New York Burn Injury Lawyers
Serious burn injuries can have a devastating, long-term impact on your life. In addition to potentially needing intensive and painful medical treatment and care, burn injuries can leave you with permanent scarring and disfigurement that affects your quality of life. If you have suffered a burn injury in an accident that was due to the negligence of another party, you deserve to seek financial compensation and justice. A New York personal injury lawyer from Harris Keenan & Goldfarb can assist you through the process of pursuing your legal claim.
Founded in 1996, Harris Keenan & Goldfarb has tirelessly advocated for the rights of accident victims in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and throughout the New York area. With a combined 80-plus years of legal experience, our attorneys know what it takes to deal with negligent parties and insurance companies to get you the financial recovery you need.
We prepare every case we take on for trial, so that we are ready to do whatever it takes to obtain a result that is in your best interest.
But we also understand the financial and personal stress that recovering from burn injuries can cause you. For that reason, we work hard to resolve your case as quickly as possible while obtaining fair and full compensation. We’ll take on the legal work so that you can work towards resuming your regular life after a burn injury has turned your world upside down.
When you have suffered burn injuries in an accident, reach out to Harris Keenan & Goldfarb for a free initial consultation with a New York personal injury lawyer from our firm. We can go over your legal options for pursuing financial compensation and justice from those at fault for your injuries.
Why Choose Harris Keenan & Goldfarb to Help You after a Burn Injury?
If you have suffered a burn injury in an accident because of the negligence of another party, you may be facing a long road to physical and emotional recovery. You should not have to divert your time and energy that should be dedicated to your treatment and rehabilitation. Instead, a personal injury lawyer or law firm can pursue a legal case to obtain compensation from those responsible for your injuries and losses. But how do you know which lawyer or law firm to choose? At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, we believe our legal team stands out among others because of:
Our track record of outstanding results
Which includes over $500 million in settlements and verdicts for our clients over the years. Our firm also regularly wins cases for clients that rank on annual lists for top verdicts in New York.
Our respect from our clients and from our peers in the legal community
With several of our firm’s attorneys achieving recognition as Super Lawyers and from the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Our knowledge and experience
Which enable us to craft unique legal strategies and options for your case that are aimed specifically at securing results that serve the goals and needs that you have expressed to us.
Our dedication and compassion to serving you
Recognizing that you need an efficient result in your case that allows you to begin moving on with your life. We work hard to quickly obtain the fair and full compensation you deserve but are always prepared to fight as hard as necessary in your case. We are prepared to go to court and to trial should the need arise.
Burn Injury Statistics
According to the American Burn Association, a person dies from burn injuries approximately every two hours and 35 minutes. About three-quarters of all burn injuries treated in burn care centers occur in the home. Only about eight percent of injuries occurred at work. Almost one-quarter of all burn injuries occur in children under the age of 15. Children under the age of five are also nearly two and a half times as likely as the general population to suffer burn injuries that require emergency medical care. Persons aged 20 to 29 are one and a half times as likely as the general population to suffer a burn injury.
Accidents That Cause Burn Injuries
At Harris Keenan & Goldfarb, we represent victims of burn injuries suffered in accidents, such as these:
Types of Burn Injuries
Burn injuries are usually classified into one of three degrees based on the severity of the burn. These degrees include:
First-degree burns
These injuries only affect the outermost layer of skin, known as the epidermis. First-degree burns can cause redness on the skin and pain.
Second-degree burns
These injuries affect both the epidermis and the second layer of the skin, called the dermis. Second-degree burns may cause swelling, blisters, and red, white, or splotchy-colored skin. Permanent scarring may result when the injury heals.
Third-degree burns
These injuries reach down to the fat layer underneath the skin, causing affected areas to look white, brown, or black. Remaining skin tissue may look leathery. Third-degree burns also destroy nerve cells in the skin, causing numbness.
Some people may refer to additional degrees of burn injuries such as fourth- or fifth-degree burns when deeper tissues such as muscles, bone, or internal organs suffer burn damage.
In addition to the degree of severity, burn injuries can also be categorized as:
Thermal burns
or burns caused by exposure to a heat source such as fire, steam, or hot liquids
Radiation burns
or burns caused exposure to ultraviolet, x-ray, or gamma radiation or to radioactive substances
Chemical burns
or burns caused by exposure to acidic or caustic substances
Friction burns
or burns caused by the skin rubbing on an abrasive surface, such as with road rash
Electrical burns
or burns resulting from electric shock
Complications of Burn Injuries
Serious burn injuries can result in a variety of medical and physical complications in both the short-term and the long term, including:
Bacterial infections of burn wounds, which if left untreated for too long, may lead to a potentially fatal bloodstream infection known as sepsis. Infections may also lead to gangrene and to the removal of dead tissue or amputation of affected extremities.
Dangerous fluid loss and low body temperature.
Permanent scarring, including overgrowth of scar tissue that forms a type of scar called a keloid.
Long-term respiratory problems caused by inhaled smoke or hot air.
Permanent mobility problems when scar tissue over joints shortens and tightens the skin and reduces flexibility and range of motion.
Compensation You Can Recover for Your Burn Injury
After you have sustained a burn injury in an accident that was caused by somebody else, you may be entitled to recover financial compensation for expenses and losses that result from your injury, including for:
Medical and rehabilitation costs, including surgeries and other medical procedures, hospital care, inpatient treatment and rehabilitation, medications, and physical and occupational therapy
Long-term expenses to care for permanent disabilities that result from your burn injury
Lost wages or income if you cannot work while treating or rehabilitating a burn injury
Loss of future earning potential and employment benefits like insurance or pensions when you become permanently disabled from gainful employment due to a burn injury
Pain and suffering
Loss of quality of life, including due to disability, visible scarring or disfigurement, or reduced life expectancy caused by a burn injury
How Can an Attorney Help If You’ve Sustained a Burn Injury in an Accident?
When you have a burn injury claim, you can put yourself in a better position to recover fair and full compensation for your injury when you are represented by an experienced personal injury attorney. Turn to the lawyers of Harris Keenan & Goldfarb who can help you with your burn injury case by:
Investigating the underlying facts and circumstances of the accident that caused your injury, recovering evidence that can be used to show who should be held responsible for the accident and your injuries.
Documenting your injuries and losses by collecting your medical records, bills and invoices, and pay stubs or tax returns.
Going over your legal options with you to help you understand how you may be able to secure a financial recovery.
Ensuring that insurance claims and demands for compensation on your behalf are timely filed.
Aggressively pursuing a negotiated settlement that can quickly provide you with fair and full compensation for your past, ongoing, and future losses and needs.
Filing a lawsuit against those at fault for your burn injury, when litigation represents the best option for recovering the compensation and justice you deserve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions that burn injury victims frequently have about their claims include:
If you have suffered burn injuries in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you can retain Harris Keenan & Goldfarb for your case on a contingency-fee basis. This means you will not need to pay us any legal fees upfront. Our firm is paid only when we secure compensation for your injuries in a negotiated settlement or by winning a lawsuit. That means that you won’t need to worry about paying a lawyer to pursue your burn injury claim while you are also incurring medical expenses to treat your injury and potentially also missing time from work.
If you have been offered an insurance settlement for your burn injury, you should still speak with a burn injury lawyer from Harris Keenan & Goldfarb. An insurer’s first settlement offer rarely pays full or fair value for your legal claim. Our personal injury lawyers can review the details of your case and the terms of a settlement offer that you have received. We’ll advise you whether the settlement provides you with a fair result. If not, our firm can go to work to try to obtain a better offer for you.
If you need to pursue your burn injury claim in court, the statute of limitations under New York law typically requires you to file your suit within three years of the date that your injury occurred. However, lawsuits about burn injuries resulting from medical malpractice must be filed within two and a half years of the date that you received the negligent care that caused your injury. Where your claim is against a municipality, such as a county, town or city, you need to file a Notice of Claim with the municipality within 90 days of the accident and a lawsuit within one year and ninety days from the accident. Where your claim is against the State of New York and certain public authorities, you also need to file a claim or serve a Notice of Intention to file a claim within 90 days of the accident. Service of a Notice of Intention to file a negligence claim extends the time permitted to file a negligence claim against the State of New York and certain public authorities to two years from the date of the accident.
While you may want to know how long your burn injury claim may take to resolve or whether you will have to go to court, we don’t know. We cannot predict the timeline of your case at the start or whether litigation may become necessary. We do work hard to secure fair and full compensation for you as quickly as possible. But if we think going to court and to trial will give you the best chance at getting all the compensation you deserve, we will honestly advise you so. Factors that may make trial more likely in your case include suffering severe injury and permanent disability, incurring substantial financial and personal losses, and at-fault parties disputing their liability or share of responsibility to compensate you.
Contact Our Firm for Help in Recovering Compensation for a Burn Injury That You Suffered in an Accident
Don’t wait. Let Harris Keenan & Goldfarb get started on your claim for compensation for the expenses and losses that you’ve incurred because of a burn injury from an accident that wasn’t your fault. Call us today at 800-724-6529 for a free, no-obligation case review. We can discuss how a personal injury lawyer from our firm can help you through the claims process. You can also fill out our intake form and a member of our team will call you.
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