Chicago Burn Injury Lawyer
Have you or a loved one suffered serious burn injuries in Illinois due to negligence?
The Law Offices of Michael J. Brennan is a Chicago based burn injury law firm that helps the victims of fires and other burn injuries in their time of need.
Did you suffer a burn injury after a car accident caused a fire? Perhaps you’re a construction worker in any of the countless Chicago work sites and an electrical issue or explosion resulted in severe burns. No matter the cause, when someone suffers a burn injury, it can be a horrible experience.
The team at the Law Offices of Michael J. Brennan will work with top experts to fully investigate how your accident happened to determine if anyone was negligent and can be held legally responsible for your burn injury.
The Illinois Fire and Safety Alliance an organization dedicated to fire safety, burn prevention, and supporting burn survivors has put together a burn injury fact sheet concerning the number of burns that occur each year.
Many new Chicago burn injury accidents are preventable because they happen due to negligence on behalf of a vehicle owner or operator, a building owner or management, or other responsible party. Illinois law states that a reasonable party must use ordinary care in maintaining a vehicle or property so as to not result in a fire or burn injury. Too often an owner may not act reasonably and display ordinary care in maintaining their Illinois property for fire prevention thus leading to a fire and burn injury.
How Are Burn Injuries Measured?
Burns are measured in severity by degrees:
- First-degree burns: These often occur from small situations and leave the skin red without signs of blistering.
- Second-degree burns: The skin will blister a bit and have a slight thickness.
- Third-degree burns: This changes the appearance of the skin completely and can have a white, leathery look.
- Fourth-degree burns: These are the most severe and go past the skin level into the tendons and bones.
Types of Burns include:
- Chemical burns caused by contact with chemicals including battery acid, oils, and gases.
- Inhalation burns caused by inhaling or breathing in chemicals or other dangerous or toxic substances which can cause severe lung damage.
- Ultraviolet burns may happen due to tanning booths.
- Contact thermal burns happen when an individual touches an extremely hot surface such as an uncovered steam pipe, hot metal, glass, or other surface.
- Electrical burns occur when a person suffers electric shock from a faulty outlet or similar problem.
- Scalding burns caused by the contact with boiling or very hot liquids
- Direct contact with fire or proximity to an explosion
After a fire accident or burn injury, these scars may develop:
- Keloid: where the scar tissue grows beyond the original site of the injury turning red or pinkish in color. Over time this scar tissue will turn dark.
- Hypertrophic: are similar to Keloid in their appearance but these scars are confined to the injury site and do not overgrow.
- Contracture scars: a tightening of the skin which is permanent; the contracture affects the nearby muscles, tendons, and ligaments depending on the severity of the burn and scar. A contracture scar limits mobility and range of motion of the affected area. It may also cause nerve damage.
After a burn injury it can take up to 1-2 years for the injury and scar to stabilize. Surgery may be required including plastic surgery to improve the mobility of the area injured by the scar and improve the scar’s appearance.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Recover From A Burn Injury?
If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury in Illinois, our Chicago burn injury lawyer can help. You may be entitled to substantial financial compensation for the following:
- Plastic surgery
- Reconstructive surgery
- Physical therapy
- Psychological therapy/counseling
- Hospital bills
- Medical expenses
- Nursing care
- Medication
- Medical devices
- Lost wages due to time away from work
- Impaired capacity to work in the future
- Emotional distress
- Disfigurement
- Loss of a loved one (in cases of wrongful death)
- More, depending on the facts and circumstances of your case.
Call Our Burn Injury Attorneys In Chicago
We have two offices staffed with lawyers specializing in personal injury including burn injury accidents, one if Chicago, and one in Orland Park.
We can help maximize your compensation by hiring fire experts, engineers, electrical, plastic surgeons, top medical specialists, economists and other experts to prove lost wages, and occupational rehabilitation.
If you or a loved one suffered a severe burn injury, explosion, or fire accident, contact the lawyers at The Law Offices of Michael J. Brennan, we can help.