A serious burn can change your health and daily routine within seconds. A house fire or a workplace chemical spill can leave wounds that require emergency treatment and months of rehabilitation. If another person or business caused you harm through negligence, a Southfield burn injury lawyer at our firm could assess the facts and explain your options for pursuing compensation.
Thurswell Law has represented injured people across Michigan since 1968, and we pair experienced legal analysis with compassionate attention to the concerns that follow a painful accident. A dedicated catastrophic injury lawyer at our firm could also shield you from pressure to settle before you know the full medical impact.
Burn Causes and Medical Impact
A burn claim begins with identifying how the injury happened and who had a duty to prevent it. A property owner may have failed to fix a dangerous condition, or an employer or manufacturer may bear responsibility for a defective product or a careless act. Burns take several forms, including thermal burns from fire or hot surfaces, chemical and electrical burns, and scald injuries from steam or hot liquid. The cause often points to the liable party.
An evidence-supported claim may account for:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income
- Reduced earning ability
- Disfigurement
Our Southfield attorneys could investigate the scene of your burn injury and preserve evidence before it changes. Medical documentation is equally important because your visible wound may not reflect the full loss. For example, a deep third-degree burn can require skin grafts and cause nerve damage that persists beyond the initial hospital stay.
How Does Comparative Fault Affect a Burn Claim?
Insurance companies may argue that your own actions contributed to the incident. Under Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.2959, a court reduces damages by the injured person’s percentage of comparative fault, and a person found more than 50 percent at fault cannot recover non-economic damages.
Because the comparative fault rule can drastically reduce your recovery, early investigation is meaningful. Insurers often raise the argument in premises and product cases where a person’s conduct is easy to criticize in hindsight. Our burn injury attorneys serving Southfield could examine warnings and maintenance records and compare them with witness accounts and safety procedures. We could use this evidence to challenge an unsupported attempt to reassign blame, and we could manage communications with insurers so that statements made during recovery do not distort how your injury occurred.
Filing Deadlines and the Value of Early Action
MCL § 600.5805 generally gives a harmed person three years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury action. Different rules can affect particular claims or defendants, and the circumstances of an injury can change the applicable deadline, so relying on the general period without a case-specific review creates unnecessary risk.
Prompt action also protects evidence before conditions change or records disappear. In burn cases, the discarding of a piece of physical proof, such as a faulty heater or a chemical container, can occur within days of the incident. Our lawyers could coordinate with Southfield medical professionals and other qualified experts to connect your serious burn injury to the negligent act. This preparation could support a demand that reflects both current losses and the treatment you may need in the years ahead.
Contact Our Southfield Attorneys About Your Burn Injury Claim
You should not have to evaluate a complex injury claim while managing painful treatment and an uncertain future. A Southfield burn injury lawyer at our firm could review what happened and identify the parties who may be responsible. We could help you understand your rights and tell you whether you have a claim worth pursuing.
At Thurswell Law, experience gets results. There is no fee until we win, so call today for a free consultation.
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