Severe burns are both uniquely painful and extremely debilitating injuries, often resulting in permanent scarring, loss of sensation, and even life-threatening complications. Unfortunately, they can also be difficult to build strong civil cases around, especially if you are not familiar with how Illinois state law governs these sorts of claims.
Having help from an experienced catastrophic injury attorney can make a huge difference not just in your ability to maximize the compensation you receive, but also in your odds of getting any compensation at all. An Elk Grove burn injury lawyer at The Kryder Law Group could work tirelessly on your behalf to collect important evidence, assign accurate values to your losses, and pursue every cent of the monetary damages you deserve for those losses.
How a Burn’s “Degree” Could Impact a Claim
As with virtually every other type of injury, civil lawsuits built around burn injuries are typically also built around the legal theory of “negligence.” There are various circumstances under which one person may owe a “duty of care” to another—for example, drivers must obey traffic laws and watch out for other people near their vehicle. Anyone who “breaches” their duty and causes someone to sustain a serious injury can be considered legally “negligent” and held financially liable for any resulting damages.
It is worth emphasizing, though, that this theory of negligence only covers injuries that are serious enough to require some form of professional medical care. This can be relevant to burn injury claims because first-degree burns—which only affect the outermost layer of skin—often heal entirely on their own without any care beyond basic first aid. Thus, they often cannot serve as grounds for civil litigation, even if they stem entirely from someone else’s irresponsible actions.
Conversely, second-degree and third-degree burns—which cause damage to multiple skin layers and penetrate through those layers to damage underlying muscles and tendons—are serious injuries that almost always require professional medical care. A seasoned Elk Grove Village burn injury attorney could go into more detail about what may or may not serve as valid grounds for a lawsuit during a private consultation.
What Damages Could Be Recoverable?
Both economic and non-economic forms of harm can be factored into a settlement demand or lawsuit against someone who caused you to get burned, including:
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Personal property damage
- Physical pain and suffering
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost working ability or work income
- Emotional and psychological distress
When someone causes a serious burn through extremely egregious negligence or by acting in an intentionally malicious way, the court may impose additional punitive damages against them as punishment for their actions, as a burn injury lawyer in Elk Grove Village could further explain.
Talk to an Elk Grove Burn Injury Attorney About Your Legal Options
Getting burned in a traumatic accident can cause physical, financial, and personal losses that might last years afterward. If you can establish that someone else’s negligence was the primary cause of your burn, you could hold them accountable for every form of harm their misconduct has caused you and will cause you in the future.
Support from an Elk Grove Village burn injury lawyer could be crucial to achieving a favorable result from this sort of civil claim. Call The Kryder Law Group today to learn more about how we could help you.
(312) 223-1700