New York Burn Injury Lawyers

Doctors now describe depth rather than degree. Superficial burns (formerly first-degree) affect only the outer layer of skin. Partial-thickness burns (formerly second-degree) reach the layer beneath and blister. Full-thickness burns (formerly third-degree) destroy the deep layers and may be numb. Treatment depends on depth, size and location, from wound care to surgery and grafting; the American Burn Association advises burn-center care for deeper, larger and certain special burns.

Get away from the source and call 911 for anything beyond a small, superficial burn, or for any chemical, electrical or smoke exposure. Follow the dispatcher’s and doctors’ instructions. When you can, photograph the burn and the scene, keep the product, container or clothing that was involved without altering it, write down witnesses, and ask for the fire, police or incident report number. Then call us before speaking with an insurer.

A successful claim can include medical and burn-center care, surgery and later reconstructive procedures, therapy, lost earnings and earning capacity, scarring and disfigurement, and pain and suffering. In a car crash governed by the no-fault law, significant disfigurement is one of the serious-injury categories that allows a claim for pain and suffering. We do not publish value ranges; the amount depends on the injury and the proof.

Claims we see described involve building and apartment fires, scalding water or food, gas and electrical faults, workplace electrical, chemical and hot-work injuries, vehicle crashes followed by fire, and defective products such as batteries, heaters and appliances. We do not publish counts. Where it happened decides who may be responsible and which rules apply, so that is the first thing we ask.

By showing who controlled the hazard, what a careful owner, employer, landlord, driver or manufacturer would have done, that they did not, and that the failure caused the burn. The proof is usually physical and documentary: the product or equipment, the fire marshal’s or incident report, inspection and maintenance records, codes that applied to the building, photographs over time and the medical record of the injury.

Usually not directly: workers’ compensation is generally the remedy against your employer. Give your employer notice within 30 days and file a compensation claim within two years. You can also sue a negligent third party, such as a contractor or equipment maker, while receiving compensation (WCL 29). A sued third party can generally seek contribution or indemnity from your employer only for a listed “grave” injury, such as permanent and severe facial disfigurement, or under a written indemnity contract made before the accident. Neither lets you sue your employer directly.

Generally three years for an injury claim against a person or business, including a product claim. If a city, county, town, village or school district may be legally responsible, an ordinary injury claim usually needs a notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days. The State and public authorities follow their own rules. A work injury: 30-day employer notice and a two-year compensation claim. A death: generally two years. Some claims have other rules, so we calculate the date for your case.

The product, appliance, battery, container or equipment involved, kept unaltered; the clothing; photographs of the injury over time and of the scene; the fire marshal’s, police or incident report; witness names; inspection, repair and maintenance records; and complete burn-center, surgery and therapy records. For an electrical or chemical burn, the source and its labels or warnings matter.

There is no reliable average, and we do not publish settlement ranges. Burn claims differ in depth and size of the burn, its location, scarring, the need for future surgery, lost earnings and who is responsible. None of the firm’s published results describes a burn injury; our verdicts and settlements archive shows other results, which are not predictions.

Most injury cases resolve without a verdict, but we prepare each one as if it will be tried, because preparation sets the value. Whether to settle is your decision, made when the medical future is clear enough to price. Some claims settle in stages with different defendants. We do not publish settlement percentages; we explain the options in your case as they arise.