Victims can suffer permanent scarring and disfigurement because of severe burns, as well as loss of limb and disabilities. Bad burn injuries are also emotionally scarring for many victims. If you or someone you love has sustained a major burn injury in contact a San Antonio burn injury lawyer at the Law Offices of Maloney & Campolo. We have the experience in personal injury law to build a strong case against one or more responsible parties.

Why Choose Us?

  • We care about clients. Attorneys Tim Maloney and Paul Campolo founded the firm because they care about people. Our goal has always been to passionately defend clients’ rights and protect their best interests.
  • We have years of experience in the field. Our firm has over 20 years of hands-on experience representing clients and winning cases in all categories of personal injury law, including burn injury claims.
  • We operate on a contingency fee basis. Our San Antonio personal injury attorneys will only charge you for their services if they win financial compensation for you. We have secured more than $150 million in verdicts and settlements for past clients.

When to Call a San Antonio Burn Injury Attorney

Not all burn injuries will give you grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you suspect that someone else’s negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or intent to harm contributed to your burns, however, you may have a claim. Signs of negligence, such as distracted driving that caused a car accident, could mean someone else is liable for your damages. A phone call to a local San Antonio burn injury lawyer could give you the information you need to protect your rights and bring a lawsuit against the at-fault party.

san antonio burn injury attorney

Types of Damages Available to Burn Injury Victims

Filing a burn injury claim in San Antonio can lead to important compensation for your past, present and future related losses. Severe burns can cost thousands of dollars in medical treatments alone. If you did not cause your injuries, you should not have to pay for them. You may be able to recover financial compensation for many of your losses.

Economic Damages

The monetary cost of a burn injury can be immense, with expenses such as multiple surgeries, skin grafts, reconstructive procedures, medications, medical devices, physical therapy and rehabilitation. In addition to medical care, a burn injury survivor may suffer economic losses in the form of property damage, lost income, and lost capacity to earn due to a temporary or permanent disability.

Non-Economic Damages

Severe burn injuries can have an impact on a victim’s mental, psychological and emotional state in addition to causing physical harm. In Texas, compensation is available for these losses, generally known as “pain and suffering.” They can include:

  • Physical pain and chronic pain
  • Emotional harm
  • Mental distress and anguish
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Psychological trauma
  • Depression or anxiety
  • Loss of quality of life
  • Permanent scarring and disfigurement
  • Reduced self-esteem
  • Loss of consortium (for loved ones)

Serious and disfiguring burns can lead to greater non-economic damages than milder or first-degree burn injuries. The amount awarded in pain and suffering is decided by a jury upon listening to the victim’s injury story and personal experience.

Punitive Damages

In Texas, Chapter 41 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code allows for the recovery of punitive or exemplary damages in cases where it is proven (with clear and convincing evidence) that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s injuries through “fraud, malice or gross negligence.” The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the victim for his or her losses, but to punish the defendant for serious or intentional acts of wrongdoing.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Burn Injury Lawyer in San Antonio?

Hiring a lawyer to represent you during a burn injury case in San Antonio can help you achieve the case results that you need to move forward with peace of mind. Your lawyer can carefully evaluate your claim, investigate the incident that left you with burn injuries, gather evidence of negligence, determine the liable parties and navigate complicated legal procedures on your behalf. You can count on your attorney to negotiate a fair insurance settlement or represent you in court, as needed, to secure justice.

Assigning Liability for Your Burn Injury

After suffering a serious burn, victims need to ask themselves whether someone else should have prevented the injury. Having a law firm investigate the incident can help uncover facts or evidence that point to a person, company, or multiple parties that negligently caused the burns.

Liability and negligence go hand in hand. In personal injury law, negligence means that someone failed to act with the level of care expected of them, and that this resulted in harm to another person. When negligence is behind severe burn injuries, the negligent party can be held liable, or legally and financially responsible, for the victim’s losses.

The liable party in your burn injury case in San Antonio will depend on the circumstances surrounding your burns. You may have grounds to file a claim against an employer, a product manufacturing company, a property owner, a motor vehicle driver, a truck company, a government agency or other parties. An attorney can help you identify all liable parties in your case.

Filing a Burn Injury Claim in San Antonio

In the state of Texas, the statute of limitations gives personal injury victims two years from the date of the accident to bring civil claims. You or your lawyer will file the claim with the county courts in the county where the accident happened. The claim will include the name and contact information of the defendant, a description of the accident and your damages, and an amount of compensation you seek as restitution. The defendant will then respond to your claim with acceptance or denial.

Claim acceptance will move to the settlement negotiation stage. Claim denial gives you the right to take the defendant to court. If settlement negotiations are unsuccessful, you can also take the defendant to court. A lawyer can help you with a burn injury trial in San Antonio. Your lawyer will fight for fair and full compensation through all available outlets, ensuring you get the most possible for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and property damages.

What Causes Burn Injuries?

The four types of burn injuries are thermal, chemical, electrical, and radiation. Thermal burns occur from contact with a source of heat, chemical burns from acidic or base chemicals, electrical from live wires or electrical components, and radiation from UV rays or other sources of radiation. A person could suffer severe burn injuries under many different circumstances.

Hot metals, electrical currents, defective x-ray machines, paint thinner, gasoline, or building fires could all lead to victims with life-threatening burn injuries. An unsafe work environment could cause an accident resulting in a burn injury. If you were injured on the job, a San Antonio workplace accident attorney can guide you through the process of filing a claim.

Contact a Burn Injury Attorney Today

A San Antonio burn injury attorney can help you hold a negligent party accountable for causing or contributing to your burn injuries. If you or a loved one recently suffered serious burns because of an accident involving a vehicle collision, chemical spill, workplace incident, unsafe property, or defective product, contact us for a free consultation.