BURN

INJURIES

Getting Results for Southern California Burn Injury Victims Since 1977

• Alleviate your worries and provide peace of mind—As your medical and hospital bills continue to grow, you may be experiencing the financial impact of your burns. A burn injury attorney at OPO can connect you with a team of expert doctors and medical professionals to relieve some of your financial burdens. We will also help you manage the details of your claim, so no critical deadlines or documents that could impact your claim are missed.
• Investigate your claim to ensure you receive maximum compensation—Our team of attorneys understands how to prepare burn injury cases, having handled countless cases since our firm’s establishment. These cases are complex and typically involve a great deal of investigation including consulting medical experts, reviewing security camera footage, accident scene reconstruction, and collecting witness statements. Regardless of what is required, we are prepared to put all of our resources to work to build a case designed specifically to get you the outcome you need to move forward with your life.
• Help you understand your rights and legal options—When you don’t understand your rights, you’re more likely to get the run-around from insurance companies or perform activities that may hurt your case. An experienced burn injury attorney will not only advise you of the compensation you’re entitled to for your claim but also negotiate on your behalf so you can seek the best medical treatment available.

Serious or fatal fires don’t merely happen. Something starts them. Often, they result from defective products, such as propane tanks or wall heaters. These are products that people trust and don’t expect to cause them harm. Unfortunately, burn injuries due to negligence are all too common, and when this is the case, the responsible party or parties must be held liable for their actions.

Forty-three percent of burn victims admitted to Burn Centers between 2005 and 2014 were due to a fire or flame. Other leading causes of burns are:

• Scalds from contact with hot liquids, steam, or hot surfaces.
• Electrical currents that pass electricity through the skin.
• Household chemicals such as gasoline or paint thinner.
• Radiation resulting from high exposure to X-rays during diagnostic testing.
• Friction burns that take place when the skin is dragged repeatedly against rough surfaces. An example of this is road rash, which typically occurs during a motorcycle accident.

Doctors diagnose burns on depth and extent of damage, swelling, the degree of pain, and signs of infection. Based on these facts, burns are then classified according to degrees of severity as follows: first degree, second degree, third degree, and fourth degree. While first-degree burns only impact the top layer of skin and tend to heal quickly, second-degree burns blister and damage both the outer layer of the skin as well as the layer underneath. Third-degree burns are more severe as they affect not only the skin but also the tissue underneath and cause nerve damage.  A fourth-degree burn is the most severe, and potentially life-threatening that destroys all layers of the skin, as well as bones, muscles, and tendons. A third- or fourth-degree burn victim is more susceptible to complications and may experience mobility issues due to scarring around the joints or possible amputation.

When you obtain the legal services of a burn injury attorney at OPO, our mission is to expedite your recovery process so you can get back to how your life was before the accident. We accomplish this by drawing upon our legal expertise and years of experience in handling burn injury cases to secure enough compensation to restore the losses you’ve incurred in response to your burns. Some of the damages you may be able to recover compensation for include:

• Past and future medical and hospital expenses.
• Physical and mental pain and suffering.
• Loss of income.
• Lost quality of life.