Burn Injuries
A serious burn changes how a person moves, how they feel about their appearance, and how they experience something as simple as sunlight or a hot shower. Family members may need to adjust schedules around that care and watch someone they love work through pain that may never fully resolve. When a burn injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, fighting for compensation on top of everything else is not something most people have the time to do alone, which is where a Eugene burn injury lawyer comes in.
At Parke Gordon Law, our catastrophic injury attorneys have more than 25 years of experience helping injured clients secure serious money from insurance companies and at-fault parties. Our team understands how critical it is to maximize compensation for a burn injury claim, and we are prepared to advocate aggressively on your behalf – whether in negotiations or trial.
How Burn Injuries Happen and the Consequences That Follow
Across the cases we handle, burns most often result from a vehicle fire following a car crash or semi-truck collision, friction or exhaust contact during a motorcycle accident, or contact with hot machinery at a job site. Unfortunately, the complications that follow can be nearly as serious as the initial injury, including:
- Infection, since burned skin loses much of its natural ability to fight off bacteria
- Contracture, where scar tissue tightens and restricts movement in a joint or limb
- Keloid or hypertrophic scarring, raised or thickened scar tissue that can continue changing for months after the wound closes
- Loss of normal temperature regulation in the affected area, since damaged skin often loses the sweat glands that once helped control it
These complications shape daily life beyond the initial hospital stay. Someone with contracture on a hand may struggle with tasks that used to be automatic. Someone with visible scarring on the face or arms may want to avoid going out into public. A burn injury claim in Eugene needs to reflect this full picture, not just the treatment that happened in the first few weeks. Our attorneys will consult with treating physicians and other professionals to ensure that all medical and personal complications are accounted for and valued accurately.
How Do Insurance Companies Try to Minimize a Burn Claim?
Burn injuries can take time to diagnose, and the long-term effects will likely be uncertain. Unfortunately, any amount of ambiguity gives insurance adjusters room to argue.
One common tactic is treating scarring as a cosmetic issue rather than a real, compensable loss, even when that scarring limits mobility or causes ongoing pain. Another tactic is disputing whether future revision surgery is medically necessary, especially when a treating physician has only recommended it as a possibility. Insurers also sometimes push for an early settlement before scarring has fully stabilized, knowing that the promise of a quick resolution often means paying less than a victim needs
A burn injury lawyer at our Eugene office is ready to push back on each of these tactics directly, using documentation from burn specialists and plastic surgeons to establish what a claim is actually worth before accepting any offer.
