Loveland Burn Injury Lawyer
When you are dealing with losses because of serious, painful burns caused by someone else’s negligence, you have the right to demand civil restitution. While money cannot undo physical damage, filing a lawsuit could be essential to minimizing the negative effects of your injury as you move forward with your life.
A Loveland burn injury lawyer could be the ally you need for a good chance of success with a civil claim. No matter what specific losses you need to recover, your dedicated catastrophic injury attorney knows how to protect your best interests and ensure your legal proceedings have the best possible outcome.
Identifying Burns as Grounds for a Lawsuit
The basic legal principle at the foundation of most burn injury lawsuits is that someone recklessly or carelessly breached a “duty of care” owed to another person and injures them as a direct result. The person who caused the injury is “negligent” and therefore liable for ensuing damages. This definition of negligence only applies to injuries serious enough to need professional medical care. This means first-degree burns, which only affect the outermost skin layer and can heal quickly, often cannot serve as grounds for a lawsuit even if they were caused by another person’s misconduct.
A second-degree burn that affects multiple skin layers and causes extreme pain, blistering, skin discoloration, and scarring almost always necessitates professional medical care. Third-degree burns that penetrate the skin to the fat layers and muscle tissue underneath are extremely dangerous injuries, often requiring emergency care like skin graft surgeries. A Loveland burn injury attorney could provide help with establishing the severity of a particular injury and proving another person’s misconduct was that injury’s main and direct cause.
Getting Paid Fairly for Past and Future Losses
Because severe burns often cause severe scarring, disfigurement, and sometimes lost sensation and range of motion, it is especially important when filing suit to account for losses the burns may cause in the years to come. This means identifying and estimating a fair value for damages such as:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Lost working and earning capacity
- Emotional distress and psychological trauma
- Lost enjoyment/quality of life, including loss of consortium
- Disability-related costs for things like in-home assistance
- Costs of future medical, rehabilitative, and maintenance care
Even when someone suffers permanent and debilitating harm from a burn injury, they still only have two years — or three years if they were hurt through an auto accident — under Colorado state law to begin the civil litigation process. There are also “caps” on recovery for non-economic losses like physical pain and psychological suffering, which a burn accident lawyer in Loveland could explain in more detail.
Talk to a Loveland Burn Injury Attorney
Suffering a severe burn under any circumstances can be traumatic on multiple levels but experiencing one because of another person’s negligence can add another layer of complexity. Fortunately, you may have legal standing to demand restitution from any person you can prove is at fault for your injury in accordance with state law.
Navigating the legal system efficiently and getting the fair civil recovery you deserve could be much easier with support from a seasoned Loveland burn injury lawyer. Call today to schedule a consultation.
