Santa Monica Burn Injury Attorneys

Serious Burn Injuries Call for Serious Legal Counsel

At Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP, our attorneys are dedicated to representing Santa Monica burn injury victims and their families. A burn can lead to life-changing complications including lingering pain, emotional distress, long-term disability, and heavy financial burdens. The situation only worsens  when the responsible party refuses to accept liability. If you have suffered a serious burn due to the negligence or misconduct of others, the team at Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP is ready to step in and advocate for your best interests. We bring vast experience, extensive resources, and a proven commitment to fighting for the compensation and justice you deserve after a devastating accident.

Talk to our Santa Monica burn injury lawyers today. Call (866) 634-4525 and request a free case review with our team.

Common Causes of Burn Injuries

Serious burn injuries can result from many types of accidents and unsafe conditions. If you sustained a burn due to another party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct, you may have grounds for a burn injury claim or lawsuit. We know every case is unique and our expert team of burn injury attorneys are equipped with the knowledge and experience needed to handle even the most complex claims. We are ready to evaluate your situation and take appropriate legal action to help you pursue compensation you need and the justice you deserve.

Common causes of burn injuries include:

• Motor vehicle defects: Automobiles with manufacturing or design flaws can lead to fires or explosions, causing serious burn injuries. Dangerous vehicle defects can include issues with fuel systems, electrical components, or other faulty parts. A member of our firm helped win a major victory against General Motors for a devastating fire caused by a defective fuel system.
• Defective household products: Heaters, stoves, and other everyday appliances can pose a risk if they are improperly designed, manufactured, or labeled, potentially causing house fires, property damage, and burns.
• Unsafe electronics: Personal electronic devices, from phones to vape pens and hoverboards can overheat, spark, or explode, resulting in serious burn injuries.
• Chemical products: Certain products contain hazardous chemicals that can cause chemical burns, especially when the product packaging is not made correctly. Chemical burns can be just as or more severe than burns caused by heat or fire.

If you or someone you love was burned in an accident caused by another party’s negligence, don’t wait to take action. Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP can offer the support of our skilled burn injury lawyers in Santa Monica to assist with your claim.

Understanding the Severity of Burn Injuries

Every burn injury is unique. The cause, severity, and short- and long-term impacts vary significantly from patient to patient, but any serious burn can lead to a wide range of medical challenges. A burn can result from exposure to heat, chemicals, electricity, or radiation, and each type requires a specific approach to treatment. Burns are typically categorized into four degrees of severity, which help determine the necessary medical response and the potential for recovery.

Understanding Your Burn Degree: 

• First-degree: A first-degree burn is mild, affecting only the outer layer of skin. Some irritation may occur, but in-home medical care is typically sufficient to treat it.
• Second-degree: A second-degree burn affects both the outer layer and the underlying layer of skin, causing blisters, severe pain, and potential scarring. Urgent medical care is advised to avoid infection and reduce the chances of the burn causing a permanent scar.
• Third-degree: A third-degree burn destroys all layers of skin, plus the fatty layer and soft tissues such as nerves and tendons beneath it. Without emergency medical care, a third-degree burn can be fatal.
• Fourth-degree: This type of burn extends much deeper, damaging muscles and bones. Even with emergency medical attention, a fourth-degree burn often proves fatal. Fifth- and sixth-degree burns also exist but are not considered survivable.

Burn degree is an important factor in a burn injury claim, as it directly influences the amount of compensation necessary for your recovery. Typically, higher-degree burns require more extensive medical treatments, longer recovery periods, and possibly lifelong repercussions such as reduced mobility or disfigurement.

Consequently, diagnosis of a high-degree burn can make it simpler to prove that a substantial amount of compensation is necessary to cover your injury-related losses.

The Long-Term Consequences of Burn Injuries

Serious burn injuries often leave survivors grappling with lifelong symptoms and complications. High-degree burns can drastically alter your quality of life, causing not only physical pain, but also tremendous mental and emotional distress.

When building your burn injury claim, an experienced attorney will factor in these future hardships to determine the compensation owed. Your claim should account not only for immediate medical treatment but also ongoing care, potential loss of income, and the general pain and suffering that comes from living with the lasting impacts of a burn injury.

Permanent complications caused by burn injuries may include:

• Nerve damage: Serious burns can damage nerves, leading to chronic pain, numbness, or even paralysis in severe cases.
• Scarring and disfigurement: Burns frequently lead to permanent scarring and disfigurement, which can affect the survivor’s appearance, self-esteem, and mental health. In some cases, scar tissue can limit mobility and require additional surgeries or therapy.
• Breathing difficulties: Inhalation burns can cause breathing problems by damaging the lungs and airways. Lung damage can lead to recurrent respiratory infections and long-term breathing difficulties.
• Emotional trauma: The psychological impact of a severe burn injury cannot be understated. Survivors often deal with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health issues as a result of their traumatic experiences.

Consult with our burn injury lawyers in Santa Monica to learn how we at Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP can help ensure your current and long-term needs are addressed in your burn accident claim.

Burn Injury Costs & Damages

Burn injuries often require extensive and long-term treatment, from skin grafting to physical therapy to mental health counseling. The costs associated with recovery from a burn injury can be overwhelming, and a burn injury claim may be the only means for victims to seek coverage for these expenses.

By filing a burn injury claim, survivors can pursue compensation for a range of damages related to their injuries. You can trust our experienced team of burn injury attorneys to understand the full scope of your needs and demand fair compensation from the party that caused your burn injury.

Damages in a burn injury claim can include:

• Medical treatment costs: Medical care costs include all immediate medical expenses related to the burn injury such as hospital stays, surgeries, medication, and physical therapy.
• Future medical care: Many burn injury survivors require ongoing treatment and care, including rehabilitation, future surgeries, and mental health services.
• Adjustments to daily living: Survivors of serious burn injuries often require modifications to their home or vehicle, adaptive devices, or personal care assistance.
• Lost wages and future income: If the burn injury results in time away from work or inhibits your ability to work in the future, you may seek compensation for lost wages and loss of earning capacity.
• Pain and suffering: This type of compensation considers the physical pain and emotional distress caused by the injury, as well as any reduction in your ability to enjoy life as you did before the injury.

Building Your Burn Injury Claim

Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP  is well equipped to build compelling burn injury claims for our clients. We begin by thoroughly researching the accident to understand its cause and the parties involved. We often work with relevant experts, such as accident reconstruction specialists, product engineers, and medical professionals, to gather additional insights and evidence.

Our team meticulously calculates damages, accounting for current and future expenses related to the injury. Our goal is to reach a fair settlement through negotiation, but we prepare every case as if it will go to trial—we are ready to fight for your rights in court if necessary.

The following types of evidence can be instrumental in building a strong burn injury claim:

• Product evidence: If a defective product caused the burn, the product itself, along with any packaging, instructions, or warnings, can be crucial evidence. It’s important to preserve this evidence and keep it in a safe place until our attorneys can analyze it or send it to a product engineer for expert insight.
• Photographs and video: Visual evidence of the accident scene, the burn injury, and any property damage can help illustrate the severity of the incident and the harm it caused. Photos or videos taken at the scene, surveillance footage, or images captured by witnesses can all be useful.
• Expert testimony: Specialists in fields such as engineering, product design, fire investigation, and medicine can provide valuable insights that support your claim. Their expert testimony can help establish the cause of the accident, the severity of the injury, and the impact of the injury on your life.
• Accident reports: If the incident was reported to authorities or if an official investigation was conducted, these reports can provide important details about the accident and help establish liability.

Greene Broillet & Wheeler’s Success with Burn Injury Cases

The veteran attorneys at Greene Broillet & Wheeler in Santa Monica are familiar with the challenges of complicated, high-stakes burn injury cases, and have decades of proven success in managing them. 

Attorney Christine Spagnoli was a key member of the trial team in a landmark lawsuit against General Motors (GM).

GM was accused of manufacturing a defective fuel system that resulted in severe burns of two adults and four children. Through Spagnoli’s effort and expertise, the case ended in a $4.9 billion jury award, which was the largest product liability verdict in U.S. judicial history at the time. Our attorneys have also secured a $58 million award in the largest single plaintiff’s product liability case in California for a burn injury client.

Start with a Free Case Review – Call Now

As experienced Santa Monica burn injury attorneys, our team at Greene Broillet & Wheeler is committed to helping burn injury survivors in our community pursue justice and compensation.

Our approach is comprehensive, careful, and compassionate. We are ready to handle all aspects of your case, allowing you to focus on your recovery and moving forward. If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury due to another’s negligence, we urge you to contact us immediately, so we can discuss the first steps in starting a burn injury claim.

We’re available 24/7. Contact us online or call (866) 634-4525 the moment you need legal help.