Burn Injuries

Michigan Accident Attorneys Representing Victims in Traverse City and Grand Rapids

Burns may result in severe damage to your tissues. They are a common injury that may be caused by extreme heat, electricity, chemicals, or radiation. There are four types of burns. First-degree burns affect only the outermost layer of skin, while fourth-degree burns penetrate through all of the skin layers into structures below like bones, tendons, and muscles. Since fourth-degree burns destroy nerve endings, they are not painful, but they often create a permanent disability or necessitate amputation, and they may be life-threatening. The Michigan burn injury lawyers at the Neumann Law Group may be able to help you recover damages if you are dealing with this type of harm. We serve clients out of our Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Detroit offices.

Pursuing Damages for Burn Injuries

Many burn injuries result from negligence. If you suffered burns because of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to recover damages. In order to establish negligence, you will need to show that the defendant failed to act in a reasonably safe manner, and as a result, you suffered burns. For example, if you were burned in a truck accident, you would need to establish that the driver or their employer did something that fell below the standard of care for operating the truck, and this caused your injuries. If a truck driver’s distraction, drunk driving, speeding, or improper loading of the truck caused the accident to happen, for example, it is likely that a jury would find that this negligence caused your burn injuries.

When burns arise on someone else’s property due to a dangerous condition, you will also need to establish notice. For example, if there was faulty wiring in a friend’s apartment complex, and you were burned in a fire, you would need to show that the owner of the apartment complex knew or should have known about the faulty wiring. Often, constructive notice is shown by proving that a condition existed for a long time, such that it would have been discovered and repaired by a diligent owner.

Burns are often quite painful, and the losses that you may suffer in connection with them are likely to be significant. Burns may also lead to infections that require proper treatment and care. The economic and emotional costs of burn injuries may be devastating. You may be able to recover economic and noneconomic compensatory damages, including past and future medical expenses, past and future lost income, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and scarring and disfigurement.

Noneconomic damages may vary. You should retain an attorney who can fully explore your damages and convey their extent persuasively to a jury. For example, if you work in a profession in which your appearance usually matters, such as sales, a visible burn injury may affect your future career. There also may be activities that you once enjoyed that you can no longer do because of your burns, such as going to clubs, ballroom dancing, running, or playing sports.

In Michigan, damages awards follow a version of the modified comparative negligence principle. This rule allows for a potential reduction in a victim’s compensation based on their percentage of fault. For instance, if an injured person is considered 15 percent at fault for a car accident, they might still recover 85 percent of their total damages. As long as the injured person is not entirely at fault, they could potentially receive economic damages from a defendant proportionate to that party’s degree of fault. Economic damages encompass more objective costs like medical bills, lost income, and property damage. However, if a victim is 51 percent or more at fault, they won’t be eligible to recover noneconomic damages, which involve more subjective forms of harm like pain and suffering or emotional distress. Consult with a qualified Michigan personal injury attorney from Neumann Law Group to determine which types of damages may be applicable to your claim.

Enlist a Burn Injury Lawyer in Grand Rapids or Traverse City

Many people have been seriously burned due to the negligence or misconduct of others. The person or business that is responsible should pay for their losses. The Traverse City and Grand Rapids burn injury attorneys at the Neumann Law Group also represent people in Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Wyoming, Saginaw, Muskegon, Midland, Holland, Warren, Petoskey, and communities throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Contact us at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to set up a free appointment if you are seeking a car accident lawyer or representation in another type of personal injury claim.