texture. This impacts all layers of the skin and requires immediate medical treatment.

There are numerous ways in which people can sustain burn injuries.

Common types of burn injuries include those caused by:

motor vehicle accidents
workplace injuries
apartment building fires
recreational fires (i.e. at a place of business, hotel, mall)
defective products
inadequate or insufficient fire exits
lack of fire extinguishers
scalding pipes, food, and water
electrical accidents
exposure to dangerous chemicals
explosions
industrial accidents

Where do Burn Injuries Usually Occur?

Burns can occur in a variety of settings and may have various sources. The American Burn Association lists the primary causes of burns in the U.S. as:

scalds
fires
contact with a hot object
electrical sources
chemicals

Individuals can suffer burn injuries in their homes, at a restaurant, in the workplace, and any other setting in which a person has close contact with a flammable or heated object. Where a burn injury occurs, and how it occurs, can be important considerations in determining one’s ability to take legal action against the at-fault party.

Workplace Accidents

While the typical office environment may not appear to pose a significant risk for burns or other serious injuries, workers in the industrial, agricultural, and service industries—as well as any other workplace that involves chemicals, the utilization of heat, or radiation exposure—can be at high risk for burn injuries.

Even in an office space, accidents can still occur, and if there aren’t functioning safety precautions in place to mitigate the consequences, the employer may be held responsible.

Depending on the nature of the incident, employees that are injured in the workplace may have the option of submitting a worker’s compensation claim. This can provide wage-replacement benefits. However, it typically also requires the employee to forfeit their right to sue the employer for negligence.

Examples of employer negligence that may warrant a burn injury lawsuit include:

failure to adopt adequate fire safety precautions
lacking an appropriate number of fire extinguishers, according to state, federal, or local law
lacking other essential safety measures necessary to prevent serious injuries

Filing a lawsuit allows workers to sue for a range of injury-related damages, such as mental anguish and pain/suffering. Worker’s compensation, on the other hand, offers much more limited and reduced forms of recovery.

Apartment Building Fires

An overwhelming 85% majority of scald burns occur in the home, according to the American Burn Association. For individuals who rent their homes, it may be possible for your landlord to be held liable for your burn injury if they have demonstrated negligent behavior.

Negligent behavior, for example, can refer to the failure of the landlord to follow federal, state, and local laws intended to protect residents from hazards.

Landlords are required to adopt certain safety precautions, including the use of fire-prevention sprinklers, working fire extinguishers, and the implementation of smoke detectors. If a landlord has neglected these safety measures, and it results in a resident suffering an injury on their property, the landlord may be liable for the injury and resulting damages.

State and local laws may differ in the exact requirements landlords must adhere to in order to evade liability for residential injuries. You must be able to provide proof of the landlord’s negligence and how that negligence directly caused your burn injury.

Additional factors that may impact your ability to sue your landlord for negligence include:

whether legal language included in your lease waives your right to bring certain claims against your landlord in court
where you live in the United States (due to differences in state laws on landlord/tenant relationships)
the amount of evidence you have to support your allegation of negligence

If you’re unsure how to gather the evidence to support your allegation, or have additional questions about your rights to compensation, an experienced burn injury lawyer can help. Click here to schedule a free consultation with one of our skilled burn injury lawyers and find out what your rights are to compensation.

Commercial Property and Businesses

Although much less common than workplace and household accidents, burn injuries can also result from incidents at business establishments where there may be a fire or exposure to a substance hot enough to cause a serious burn.

Commercial properties where burn injuries may occur:

restaurants
hotels
malls
fitness centers
nightclubs
community centers
grocery stores

If you’re injured by a fire or scalding-hot object on private or commercial property as a result of the negligent behavior of the establishment, the property owner may be held liable for your injuries.

What If Your Fire-Safety Products Failed You?

Landlords are generally responsible for providing and maintaining certain types of fire-safety equipment. But what happens if they dutifully follow the law and provide the equipment and it fails?

Tenants can get injured, or even lose their lives, despite the best efforts of the landlord — all because of the negligence of a manufacturer.

Some fire-safety equipment may have a defect causing it to fail when it’s needed most, while other equipment may actually be dangerous by design. Regardless of the reason the fire-safety equipment failed, if you are hurt in a fire due to defective equipment, you may be able to pursue a lawsuit against the manufacturer who made it and recover compensation for your injuries.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Burn Injury Case in Florida?

In the state of Florida, you have four years from the date an accident occurred to file a burn injury lawsuit.

Even though this may seem like a long amount of time, when you sustain burn injuries in an accident, it is best to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. Insurance companies often work quickly to settle these claims. They know that when you accept their offer, you are barred from taking legal action. Talking to an experienced burn injury lawyer before you accept an insurance offer can help you understand all of your options and may allow for more significant compensation.

How Much Compensation Am I Entitled to for a Burn Injury?

Burn injuries are expensive. So, it's normal to question how much you may recover. Unfortunately, the short answer is, it depends. Our skilled Miami burn injury lawyers look at every single aspect of your case, and any one of these factors can greatly affect the value of your case. However, there are a few things you can look at to try to figure out a rough estimate for how much your case may be worth.

This includes:

Medical bills: Burns are one of the most expensive types of injuries. According to care management group Paradigm, burn hospitalizations account for just 1 percent of all injuries every year. Yet they cost over $10 billion. The goal of a burn injury lawsuit is to recover all of these costs. This includes doctor visits, surgeries, medications, and rehabilitation.
Lost wages: Serious injuries can result in substantial recovery time. This may mean you need to take unpaid time off from work. When this happens, your attorney can request lost wages. Lost income covers the entire time you are gone from work and may include future income if you cannot return to work.
Pain and suffering: Serious burns can cause excruciating pain, often requiring months or years of treatment. This is not just something you should deal with. Pain and suffering cover the physical and emotional anguish that results from a burn injury. This can include physical pain, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and embarrassment caused by disfigurement.

How Can Our Miami Burn Injury Lawyers Help?

Depending on the circumstances in which you sustained your burn injury, you may have a right to take legal action and seek compensation.

If you were burned on someone else’s property, a premises liability suit against the negligent property owner could be your best option.
If a defective device/vehicle/electrical system caused the burn, you may be able to file a product liability claim.
If you were burned in an accident at work, you may try to recover damages by suing any third-party or general contractor whose negligence caused your injuries.
If you were hit by a drunk driver and a resulting fire caused your burn injuries, you may be entitled to sue the driver and any other responsible party.

Besides just being awarded economic and non-economic damages, you may also have a chance to be awarded punitive damages. These could be awarded if your burn injury was the result of someone else’s reckless or willful conduct.

Your insurance company may withhold the full amount that you deserve, which is why it is important to have a skilled burn injury lawyer that will advocate for your best interests. A burn injury lawyer will be able to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care and breached that obligation, then draw a causal connection between their breach of duty and the accident that led to the burn.

The top-rated Miami burn injury lawyers at The G Law Group, P.A. will help you pursue your claim for damages by gathering essential evidence and navigating any legal complications. We will fight to get you every penny in damages that you are rightfully entitled to! Give us a call today at (305) 486-7468 or schedule a free consultation by clicking the link below to get started on your case.