BURN INJURY LAWYER
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Bossier City Burn Injury Lawyer
Burn injuries are excruciating, and victims often suffer serious psychological trauma on top of the physical trauma they endure. No matter how your burns occur, your injury may have a lasting negative impact on you, resulting in enormous medical costs, lost wages, and lives that are changed forever. When someone else’s negligence causes the injury, it can make things even worse. Fortunately, you have the right to hold this person accountable for any damages you suffered through a personal injury case. A Bossier City burn injury lawyer will fight to get you full compensation for your injuries and suffering.
Whether it was a hotel or restaurant that wasn’t up to code, a defective product, an unsafe work environment, or a negligent landlord that caused your injuries, you deserve to recoup financial losses stemming from the accident as well as any additional compensation for your suffering and pain. You may be able to secure compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages or future earning capacity, and many other losses.
Personal Injury Lawyers for Burn Accidents
As an experienced personal injury lawyer, Michael J. Vergis strives to achieve maximum compensation on your behalf and handles every legal aspect of your case, including negotiations with insurance adjusters, landlords, or anyone else trying to minimize your claim. Attorney Vergis is an experienced and skilled Bossier City burn injury lawyer with the knowledge and dedication necessary to get justice for you. Contact the Law Offices of Michael J. Vergis today for a free legal consultation.
What is a Burn Injury?
A burn injury is skin or other tissue damage caused by extreme heat, sun or radiation exposure, or contact with an electrical current. Burns can range from minor discomfort to life-threatening medical emergencies. Burn treatment varies depending on the injury’s location and its severity. Sunburns and minor injuries are usually treatable at home, while extensive or deep burns require medical attention and sometimes extended care in burn centers.
Burns are categorized according to the depth of the skin damage. First-degree burns are the most minor, while fourth-degree burns cause catastrophic damage and sometimes even wrongful death.
First Degree Burn Injury
A first-degree burn causes pain and redness. First-degree injuries are minor burns and only affect the epidermis (outer skin layer).
Second Degree Burn Injury
A second-degree burn injury causes swelling and red, white, or splotchy skin. The pain may be extreme, and blisters may develop. A deep burn may leave a scar. Second-degree burns affect the epidermis and dermis (second layer of skin).
Third Degree Burn Injury
Third-degree burn injuries reach the fatty layer beneath the skin. Areas affected by burns may appear white, brown, or black, and the skin may look leathery. Victims may not feel pain because third-degree burns can destroy nerves and cause numbness.
Fourth Degree Burn Injury
A fourth-degree burn injury is the most severe and can be life-threatening. These burns go deep, affecting all layers of the skin, tendons, muscles, and bones. The skin is charred, and the bones may be exposed. Victims feel no pain because the burn destroys the nerve endings. Fourth-degree burns require surgery and possibly skin grafts to close the burn site and prevent infection, but permanent scarring is unavoidable.
Common Causes of Burn Injuries
Burn injury claims often arise following a workplace accident, product defect, or industrial explosion. As a local car accident lawyer, Mr. Vergis has also seen the devastating burn injuries that Bossier motor vehicle accidents can cause. Fire, electricity, chemical exposure, radiation, friction, scalds, explosions, and inhalation are a few more specific causes of severe burn injuries.
Thermal or Scalding Burn
Thermal or scalding injuries occur when a person’s skin comes into contact with a heated object, steam, fire, or boiling water. Children’s most common source of burns are scalds from hot liquids, while most adult injuries stem from open flames.
Electrical Burn
Electrical burns often occur in industrial settings or construction sites from electrical shocks or contact with an electrified heating element.
Chemical Burn
Chemical burns can cause the most damage, often reaching the bone and causing permanent scarring and disfigurement. Toxic chemicals such as acid are the leading cause of these burns.
Radiation Burn
Radiation burns happen after radiation exposure and typically occur when a person suffers a severe sunburn.
Friction Burn
The skin coming into contact with a hard object causes friction burns. The most common type of friction burn is road rash following a car, bike, or motorcycle accident.
Flash Burn
Flash burns form when a person is exposed to an explosion. The burns are more severe the closer the victim was to the blast.
Inhalation Injury
People may suffer an inhalation injury when they breathe smoke or chemical fumes. This type of burn may cause upper airway swelling, breathing difficulty, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Treatment for Burn Injuries
Victims may treat minor burns or scalds at home with bandages and pain relieving medications, but severe burns require immediate medical care. Applying cool water may reduce the pain and the burn’s depth; however, over-cooling may cause hypothermia.
Additional treatment is needed for more extensive burns and may include:
- Amputation
- Antibiotics or infection treatments
- IV fluids
- Massage or antihistamines
- Skin grafts
- Surgery
Skin Grafts
Skin grafts are among the most common and effective burn treatments. Grafts entail a surgical procedure that removes skin from a healthy donor site on a victim’s body and transplants it to the damaged areas. The different types of skin grafts include:
- Full-thickness grafts
- Pedicle grafts
- Pinch grafts
- Split-thickness grafts
The body typically accepts a skin graft if the graft “survives” the first 72 hours after transplantation. The graft should take about six months to fully heal if there is no infection and it receives a steady blood supply.
Why You Need a Bossier City Personal Injury Lawyer for Burn Injuries
No matter where or how your serious injury occurred, you need a burn injury lawyer on your side. You deserve compensation for your catastrophic injuries to pay for medical expenses, lost wages, and other financial losses you suffered. The goal of personal injury attorneys is to achieve that for you.
If you were hurt in the workplace or on a job location, you need a skilled lawyer well-versed in personal injury law and who has years of experience dealing with an insurance company, workers’ compensation, and corporation attorneys. Some insurance companies may attempt to limit payouts or deny claims outright when workers suffer injuries on the job.
The professional law firm of Attorney Michael J. Vergis is dedicated to helping burn injury victims in Bossier City and Shreveport, LA and the surrounding communities pursue compensation through personal injury lawsuits.
How Personal Injury Cases Work in Louisiana
You’ll need to know a few points if you’re considering filing a personal injury lawsuit in Louisiana. Per Louisiana Civil Code section 3492, injured persons have one year from the date of their injury to file legal action in civil court. The state strictly enforces this time limit.
This one-year deadline applies to all personal injury cases based on “negligence,” such as Louisiana auto accidents, slips and falls, and intentional torts such as lawsuits after an assault.
If you miss the filing deadline, the defendant can ask the court to dismiss your case. A Bossier City personal injury lawyer like Michael Vergis ensures your lawsuit is filed on time. Time goes by faster than you think; that’s why you must retain legal representation as quickly as possible.
Maintaining Confidentiality Through an Attorney-Client Relationship
The attorney-client privilege protects your confidential information and your communications with your attorney. This rule prevents lawyers from voluntarily telling details regarding their clients’ individual case or otherwise being forced to do so. Confidentiality exists to encourage clients to share information openly and honestly with their attorney so that they may receive thorough representation.
Attorney-client privilege also prevents lawyers from testifying about or being forced to testify about information divulged by clients.
Compensation for Burn Injury Victims
The compensation burn injury victims may receive depends on several factors. These factors include the injury’s type and severity and whether the victim holds any liability for their harm. Generally, victims may recoup damages related to their injury for:
- Emotional Distress
- Lost Future Earning Capacity
- Lost Wages and Other Income Sources
- Loss of Consortium
- Medical Bills and Physical Therapy
- Pain and Suffering
- Property Damage
- Wrongful Death
If the entity responsible exercised particularly bad behavior, the victim might also receive punitive damages. Punitive damages are a means to punish the defendant or discourage future misdeeds. Punitive damages are rarely included in settlement agreements, however. Typically, only judge or jury trials may levy these damages.
Also, if victims are found partially at fault for their injuries, their legal damages may be reduced. Louisiana is a modified comparative negligence state, which means the percentage of their fault reduces a victim’s damages. To learn more about what damages may be available to you following your preventable accident, the personal injury attorneys at The Law Offices of Michael J. Vergis can sit down with you and discuss your legal options in a free consultation.
Free Case Evaluation With an Experienced Bossier City Burn Injury Attorney
Burn injury lawsuits may take years to reach a conclusion. It’s important that you hire an experienced personal injury attorney you can trust to represent your case. Focusing on your recovery must be your main priority when you’ve been injured. Your attorney handles the details of your lawsuit while you heal physically and mentally.
Attorney Michael J. Vergis fights to help you recover the compensation you need and deserve for your serious injuries. Whether you were burned at work or in a motor vehicle accident, turn to the Law Offices of Michael J. Vergis. He is the burn injury lawyer you want representing your personal injury claim in Bossier City, Louisiana and the surrounding cities.
In addition to personal injury litigation, Attorney Vergis also handles Bossier City criminal defense, Bossier City family law, Bossier City civil rights law, and related practice areas. Call (318) 698-3724 today for a free consultation with a top Louisiana personal injury attorney.