Burns in Personal Injury Lawsuits

Burn injuries affect hundreds of thousands of people each year, often resulting from incidents involving fire, chemicals, electricity, or radiation. These injuries can cause severe physical pain, emotional distress, and financial costs. When someone’s careless or wrongful actions lead to a burn injury, the victim may be entitled to seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.

Degrees of Burn Injuries

Burn injuries are typically categorized by their severity. First-degree burns involve the outer layer of the skin and may cause redness or minor pain. Second-degree burns affect deeper layers, often resulting in blisters and more intense pain. Third-degree burns penetrate the full thickness of the skin and can destroy underlying tissue. Fourth-degree burns extend even further, causing damage to muscles, tendons, or bones. The degree of the burn may influence the amount and type of compensation pursued, since more extensive injuries often require prolonged treatment and may lead to greater losses.

Legal Basis for Burn Injury Claims

Personal injury lawsuits involving burn injuries generally arise under the legal theory of negligence. Negligence involves a duty of care, a breach of that duty, a causal link between the breach and the injury, and measurable damages. In general, a breach occurs when the defendant’s actions or inactions fall below the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person or entity would have followed under the circumstances. In other words, an injured person usually will seek to hold the defendant legally accountable by proving that the harm would not have occurred had reasonable precautions been taken.

In some cases, though, an injured person can use a theory of strict liability instead. Strict liability often applies in cases involving defective products. The plaintiff doesn’t need to show that the manufacturer was negligent. They generally can prevail if the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control, and the defect caused their harm.

Common Situations Giving Rise to Liability

Workplace incidents can occur when employers fail to follow safety regulations, properly train their employees to handle hazardous materials, or maintain safe equipment. Products liability claims arise when a burn injury results from a defective product, whether due to flawed design, a manufacturing error, or inadequate warnings about potential risks. Premises liability may apply when a property owner allows unsafe conditions to exist, such as faulty wiring or improper storage of flammable materials, and these conditions cause harm to visitors or tenants.

Workers’ Compensation vs. Personal Injury Claims

Injuries sustained on the job are often addressed through workers’ compensation, which provides benefits without the need to prove fault. However, there may be circumstances in which the injured employee can file a personal injury lawsuit instead of or in addition to pursuing workers’ compensation. This might occur if a third party contributed to the burn injury, or if an employer’s actions were so egregious that they fall outside the normal protections provided under workers’ compensation laws.

Damages in Burn Injury Cases

Economic damages include medical expenses, surgeries, hospital stays, rehabilitation, therapy, and loss of income and earning capacity. Non-economic damages address more subjective losses such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Punitive damages may also come into play if the burn injury resulted from especially reckless or intentional conduct.

Evidence and Medical Documentation

Success in a burn injury claim often depends on thorough evidence and expert evaluations. Medical records detailing the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term prognosis are critical. Photographs or videos of the incident and statements from people who saw what happened may strengthen a case. Testimony from medical professionals, engineers, fire investigators, or other experts can help link the defendant’s breach of duty to the burn injury and explain the severity of the harm.

Time Limits for Filing a Claim

Each state imposes a deadline for filing personal injury lawsuits, known as a statute of limitations. Missing this deadline generally results in the loss of the right to seek compensation, regardless of the merits of the underlying claim. The length of time to file can vary based on the state and the specific facts surrounding the incident. Promptly investigating the cause of the burn injury and identifying responsible parties can be essential for preserving evidence and meeting the legal deadline.

Last reviewed May 2025