Silver Spring Burn Injury Lawyers

If you have ever touched a hot object, you know just how painful a burn injury can be. Even a relatively brief encounter with a flame, a caustic chemical, or a source of heat can cause pain and take weeks to heal. More severe burn injuries can often require extensive medical treatment and leave lasting, disfiguring scars.

If your burn injury was caused by another person, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them. Whether from a car accident, a defective product, or a work-related accident, you can seek compensation for all of your losses, including property damage, medical bills, and emotional trauma. Our Silver Spring personal injury lawyers can help you fight for full compensation.

DuBoff & Associates represents accident victims throughout Montgomery County. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you won’t pay us a fee unless we recover money for you. Reach out to our law offices today to schedule a free consultation with a Silver Spring burn injury attorney.

What Are Common Types of Burn Injuries?

According to the American Burn Association, hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer burn injuries that require medical attention. These injuries can involve:

• Chemical burns
• Blisters
• Scalding injuries
• Electrical burns
• Thermal burns
• Disfigurement or permanent scarring
• Nerve damage and related disabilities

Burns are classified based on the severity:

• First-degree burns (superficial burns) affect just the outer layer of the skin, known as the epidermis. A first-degree burn can cause pain, redness, or other changes in skin color.
• Second-degree burns (partial-thickness burns) affect both the epidermis and the second layer of the skin, the dermis. They can cause swelling along with red, white, or splotchy-looking skin. Second-degree burns can be incredibly painful and may cause blisters and scarring.
• Third-degree burns (full-thickness burns) involve all layers of the skin, and sometimes the muscle tissue and fat underneath the skin. Areas of the skin affected by a third-degree burn may be black, brown, or white and leathery in appearance. These burns can destroy nerves, so the pain may be relatively minor.

While minor burns can often be treated at home, second and third-degree burns typically require medical treatment. This may include medication, wound dressings, therapy, and surgery (such as skin grafts).

A burn can be caused by fire, liquid or hot steam, electrical currents, hot objects, radiation, sunlight, and/or chemicals. Common causes of burn injuries include:

• Car accidents
• House fires
• Construction accidents
• Open flames
• Electrical accidents
• Workplace accidents
• Acids

If you suffered a burn injury, you may be able to file a claim against the person or business responsible for the accident. Our Silver Spring burn injury attorneys can analyze your case and help you decide how to move forward.

Who Can Be Responsible for a Burn Injury?

In some cases, a burn injury may just be a matter of bad luck. For example, if you burn yourself while cooking dinner because you forgot that the handle of a pan was hot, then you probably can’t sue anyone for your own carelessness. However, there are many situations where you may be able to pursue a lawsuit against another party for your injuries.

Depending on the facts of your case, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against:

• Another driver who caused your car accident
• Product manufacturer, if your injury was caused by a dangerous or defective product
• Home builders and/or contractors
• Fireworks manufacturers
• Private homeowners

For example, consider a situation where a rechargeable battery caught fire in your house. You suffer severe burns in the resulting fire. The battery caught fire because it was manufactured defectively, leading to an increased risk of fires. In this case, you could pursue a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer, retailer, and potentially other parties as well.

Motor vehicle crashes, including truck accidents, car accidents, and WMATA accidents, are another common cause of burn injuries when a fire breaks out after a collision or caustic chemicals leak from a vehicle. If you are burned in an auto accident, you could pursue a claim against the at-fault driver and/or their employer.

In a successful lawsuit, you could recover money for all of your losses. This may include compensatory damages as well as punitive damages. Compensatory damages compensate an accident victim for their losses, while punitive damages punish someone who acted recklessly or intentionally.

There are two types of compensatory damages that you may be entitled to in a burn injury claim:

1. Economic damagespay for your financial losses. Examples of economic damages include medical bills and ongoing/future medical care, surgery, burn unit treatment, skin grafting procedures, property damage, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity.
2. Noneconomic damages pay for your indirect losses. They include things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, scarring, disfigurement, and reduced quality of life. These types of damages can be harder to prove, because you won’t get a bill in the mail for something like your emotional trauma. However, noneconomic damages are just as important (if not more important) than economic damages when it comes to truly making you whole again after a loss.

Punitive damages are available in rare cases where the at-fault party (defendant) acted recklessly or intentionally. Because most personal injury cases are based on a theory of negligence, or carelessness, punitive damages are usually not awarded. However, if the defendant acted egregiously, then punitive damages may be an option. For example, if a manufacturer knew that its product was dangerous and carried a burn risk but didn’t fix the problem or warn consumers about it, it could be liable for punitive damages on top of compensatory damages.

If someone is killed in a fire or after a burn injury, the victim’s surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. This type of personal injury claim will allow survivors to recover money for funeral and burial expenses, loss of companionship, and other losses. It also offers an opportunity to seek justice on behalf of a loved one who tragically lost their life.

How Can a Silver Spring Burn Injury Attorney Help?

Any type of burn injury can be incredibly traumatic. In the aftermath, it isn’t unusual for a victim to be stressed and overwhelmed. Our Silver Spring burn injury attorneys can play a vital role in helping you recover.

Our law firm will investigate the cause of your accident and gather evidence to prove that another party was responsible for your injuries. We will handle all communications with the at-fault party and their insurance company. At the same time, we will begin the legal steps necessary to pursue a lawsuit against the defendant.

One of the most important things that a burn injury lawyer can do for you is determine the full extent of your losses. Many burn injuries, particularly more severe burns, result in injuries that require years of ongoing treatment. In addition to tens of thousands (or even millions) of dollars in medical bills, you may also suffer severe pain and emotional suffering as a result of your burn injuries.

Our team is adept at finding hidden value in burn injury cases. We won’t simply tally up your medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses. We will work with experts and use our own skill and knowledge to develop a demand for compensation that makes you whole again.

Most personal injury claims are resolved outside of court. We will attempt to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company. If the insurer won’t give you the money that you deserve for your injuries, we will file a lawsuit and continue negotiations while we get ready to go to trial.

Contact DuBoff & Associates for a Free Consultation

Burn injuries can be very traumatic, leaving physical scars and emotional wounds that may never fully fade. If you have been burned in an accident, our law firm will work with you to understand the full extent of your injuries. We will then fight to get you the compensation that you deserve for your losses.

At DuBoff & Associates, we aren’t afraid to take on complex cases or go up against major insurance companies. We have built our firm on the notion that accident victims deserve justice, and we work hard every day to get our clients the money that they are entitled to under Maryland law. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Maryland personal injury lawyer, give us a call at 866-210-6821 or fill out our online contact form.