Who can I Sue in a Burn Accident Lawsuit?

You can bring a claim against anyone that started the fire that led to your injuries. Of course, as mentioned above, the exact identities of your defendants in some part will be defined by the kind of suit you file and if you had any part to play in the accident. With burn injuries, though, here are some likely targets for your action:

• Anyone that may have intentionally started the fire.
• Anyone that may have accidentally started the fire.
• Anyone or entity that may have made the cooking instrument that started the fire.
• Anyone or entity that may have made the electrical product that started the fire.

Normally, people file actions in Illinois for all of the harm that the burn incident caused them. This includes the medical expenses, lost wages, change in normal life, disability, disfigurement, pain and other negative effects from the accident. Yet, it’s also important to understand how burn injuries normally affect victims. This will help show you why people file in the first place.

Here are some of the most common consequences of fire and burn accidents:

• Scarring
• Tissue damage
• Infections
• Loss of feeling
• Organ failure
• Circulation problems
• Hearing and vision failure
• Lung and breathing difficulty

Of course, if you suffer burn injuries, you might experience side effects entirely different from these but these do represent some major themes in fire accidents. Also, they help explain why so many people sue for damages across Illinois after an incident like this.

Yes, you can still sue for your burn injuries even if you were partially responsible for the accident that caused them. The Illinois legislature has adopted modified comparative fault theories.

This means that you can recover as long as your contribution to the underlying event was less than 51%. Also, you reduce your recovery by the amount that you contributed to the accident. Illinois law spells this out in 735 ILCS 5/2-1116(c):

“In all actions on account of death, bodily injury or physical damage to property in which recovery is predicated upon fault, the contributory fault chargeable to the plaintiff shall be compared with the fault of all tortfeasors whose fault was a proximate cause of the death, injury, loss, or damage for which recovery is sought. The plaintiff shall be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought. The plaintiff shall not be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought, but any economic or non-economic damages allowed shall be diminished in the proportion to the amount of fault attributable to the plaintiff.”

So how do you figure out what you can recover? Well, assume you suffered $200,000 in damages but contributed 10% to the incident that caused your burn injuries, then you can recover $180,000 under Illinois law. However, if you suffered $200,000 in damages but contributed 60% to the incident that caused your burn injuries, then you cannot recover under Illinois law.