Burn injuries are some of the most common damages that can happen in many areas of life. You may be burned while at home, traveling, at work, spending time in nature, and more. Burn victims are often curious over the average compensation or average value of a burn injury case, and rightly so – they do not want to potentially lose out on ample compensation if it is available to them. There are many factors that go into determining how much you can receive from such a lawsuit, including the extent of the damages, your negligence level, and the skill of your attorney. Our team of lawyers at Normandie Law Firm promises to help victims of burn injury cases earn the maximum compensation available. Our goal is to ensure that you are healthy and taken care of in the event of an injury. Often, clients will come to us with questions about burn injury lawsuits and what burn injury victims can expect to get in compensation. Some of these questions include:
- How much can you receive for a burn injury?
- How much is a burn injury case worth?
- What is the average case value of a burn injury lawsuit?
Burn Information
There are numerous types of burns that can affect you – electrical burns, thermal burns, chemical burns, and more. Generally, thermal burns are the most common form to be injured by, but all can lead to drastic consequences if there is enough exposure or a high level of heat. Although the skin is resilient, it can be burned very easily, and the different levels of burns correspond to the severity of damage to the skin.
- A first-degree burn only affects the top layer of skin and does not have lasting effects. The skin may turn red and become irritated, and it will be sensitive to touch; it will likely peel or swell, but will not be present after a few days or weeks.
- A second-degree burn is more severe, and it features blisters and even more sensitivity. The skin will be raw and may have scars after it heals. The healing process will be a few weeks long.
- A third-degree burn bypasses the skin itself and damages the flesh that is present beneath and is just above the muscle and bone. Instead of the characteristic redness associated with burns, the skin will become white and will not be sensitive at all; in fact, it will likely be numb to the touch. The need for skin grafts will be apparent.
Other more severe burns will damage the flesh and bones beneath, often charring them and resulting in irreversible nerve damage. There may be other troubles that arise in the form of infections and a need for amputation. Saving the area may be out of the realm of possibility altogether.
The burns that cover large amounts of the body will be more severe and leave more significant effects than those that are centralized to one location. However, facial and hand burns may have extremely adverse consequences, including heavy scarring and disfigurement. Burns to the legs, burns to the fingers, burns to the chest, burns to the feet, and burns to the chin, neck, shoulder and arms may not be as severe. Burns to the eyes, burns to the face, and burns to the hand should be treated immediately and can result in large amounts of compensation.
Determining the Value of a Burn Injury Lawsuit
It can be hard to determine how much you should receive in a burn injury lawsuit. The amount of injuries and the extensiveness of your burns will be the primary factors, as well as how much of an effect the damages have on your ability to complete your work duties or find future employment. The presence of permanent scarring and disfigurement will also play a role, as well as the amount of medical expenses that racked up due to treating your injuries. The amount of pain and suffering damages that you had to endure can also be thrown into the mix as well; in all, there are numerous aspects of an injury and the circumstances surrounding it that will influence an insurance adjuster’s decision or a jury’s verdict.
There is no compensation calculator that exists for burn injuries; you cannot merely input your damages and a number will be spit out that tells you how much you will receive. A burn injury lawsuit can be worth a lot of money if there are certain criteria that are met. Instead, we have provided a few examples of burn injury cases that have yielded high settlements. It should be noted that the average median value of a burn injury case is worth much less than you would be led to believe. The high settlements will skew the average and raise it.
You burn injury lawsuit may be worth over $100,000 if the cause could be attributed to the negligent actions of a business and if your injuries were particularly severe. If a large portion of your body were burned, your case is generally worth over $250,000. At times, burn injury cases are valued at over $1,000,000, especially when a victim dies because of the wounds.
Some actual burn injury verdicts and settlements can be found below:
- $1,500,000 Verdict: A woman in a limousine suffered severe burns in an accident. The limo was rear-ended, causing the gas tank to rupture and cause the vehicle to catch fire. She suffered burns to over 18% of her body and suffered scarring as a result.
- $1,000,000 Settlement: A 2-year-old toddler was scalded after his babysitter negligently left him alone in the bathroom. She had filled the tub with the intention of giving him a bath. The baby climbed into the tub and was severely burned. The apartment building owner and the manufacturer of the water heater wound up paying the damages.
- $700,000 Settlement: A 9-month-old infant was hurt after a pressure cooker exploded. The burns affected the baby’s upper body, all of which were 2nd degree or worse. The explosion occurred while the baby was at an in-home care center. The operator of the day care center was found to be partially at fault for ignoring the pressure cooker’s instructions, but the manufacturer was also sued and paid damages.
- $1,000,000 Settlement: While bedridden at a hospital, a patient suffered severe burns after his electric bed malfunctioned and caught fire. The manufacturer of the bed paid the damages instead of the hospital; there was no medical malpractice lawsuit filed.
These burn injury lawsuit settlements are meant to show you what can possibly be earned, not what is guaranteed to be your settlement amount.
Second Opinion
Many clients come to us asking questions about burn injury lawsuit settlement amounts because they are curious what they should earn. They usually already have attorneys but they are unsure if they are being properly represented. Unfortunately, many lawyers do not care about bringing their clients the best compensation available; they are primarily concerned with getting their own paychecks. They will rush through the lawsuits and agree on low settlement offers from insurance agencies so they can take their cuts and move on to the next case. This is a blatant act of misrepresentation.
If you come to us, we will give you a free second opinion on your current case and tell you if we believe your lawyer is doing all he can to accurately represent you. If we believe he is not, we will tell you and give you our advice on how to best proceed.
How Normandie Helps
Our law firm, Normandie Law Firm, is here to help victims of burn injuries. We promise to do all we can to bring you a fair settlement. Our lawyers have handled burn injury lawsuits for years and we have ample experience negotiating with insurance agents. Our aggressive lawyers will work around the clock to make sure your lawsuit has proper attention paid to it, and we are willing to go all the way to court if necessary. We aim to bring you a burn injury lawsuit settlement that you can be proud of.
Call us today to schedule a free legal consultation with a skilled attorney. If you have any questions about burn injury lawsuits, feel free to ask them, and we will give you the most informed answers possible. We will look over your case and tell you what we believe it is worth; if you have a current attorney, we will also give you our opinion on his representation of you and if he is doing all he can to secure you a fair settlement. All of our consultations are completely confidential; you do not have to worry about any of your private information being shared elsewhere.
If you select us to represent you and handle your case, you will receive our zero fee guarantee; this guarantee is meant to prevent you from paying any out of pocket expenses for our services. We will not get paid until we win your case, and our fees will be taken from the settlement we earn. If we lose, you will not have to pay anything at all, and we will take care of the case’s costs. Your financial stability is important to us, and we do not want to do anything to jeopardize that.
To speak with a burn injury lawyer in Los Angeles, call Normandie Law Firm today.
