When a Severe Burn Changes Everything, You Need Answers

Florida Severe Burn Injury Lawyer | Free Case Evaluation

A full-thickness burn does not “heal and move on.” If you are looking for a Florida severe burn injury lawyer, it is because this injury changes your whole life. You may face months in a burn unit. You may need repeated skin grafts and scar surgeries over years. You may need physical therapy to fight contractures. A contracture is tight scar tissue that pulls across a healing joint and can lock it in place.

At CHG Personal Injury Lawyers, we represent people who suffered catastrophic, life-altering burns. We also help families who lost someone to them. This page is written for you and your family, not for lawyers.

We work on a contingency fee. That means no upfront cost. You pay attorney’s fees only if we recover money for you. Your case evaluation is free.

Request your free case evaluation — no cost, no obligation. We serve families in English and Spanish. Atendemos en español.

What We Mean by “Severe Burn” — and What We Don’t

Many law-firm pages lump a sunburn, a kitchen scald, and a life-altering injury together. We don’t. We handle catastrophic burns that cause permanent injury, disfigurement, loss of function, or death. These are the injuries that need specialized burn-center care. They change how a person lives, works, and looks for the rest of their life.

You may have a claim if the injury involves:

• Deep partial-thickness (deep second-degree) burns that scar permanently, damage nerves, or destroy function.
• Full-thickness (third-degree) burns that need skin grafts, flap surgery, or reconstruction.
• Fourth-degree burns that reach muscle, tendon, or bone. These often lead to amputation.
• Amputation of a burned limb, hand, or finger.
• Inhalation or airway burns, high-voltage electrical burns, chemical burns, flame burns, and severe scald burns over a large area of the body.
• Wrongful-death cases where a loved one did not survive their burns. This is the most catastrophic outcome there is. We handle these with dignity, focused on the family left behind.

We are based in Florida and take burn cases nationwide. See our severe burn injuries resource hub.

Why Depth and TBSA Drive Everything

Burn surgeons measure two things. These same two things drive the value of a claim. The first is how deep the burn goes. The second is how much of the body it covers. That coverage is called total body surface area, or TBSA. Doctors often estimate it with the “rule of nines.”

The American Burn Association’s Advanced Burn Life Support guidance sets a general rule. Adults with burns over roughly 10% or more of TBSA should be sent to a verified burn center. So should anyone with full-thickness burns. That threshold matters legally, too. A burn serious enough for burn-center transfer is almost never minor. The medical record showing depth and TBSA becomes a cornerstone of the claim.

• Full-thickness (third-degree) burns destroy the entire skin layer, including nerve endings and sweat glands. They will not heal without grafting.
• Fourth-degree burns reach muscle, tendon, or bone. They frequently end in amputation.

By cause, the injuries we handle include:

• Thermal burns (fire, flames, hot surfaces)
• Scald burns (hot liquids, steam)
• Electrical burns
• Chemical burns (acids, solvents, industrial products)
• Inhalation burns that damage the airway and lungs

What makes a severe burn a lifelong condition is often not the first wound. It is the complications that follow. These include infection and sepsis, contractures that freeze a joint, thick raised scarring, chronic nerve pain, and years of surgeries and mental-health care. A claim that ignores those future needs undervalues the injury. That is why we build cases around lifelong care, not a fast settlement.

How Severe Burns Happen and Who May Be Liable

Often more than one party is responsible. Finding every one of them is how a case gets fully valued.

• Truck and vehicle crashes with fuel fires or explosions after a collision. See our truck accidents page.
• Workplace and industrial incidents — flash fires, arc-flash, and electrocution. Beyond workers’ compensation, you may have a separate claim against a third party. That could be an equipment maker, a contractor, or a property owner.
• Defective products — faulty wiring, appliances, vehicles, or lithium-ion batteries that overheat and ignite. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tracks and recalls these fire hazards. You can verify recalls at SaferProducts.gov.
• Building fires, gas leaks, and unsafe property conditions.

If You Were Attacked or Burned on Someone Else’s Property

Maybe you were assaulted, shot, robbed, or set on fire on property you didn’t control. This could be an apartment complex, a hotel or motel, a parking lot or garage, a bar, a gas station, or a store. If so, the owner may share the blame.

Florida property owners owe visitors a duty to keep the property reasonably safe. Depending on the risk, that can include working locks and gates, good lighting, working cameras, and security staff.

Sometimes an owner ignores a known or foreseeable danger, and someone is seriously hurt. When that happens, the injured person may have a claim against that owner. Lawyers call this negligent security (also called inadequate-security premises liability). You do not need to know the term to have a case. You just need to tell us what happened. Learn more on our negligent security page.

What Compensation May Be Available

Florida burn compensation can cover what you have already lost. It can also cover what you will need for the rest of your life. Every case is different, and no lawyer can promise a specific amount. A case evaluation is how we assess what may be recoverable for you.

Compensation may include:

• Medical costs — emergency and burn-unit care, surgeries, skin grafts, reconstructive procedures, and rehab.
• Future care — a documented plan, with dollar figures, for lifelong treatment, revision surgeries, therapy, and assistive devices.
• Lost income and reduced earning power if you can’t return to your old work.
• Pain, suffering, disfigurement, and reduced quality of life.
• Home and vehicle modifications and long-term attendant support.
• Wrongful-death damages for families — funeral costs, loss of support, and loss of companionship.

The most important part of a catastrophic burn claim is proving future cost. It is also the most contested. We work with life-care planners and treating physicians to project decades of surgeries, wound care, and support. The first hospital bill is often a small fraction of the true lifetime cost.

How the Process Works: What to Expect

1. Free case evaluation. We listen, review what happened, and explain your options at no cost — in English or Spanish.
2. Investigation. We gather medical and burn-center records, fire-marshal and accident reports, product evidence, and scene documents.
3. Identify every responsible party and the insurance coverage available.
4. Build damages. We document your current and future medical, life-care, and financial needs with medical and life-care experts.
5. Negotiate. We press insurers for a fair settlement. If they won’t offer one, we file suit.
6. Resolve through settlement or trial.

Let’s be realistic about timing. Catastrophic burn cases often take many months. Complex ones can take longer than a year. One reason is that we may wait until your treatment stabilizes. That way, a life-care plan captures your true long-term needs instead of an early guess. We keep you informed at every step.

Florida’s Deadline to File a Burn Injury Claim

Florida sets a strict deadline. Missing it can permanently end your right to recover. In March 2023, the Legislature shortened the general negligence deadline from four years to two years. For most negligence claims that start on or after March 24, 2023, the deadline is generally two years under Fla. Stat. § 95.11.

That same 2023 law (HB 837) also moved Florida to a modified comparative-negligence rule. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, a person found more than 50% at fault for their own injury generally recovers nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault. You can read the full statutes on Online Sunshine, the Florida Legislature’s official site.

Deadlines vary by claim type and facts. Wrongful-death claims, claims against government defendants, and product-liability claims can each run differently. This is general information, not legal advice about your case. Physical evidence and witness memories fade, so acting early matters. Contact us to confirm the deadline that applies to you.

Serving Florida’s Communities — and Clients Nationwide

We help injured people and families across Florida — including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. Because catastrophic burns can happen anywhere, we take these cases nationwide.

Why Choose CHG Personal Injury Lawyers

• Catastrophic focus. We concentrate on serious, permanent injuries — severe burns, amputations, brain injuries, and other catastrophic injury claims — not routine matters.
• Licensed Florida attorneys. Our lawyers are admitted to The Florida Bar.
• Florida base, nationwide reach.
• Expert-driven future-care documentation through life-care planners and treating physicians.
• Bilingual service — English and Spanish. Hablamos español.
• Contingency fee. No upfront cost. You pay attorney’s fees only if we recover for you.

We do not promise outcomes, publish “win rates,” or claim to be the “best.” The Florida Bar prohibits those claims, and they would be unfair to you. What we offer is focused, experienced representation and an honest assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk to a Florida Severe Burn Injury Lawyer Today

You focus on healing. We’ll handle the legal fight. We review your case, explain your rights, and pursue the compensation you and your family may deserve.

Request your free case evaluation now — free, confidential, no obligation. Atendemos en español.