Serious or catastrophic burns cause unimaginable pain and life-changing disabilities. They can leave you with disfiguring scars, disabling conditions, weakening bodily functions, and extreme financial losses. If someone negligently or intentionally caused your burn injuries, you need a Connecticut Burn Injury lawyer to protect your legal rights. When you contact Nate Baber at Baber Law Law Firm, we work to recover compensation on your behalf.  

We Believe Responsible Parties Should Pay

At Baber Law Law Firm, we’ve worked with many burn victims and their families. We understand the many adversities that can interfere with everyday life. A serious burn can disable you, disrupt your family, and prevent you from earning a living. While we can’t change these outcomes, when we recover compensation for our clients, we’ve seen how it can help improve their lives.  

How Do Burn Injuries Occur?

Serious burns often occur due to fires, but also from many other causes. They happen both accidentally and intentionally. Incidents occur in private homes, and also in industrial and commercial settings.

Residential burns

The risk of suffering a severe burn injury in the home is more common than you might imagine. As the most recent National Fire Protection Association five-year study explains, residential fires caused 2,610 civilian deaths and 11,090 civilian fire injuries. Accidents often occur due to malfunctions, defects, and negligence. NFPA.org cites five common causes for fire-related burns: 

• Cooking
• Heating equipment
• Electrical distribution
• Lighting equipment
• Intentional fires    

People also sustain injuries due to these less-frequent, sometimes seasonal hazards.

• Gas grills: When used on balconies and near exterior walls, gas grills cause an average of 9,287 home fires nationwide each year and 21,682 emergency room visits. 
• Fireworks: The most recent Consumer Product Safety Commission Fireworks Report estimates 9,700 ER visits and 8 fatalities in a single year.
• Lithium-ion batteries: The batteries in many electronic devices, e-bikes, scooters, and some electric vehicles pose an emerging fire hazard. This can occur when an internal failure or external condition causes overheating, fires, and potential explosions. Underwriters Laboratories describes this condition as thermal runaway. 

Commercial and Industrial burns

Burns occur in the workplace due to a number of hazards inherent to industrial operations and food preparation in restaurants. Sometimes a negligent third party causes these injuries. 

• Chemical Burns: Chemical burns sometimes occur while using nitric acid, chromic acid, hydrogen fluoride, and other chemicals. 
• Electrical Burns: Ungrounded lines and other electrical-related hazards are one of the leading causes of construction injuries and fatalities.  
• Restaurant Accidents: Boiling water and hot oil cause employee injuries 
• Explosions: Workplace explosions often involve overheated flammable liquids, volatile compounds, and other substances. 

Car Accident-Related Burns

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has researched vehicle fires multiple times over the years. They’ve found that accident-related vehicle fires happen infrequently. However, when they occur, the circumstances may cause serious burn injuries. This happens for several reasons:

• Post-accident fires cause even more injuries to already injured people.  
• Structural collapse prevents injured occupants from escaping and restricts rescue efforts. 
• Fuel causes post-accident flames to spread quickly, increasing the potential for serious burn injuries.
•  Rear-end impacts cause fires and burn injuries three times as frequently when the fuel tank is in a car’s rear.
• Lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) present an increasing risk to drivers and first responders. When a crash initiates thermal runaway, it can cause fires and electrical shock. Battery enclosures prevent effective, timely extinguishing. Also, fire re-ignition can occur after the original fire has been extinguished. 

What are the Common Types of Burn Injuries?

Physicians categorize burn injuries based on severity and tissue damage. Many medical resources describe burns as one, two, or three degrees. Others list six categories. The Model System Knowledge Translation Center’s Burn Injury Fact Sheet consolidates burns into four types. 

• First degree: superficial burns involving only the epidermis (outer) skin layer
• Second degree: burns involving the epidermis and dermis, painful, swelling, blistering, may be superficial or deep, may require surgery, deeper burns may scar
• Third degree: “full thickness burns” may damage or destroy epidermis, dermis, and deeper layers, affected tissue may appear charred or discolored, often numb, may require skin grafts
• Fourth degree: deep burns that destroy skin, fat, and muscle, and may reach through tissue to the bone

Burn severity usually determines an injured victim’s treatment, pain, recovery, scarring, disfigurement, disabilities, and psychological issues. 

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Who Can File a Burn Injury Claim in Connecticut?

You have the right to file a claim or lawsuit against the person or entity that caused or contributed to your burn injuries. When you contact Baber Law Law Firm for a free consultation, our burn injury lawyer will review your case and discuss your legal options for recovering compensation.

What Compensation Can You Recover for a Connecticut Burn Injury?

Burn injury compensation varies depending on liability, medical bills, injury severity, recovery, and disabilities. When we negotiate or try our clients’ cases, we may seek three types of damages: Economic, Non-Economic, and Punitive. 

Economic Damages 

This category includes total out-of-pocket expenses incurred during treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. When treatment is ongoing, an economic expert can project future costs. Economic damages may include:

• Medical bills
• Surgical expenses 
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation 
• Mobility devices and structures
• Income losses
• Emergency and medical transportation 
• Funeral and burial expenses

Non-Economic Damages

This is negotiated compensation for psychological, physical, and emotional issues. A settlement relies on a client’s subjective considerations as to how the issues affect them. Non-economic damages may include

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Anxiety 
• Mental health issues
• Loss of enjoyment
• Loss of consortium
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Permanent impairment

Punitive Damages

A Connecticut jury has the discretion to award punitive damages. They’re a punishment for the responsible party’s actions. The majority of the evidence presented must prove that the defendant’s actions were reckless, intentional, and malicious. Some liability insurance policies exclude punitive damages, and insurers won’t pay them. 

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Who Can You Sue After a Burn Injury in Connecticut?

If a person, company, or organization caused or contributed to your burn injuries, you may have the right to sue them. Potential defendants may include:

• A product manufacturer
• A negligent person who caused a burn injury while grilling
• A person using fireworks negligently
• The manufacturer of inherently dangerous chemicals or compounds
• A manufacturer whose car, truck, or E-bike created a fire hazard
• A negligent driver who caused an accident that triggered a fire. 

Contact Baber Law Law Firm immediately if you believe someone injured you. Your timely notification allows us to investigate your case before evidence becomes unavailable. 

What Do You Need to Prove a Burn Injury Case?

Whether we negotiate or try a case, evidence is critical to proving liability and damages. We conduct a thorough investigation and obtain medical records. The evidence we document for a burn injury claim varies based on the type of case. 

Product Liability Claims

The defective product is the most critical evidence when a Connecticut burn injury lawyer needs to prove that it caused your burn injuries. When a product causes injuries, manufacturers and their insurers usually attempt to recover it before you seek legal assistance. When they obtain a defective product, they may conduct destructive testing. Once they accomplish this, it usually prevents us from performing independent testing and analysis on your behalf. 

Workplace Claims

If a negligent party caused your workplace injury,  contact Baber Law Law Firm as soon as possible. Nate Baber and his legal team can determine if you have additional compensation options. 

Connecticut’s Workers’ Compensation statutes, Chapter 568 §31-293, give you and your employer the right to seek damages from a responsible third party. You cannot file a claim or suit against your employer or fellow employee, even if they did cause your injuries. 

If you sue a responsible party, you must also take steps to protect your employer and the Compensation insurer’s legal rights. If you make a third-party claim or file a suit, you still have a right to recover Workers’ Compensation benefits. 

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How Does a Connecticut Burn Injury Lawyer Help?

Per Connecticut statutes, Baber Law Law Firm handles all injury cases on a contingency basis. This means you pay no expenses, and you owe us a fee only after we settle your injury claim. 

We begin with a free consultation to review your case and determine if we can help you. As every accident is different, we conduct an investigation as soon as possible after your burn incident occurs.  

• First, we talk to you to understand your perception of the occurrence. 
• Once we understand the facts, we discuss your legal options.
• If we accept your case and you agree, we will sign a Representation Agreement.  
• We conduct an independent investigation to assess the legal issues.  
• We place all responsible parties on notice and notify them to place their liability insurers on notice of your claim. 
• We interact with insurers during your recovery period. 
• When the timing is appropriate, we make a settlement demand and work to settle your case. 
• If necessary, we may file a lawsuit and conduct depositions, expert evaluations, and other formal discovery.

If we file a lawsuit, we will continue our efforts to resolve your claim. We may negotiate informally, attend settlement conferences, or participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve disputes. As we prepare your case early on, we’re always ready to go to trial if we can’t reach a fair settlement. 

What is the Time Limit for Resolving a Connecticut Burn Injury Claim?

In most situations, Connecticut’s statute of limitations allows two years to resolve your claim. You must settle or file a lawsuit by the deadline, or you relinquish your right to make a claim. The statute allows more time if the injured person is a minor, 

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Connecticut Burn Injury Lawyer

If someone caused or contributed to a serious burn injury, you need a legal representative working on your behalf. Nate Baber and Baber Law Law Firm want to help you. Contact us to schedule a free consultation by clicking a pop-up window or leaving a message on our contact page.