Suffered Severe Burns or Disfiguring Injuries in a San Antonio Accident? We Fight for Healing, Recovery, and Justice.
The agony of a severe burn injury is unimaginable—a searing pain followed by a long, grueling ordeal of skin grafts, infections, and surgeries. Beyond the physical trauma, burn victims and those who suffer severe facial lacerations or scarring face a lifelong emotional battle with disfigurement. The visible scars can lead to profound psychological suffering, social anxiety, and a loss of self-identity. The financial costs are equally staggering, encompassing years of specialized medical care, reconstructive surgery, and therapy.
At Barton & Associates, our San Antonio burn injury and disfigurement lawyers understand the multi-dimensional catastrophe these injuries represent. We are not just litigators; we are advocates who fight to secure compensation that truly reflects the totality of your suffering—the physical pain, the emotional anguish, the costly medical future, and the permanent impact on your life and livelihood. We work with the nation’s leading burn care specialists and plastic surgeons to build a comprehensive case that demands the resources you need to heal, both inside and out.
The Devastating Reality of Burn Injuries & Severe Scarring
Burn injuries are classified by depth, with each degree representing greater damage and longer recovery:
- First-Degree Burns: Superficial, affecting only the outer layer of skin (epidermis). Painful but typically heal without scarring.
- Second-Degree Burns: Partial-thickness burns that damage the epidermis and part of the dermis. Characterized by blistering, severe pain, and a high risk of scarring.
- Third-Degree Burns: Full-thickness burns that destroy both layers of skin and damage underlying tissue. The skin may appear white, black, or leathery. These burns are often painless at the site because nerve endings are destroyed, but they are life-threatening and always require skin grafts, causing permanent scarring and disability.
- Fourth-Degree Burns: Extend into muscle, tendon, and bone. These are catastrophic, often requiring amputation.
Disfigurement from burns, lacerations, or crush injuries goes beyond scarring. It involves a permanent alteration of one’s appearance—facial asymmetry, loss of features, or contractures that limit movement—that can be psychologically devastating.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Burn Injuries We Handle
Our firm has experience with the complex liability issues in severe burn cases:
- Vehicle Fires & Explosions: Caused by defective fuel tanks, electrical system failures, or post-collision fuel leaks in cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
- Industrial & Workplace Fires: Explosions in oil fields, chemical plant accidents, electrocutions, and incidents involving flammable liquids or gases.
- Premises Fires & Scalding Accidents: Apartment fires due to faulty wiring, water heater explosions, or severe scalds from excessively hot tap water in hotels or rentals.
- Defective Product Fires: Malfunctioning batteries (e.g., e-scooters, phones), household appliances, or space heaters that catch fire.
- Chemical Burns: From dangerous cleaning products, industrial solvents, or workplace exposures.
The Long, Painful Road to Recovery: A Lifetime of Needs
The initial treatment is just the beginning. A severe burn victim’s journey involves:
- Acute Hospitalization: Often in a regional burn center for months, dealing with life-threatening infections, fluid loss, and multiple surgical debridements (removal of dead tissue).
- Skin Grafting & Reconstructive Surgery: Dozens of procedures may be needed over years to replace damaged skin, improve function, and address scarring.
- Rehabilitation & Physical/Occupational Therapy: To regain mobility and function in burned limbs, combat scar contractures, and learn new ways to perform daily tasks.
- Psychological Counseling: To address PTSD, depression, anxiety, and the profound emotional trauma of the accident and the resulting disfigurement.
- Lifetime Scar Management: Including pressure garments, silicone sheets, and laser treatments to minimize scarring.
How Barton & Associates Calculates the True Value of a Burn Injury Case
Burn cases are among the most expensive personal injury claims because the future needs are extensive, visible, and well-documented. We employ a strategic, expert-driven approach:
- Life Care Planning with Burn Specialists: We work with certified life care planners and your treating burn surgeons to create a detailed, itemized report of your lifetime medical and supportive care needs. This includes:
- Future reconstructive surgeries (revision of grafts, scar releases, etc.)
- Psychiatric and psychological counseling
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Prescription medications for pain and infection prevention
- Custom pressure garments and scar management supplies
- Home health care assistance
- Vocational & Economic Analysis: Severe burns on the hands or body can prevent a return to one’s profession. We work with vocational experts to calculate loss of earning capacity.
- Emphasis on Non-Economic Damages: The law allows compensation for “disfigurement” as a separate category from pain and suffering. We fight aggressively to secure maximum compensation for:
- Physical Pain and Suffering (the immense pain of burn treatment is legendary)
- Mental Anguish & Emotional Distress (PTSD, depression, anxiety)
- Disfigurement & Loss of Enjoyment of Life (for the permanent visible scars and the social isolation they can cause)
The Unique Legal Challenges in Burn & Disfigurement Cases
These cases involve battling powerful defendants—automakers, chemical companies, manufacturers—who will argue the injuries were not as severe as claimed or that the victim assumed a risk.
We overcome these challenges by:
- Preserving Critical Evidence: In product cases, we immediately secure the defective product (e.g., the burned vehicle) for inspection by our own forensic engineers.
- Leveraging Powerful Visual Evidence: Photographs and video documentation of the healing process and the permanent scars are profoundly compelling to a jury.
- Presenting Expert Testimony from Treating Physicians: Your burn surgeon is the most powerful witness to describe the severity of your injuries, the agony of treatment, and the permanence of your condition.
The Critical Steps to Take After a Severe Burn Accident
- Seek Emergency Burn Center Care: Go immediately to a hospital with a dedicated burn unit. This specialized care is critical for survival and outcomes.
- Preserve Evidence: If possible, preserve the product or appliance that caused the fire or burn. Do not let an insurance adjuster take it for “examination.”
- Document the Injury & Recovery: With your doctor’s permission, have a family member photograph the burns at different stages of healing. This visual record is invaluable.
- Follow All Medical Recommendations Diligently: Gaps in treatment will be used against you to argue you are not as injured as claimed.
- Begin Counseling Early: Seeking psychological help documents the emotional trauma as part of your damages.
- Contact a Burn Injury Attorney Immediately: Call Barton & Associates. These cases require an early and thorough investigation, especially when a defective product may be involved.
Why You Need a Firm with Catastrophic Injury Resources
Burn injury litigation is expensive and complex. It requires:
- Financial Resources to hire burn care experts, life care planners, and product liability engineers.
- Medical Knowledge to understand the nuances of burn treatment and grafting.
- A Proven Record of success that makes insurance companies take our multi-million dollar demands seriously.
The Barton & Associates Difference
- Future-Care Focus: We are relentless in securing compensation that covers a lifetime of needs, not just past medical bills.
- Compassion for the Whole Person: We understand the deep emotional wounds that accompany physical disfigurement and fight for compensation that addresses both.
- Strategic Partnership with Your Medical Team: We work closely with your doctors to understand your prognosis and build the strongest possible case.
Don’t Let a Negligent Party’s Insurance Limit Your Recovery
The initial settlement offer will be a fraction of what is needed. It will not account for a 30-year-old’s future surgeries, therapy, and lost income over a 50-year lifespan.
Our goal is a recovery that acts as a financial foundation for your new life—covering the best possible medical care, providing psychological support, and compensating you for the permanent change to your body and your sense of self.
Contact Our San Antonio Burn Injury & Disfigurement Law Firm Today
If you or a loved one has suffered severe burns, scarring, or disfiguring injuries in an accident in San Antonio or South Texas, your future stability depends on the legal action you take now. The costs are too high to leave to chance.
Your visible scars are evidence of your suffering. Let us make them evidence for your justice.
Call Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law, now at 210-500-0000 for a free, confidential consultation. We will listen with empathy, explain the legal path forward, and begin the critical work of building the comprehensive case you need to heal and rebuild.
Main Category: Personal Injury
Practice Area Category: Catastrophic & Severe Injuries
Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law
115 Camaron St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Office: 210-500-0000
