Atlanta Burn Injury Lawyer

A severe burn injury does not just leave scars. It changes the way you move through the world. The ability to work, to sleep without pain, to look in a mirror without grief, to care for your children or earn a living can all be taken in seconds by a fire, a chemical exposure, an electrical fault, or a vehicle crash. In Atlanta, these injuries happen on I-285 when a fuel system fails, in Decatur warehouses where chemical storage is inadequate, in Midtown apartment buildings where faulty wiring goes uninspected, and on construction sites across Fulton and DeKalb counties where safety protocols are ignored. The injury is immediate. The consequences are permanent and you need an Atlanta burn injury lawyer to represent you against insurers and their adjusters. 

Insurance companies, property owners, employers, and manufacturers do not concede burn injury cases. They minimize the severity, dispute causation, shift blame onto the victim, and move quickly to limit what they pay before the full picture of the harm is understood. If you or someone in your family suffered a serious burn injury caused by another party’s negligence, you need an Atlanta burn injury attorney who understands how these cases are defended and how to build a claim that holds up against a well-resourced defense from the first day of investigation.

At Wetherington Law Firm, burn injury cases are handled with the same trial-focused preparation and expert resources we bring to our most serious injury litigation. We have recovered over $500 million for clients across Georgia. We investigate thoroughly, retain the experts these cases require, and build every case as if it is going in front of a jury. Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win. 

What to Do After a Burn Injury in Atlanta

The steps you take in the days immediately following a burn injury have a direct effect on both your health and the strength of any legal claim. Here is what to do and why each step matters.

• Seek medical attention immediately, even if the burn seems minor. Burns that appear superficial at the scene frequently reveal deeper tissue damage during examination. Treatment at a dedicated burn center, Atlanta has burn care units at Grady Memorial Hospital and at Emory University Hospital, produces both better medical outcomes and better documentation of the injury’s actual severity. Medical records created close in time to the injury are the foundation of every burn injury claim.
• Report the incident and create an official record. If the burn resulted from a vehicle accident, call the police and obtain the report number. If it occurred on commercial property, notify the property manager or employer in writing and request that an incident report be completed. Official documentation creates a contemporaneous record that is harder for defendants to dispute later.
• Document the scene and your injuries before anything is cleaned up or repaired. Photographs of the accident scene, the source of the fire or chemical exposure, any hazards that contributed to the incident, and your injuries taken as early as possible provide evidence that may not exist once the scene is remediated. Collect names and contact information for any witnesses.
• Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Insurance adjusters contact burn injury victims quickly and request recorded statements that are used to shift comparative fault under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. Anything you say about how the injury happened, including well-intentioned explanations, can be used to argue you bore partial responsibility.
• Preserve all physical evidence related to the injury. Clothing worn at the time of the incident, defective products, electrical components, or any other physical materials connected to the cause of the burn should be stored and not discarded. These items are often critical to establishing how the injury occurred and who bears responsibility.
• Contact an Atlanta burn injury attorney as soon as possible. Georgia’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. When government entities are involved, notice deadlines can be as short as six months. The 2025 Georgia Tort Reform Law has added procedural requirements that make early attorney engagement more important than ever. Do not wait.

What Qualifies as a Burn Injury Claim in Georgia?

A burn injury claim arises when a person suffers a burn because of another party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. Under Georgia personal injury law, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-2, four elements must be established to succeed.

The responsible party must have owed a duty of care. Every driver on Atlanta’s roads, every property owner, every employer, and every product manufacturer owes a duty to the people they expose to risk. That duty must have been breached through action or inaction, a landlord who ignored documented wiring hazards, an employer who failed to provide chemical handling safety equipment, a driver whose negligent operation caused a vehicle fire. The breach must have directly caused the burn injury. And the injury must have produced measurable damages, medical costs, lost income, permanent disfigurement, pain and suffering, and the ongoing consequences of a life altered by serious burns.

Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 means that even if you bear some partial responsibility for the incident, you can still recover as long as your fault is below 50%. Your damages are reduced proportionally by your fault percentage. Defense teams in burn injury cases invest heavily in fault arguments because even modest percentage shifts produce large dollar consequences. Building a case that places fault where the evidence actually shows it belongs is one of the most important things an Atlanta burn injury attorney does from the first day of investigation.

Understanding Burn Injury Severity and What It Means for Your Claim

Not all burns are treated the same medically, and not all burns produce the same damages in litigation. Understanding the classification system is essential to understanding what your recovery may involve and what your claim needs to document.

• First-degree burns affect only the outermost layer of skin, producing redness, minor swelling, and pain. Sunburns are the most common example. These injuries are painful but typically heal within a week without permanent scarring. First-degree burns rarely form the basis of significant personal injury claims unless they occur alongside more severe injuries.
• Second-degree burns, also called partial-thickness burns, penetrate into the dermis and produce blistering, intense pain, weeping wounds, and a high risk of infection. Superficial second-degree burns typically heal within two to three weeks but may leave permanent discoloration. Deep second-degree burns, which damage the deeper layers of the dermis, frequently require skin grafting, produce permanent scarring, and may involve significant loss of sensation in the affected area. The psychological impact of permanent facial or visible body scarring, including PTSD, depression, and body image disorders, is a recognized and compensable component of these cases.
• Third-degree burns, also called full-thickness burns, destroy the entire thickness of the skin and may damage underlying fat, muscle, and nerve tissue. These burns are often painless at the site of greatest injury because the nerve endings have been destroyed, which does not reduce their severity but can complicate early clinical assessment. Third-degree burns require excision of the burned tissue and skin grafting. Large surface area third-degree burns are life-threatening. Treatment is measured in months of hospitalization, multiple surgical procedures, and years of rehabilitation including physical therapy to maintain range of motion, pressure garment therapy to manage scar formation, and psychological treatment for trauma and disfigurement.
• Fourth-degree burns extend through the skin into fat, muscle, tendon, and bone. These injuries are frequently fatal. Survivors typically face amputation of the affected extremity or region and require extensive reconstructive surgery, prosthetic fitting, and lifetime functional limitations. The economic damages in fourth-degree burn cases, built through a comprehensive life care plan, frequently reach into the millions when future surgical needs, prosthetics, attendant care, and lost earning capacity are fully accounted for.

The lifetime medical costs of serious burn injuries are substantial and must be documented with expert support to withstand a defense team’s challenge. The American Burn Association reports that severe burns requiring hospitalization generate average acute care costs well into six figures, and that figure does not account for the years of outpatient treatment, scar management, reconstructive procedures, and psychological care that follow. A properly built burn injury damages case accounts for every cost from the date of the injury through the end of the victim’s life. This is why you need an Atlanta burn injury lawyer by your side as soon as an event occurs. 

Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win. 

Common Causes of Burn Injuries in Atlanta

Burn injuries in Atlanta arise from a range of incidents, each with its own liability framework and its own evidentiary requirements. The following are the cause types we see most frequently.

Vehicle Fires and Fuel System Failures

Motor vehicle crashes on Atlanta’s interstates, including I-285, I-75, I-85, and I-20, can produce fuel system fires when the structural integrity of the fuel tank or fuel lines is compromised in a collision. In some cases the fire results from the crash dynamics alone. In others, a defective fuel system component, a fuel tank positioned in a high-impact zone, a fuel line that ruptures at forces it should withstand, is the proximate cause of the fire rather than the crash itself.

Vehicle fire cases require simultaneous evaluation of driver negligence, which produced the collision, and product liability, which may have turned a survivable crash into a fatal or catastrophic burn injury. Both theories of liability may be pursued against different defendants, and both require distinct expert support, accident reconstruction for the negligence claim and an automotive engineer for the product defect claim.

Chemical Burns

Chemical exposure injuries occur in Atlanta’s industrial facilities, in warehouses across Decatur and College Park, on construction sites, in agricultural operations, and in some cases in residential settings where household chemicals are improperly mixed or stored. Acids, alkalis, oxidizers, and solvents can produce burns that penetrate deeply and continue damaging tissue after initial contact, making immediate decontamination and medical treatment critical.

Liability in chemical burn cases frequently involves multiple defendants. The employer who failed to provide adequate personal protective equipment or failed to train employees on chemical handling procedures. The property owner who stored hazardous materials without proper containment or labeling. The manufacturer or distributor of a chemical product whose safety data sheet did not adequately warn of the burn risk. OSHA regulations and NFPA fire codes provide the regulatory framework against which employer and facility conduct is measured, and violations of those standards are direct evidence of negligence. An Atlanta chemical burn lawyer who has handled these cases understands how to use regulatory records and expert safety testimony to establish the full liability picture.

Electrical Burns

Electrical burn injuries occur when current passes through the body, producing both entry and exit wounds and frequently causing internal tissue damage that is not visible on the surface. Electrical burns are particularly deceptive because the external injury may appear minor while the internal damage to muscle, nerves, and organs is severe. Cardiac arrhythmia, renal failure from myoglobin released by damaged muscle tissue, and delayed neurological complications are all recognized sequelae of significant electrical injuries.

Electrical burn cases in Atlanta arise most frequently from faulty wiring in residential and commercial buildings, inadequate grounding on construction sites, contact with overhead power lines in outdoor work environments, and defective electrical appliances or industrial equipment. Georgia’s building codes and the National Electrical Code establish the standards against which wiring installation and equipment maintenance are measured. When those standards are violated and an electrical burn results, the property owner, contractor, or equipment manufacturer may face liability. An Atlanta electrical burn attorney handling these cases works with electrical engineers and safety experts who can identify the code violation, document the failure mode, and establish the causal connection to the injury.

Residential and Commercial Fires

Apartment fires, house fires, and commercial building fires that cause burn injuries frequently involve landlord negligence, building code violations, or equipment failures. Absent or non-functioning smoke detectors violate both state law and local building codes. Blocked emergency exits violate OSHA and fire safety regulations. Faulty wiring that was reported to a landlord and not repaired establishes a documented duty, a documented breach, and a clear causal chain. Defective appliances including space heaters, HVAC equipment, and kitchen appliances may trigger product liability claims against manufacturers and distributors.

Premises liability burn cases require investigation of the building’s maintenance history, inspection records, fire marshal reports, and communications between the occupant and the property manager. When those records show the owner knew about the hazard and failed to act, the liability case is strong. When records have been altered or are conveniently unavailable, that itself becomes an issue for the court.

Workplace Burns

Workplace burn injuries in Georgia are subject to both the workers’ compensation framework and, when third-party negligence is involved, civil personal injury liability. Workers’ compensation provides a baseline of coverage for the injured worker. But when the burn resulted from the negligence of a party other than the direct employer, a subcontractor, a property owner, an equipment manufacturer, or a chemical supplier, a civil claim against that third party can be pursued alongside the workers’ compensation claim.

The distinction matters significantly because workers’ compensation does not compensate for pain and suffering, emotional distress, or the full economic impact of permanent disfigurement. A third-party civil claim can pursue all of those damages. Identifying the third-party defendants and building both claims simultaneously is one of the most important steps in serious workplace burn cases.

Scald Burns

Hot liquid and steam burns occur in restaurant kitchens across Buckhead and Midtown, in healthcare facilities, and in industrial settings involving steam lines or heated process equipment. Scald burns are disproportionately common in children and in workers in the food service and healthcare industries. In restaurant and food service cases, employer liability for inadequate safety equipment and unsafe workflow is the most common basis for the claim. In healthcare settings, scald burns from improperly calibrated heated equipment or negligent patient handling may constitute both personal injury and medical negligence claims.

How Georgia’s 2025 Tort Reform Law Affects Burn Injury Claims

The 2025 Georgia Tort Reform Law introduced several changes to personal injury litigation in Georgia that directly affect how burn injury cases are prepared, presented, and valued.

• Actual costs limitation on medical damages. Under the tort reform provisions, evidence of medical damages is limited to the actual amounts paid or incurred for medical treatment rather than the billed amounts, which are typically higher. In burn injury cases where emergency and acute care costs are substantial, this distinction can significantly affect the economic damages presentation. Building the damages case around documented actual costs, supported by medical billing experts who can explain the cost structure clearly, is essential in post-reform litigation.
• Anchoring restrictions. The tort reform law restricts plaintiffs from suggesting specific high figures to juries in closing arguments as anchors for non-economic damages. In burn injury cases where non-economic damages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and the impact of permanent disfigurement, can be substantial, this restriction affects trial strategy. Framing the non-economic damages case through specific, documented testimony about the impact on the plaintiff’s daily life, relationships, and psychological wellbeing becomes even more important when the anchoring tactic is unavailable.
• Bifurcated trial provisions. Certain cases under the tort reform law may proceed through bifurcated trials in which liability and damages are determined in separate phases. Understanding how bifurcation affects the presentation of burn injury evidence and the sequencing of expert testimony is part of trial preparation for any Atlanta burn injury attorney handling cases filed after the law’s effective date.
• Negligent security standard changes. For burn injuries that arise in the context of negligent security claims, the tort reform law imposes stricter standards for establishing prior wrongful conduct on the property. This affects premises liability burn cases in which inadequate security allowed an arson or intentional fire-setting to harm a resident or visitor.

Navigating the tort reform provisions requires preparation that accounts for them from the earliest stages of case development, not as an afterthought during trial preparation. Our firm has adapted our case-building process to address each of these provisions directly in every burn injury case we handle.

Georgia’s Comparative Negligence Rule and Your Burn Injury Claim

Georgia’s modified comparative negligence system under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 applies to every burn injury claim in the state. Under this rule, a jury assigns a percentage of fault to each party. If your assigned fault is less than 50%, you can still recover, but your total damages are reduced by that percentage. At 50% or higher, you recover nothing.

Here is what that looks like in a real burn injury case: You are a tenant in a Midtown Atlanta apartment building. A fire starts in a unit adjacent to yours because of faulty wiring the landlord had been notified about three months earlier. The fire spreads to your unit before the smoke detectors, which had not been tested or maintained in years, activate. You suffer second and third-degree burns over 30% of your body requiring two skin grafting procedures, extended hospitalization, and two years of outpatient treatment. Your total documented damages, including medical costs, lost income, future care, and non-economic losses, come to $1.8 million. The defense argues you had been warned about fire hazards in the building and failed to take adequate precautions, pushing for 20% comparative fault. Your recovery drops to $1.44 million. If the defense pushes harder and convinces a jury you were 30% at fault, you lose $540,000 from your recovery.

Defense teams in burn injury cases commonly argue that the plaintiff contributed to the fire by leaving cooking unattended, by storing flammable materials improperly, by failing to test their own smoke detectors, or by being in an area they were warned to avoid. These arguments are often advanced without objective support, and challenging them requires the investigation, fire causation analysis, and expert testimony that establishes exactly how the fire started and why the defendant’s conduct, not the plaintiff’s, was the primary cause.

Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win. 

How We Built a Full Recovery in an Atlanta Burn Injury Case

In one serious chemical burn case handled by our firm, a warehouse worker in Decatur suffered severe second and third-degree burns to his arms, chest, and face when a chemical storage container failed and released a concentrated acid. The employer’s initial position was that the worker had not followed proper handling procedures and that the incident was the result of employee error.

A thorough investigation produced a different picture. An industrial safety expert reviewed the facility’s chemical storage protocols, the OSHA-required safety data sheets for the acid involved, and the personal protective equipment the employer had provided. The expert found that the containment system for the chemical storage did not meet OSHA 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119 standards for process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals, that the PPE provided was inadequate for the concentration levels present in the storage area, and that the worker had received no documented training on emergency response procedures for the specific chemical involved.

Medical experts documented burns requiring three separate skin grafting procedures, permanent scarring on visible areas of the face and arms with documented psychological sequelae including PTSD and clinical depression, and a permanent restriction from working in environments involving heat or chemical exposure, which significantly affected the worker’s vocational options.

A certified life care planner projected the cost of ongoing scar management, psychological treatment, physical therapy for range of motion preservation, and future reconstructive procedures. A vocational economist calculated the difference between the worker’s pre-injury earning capacity and what he could realistically earn given his permanent restrictions and documented psychological limitations.

Once the OSHA violations were documented, the inadequate training was established through the employer’s own records, and the full damages case was built with expert support at every level, the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier and the facility owner’s liability insurer both reassessed their exposure. The civil claim against the facility owner, pursued separately from the workers’ compensation claim, resolved at a figure that reflected the full medical costs, the lifetime care needs, the lost earning capacity, and the non-economic impact of permanent disfigurement on a 34-year-old whose injuries affected every aspect of his personal and professional life.

What Compensation Is Available in an Atlanta Burn Injury Case?

Georgia law allows burn injury victims to pursue the full economic and personal impact of the harm. That recovery falls into three categories.

Economic damages cover every financial loss that can be documented and calculated:

• Emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgical procedures including excision and skin grafting
• Wound care, infection treatment, and acute inpatient rehabilitation
• Future surgical procedures including scar revision surgery and reconstructive procedures
• Physical therapy to preserve range of motion and manage scar contracture
• Psychological treatment for PTSD, depression, and body image disorders
• Pressure garment therapy, silicone sheeting, and ongoing scar management
• Future medical expenses projected over the victim’s lifetime through a certified life care plan
• Lost wages from the date of the injury through settlement or verdict
• Lost earning capacity, the income the victim cannot earn because of permanent physical or psychological limitations
• Assistive devices and adaptive equipment required by permanent disability
• Home modifications required by permanent physical limitations
• In-home attendant care or nursing services where the severity of the injury requires them

Non-economic damages cover what cannot be itemized on a bill but is equally compensable under Georgia law:

• Physical pain and suffering, both acute and chronic, including the pain of wound care, grafting procedures, and physical therapy
• Emotional distress, PTSD, depression, and anxiety following the injury and throughout recovery
• Permanent disfigurement and the psychological impact of visible scarring on the face, hands, or other areas
• Loss of enjoyment of life, the activities, relationships, and experiences no longer accessible because of the injury
• Loss of consortium, compensating a spouse for the impact the injury has had on the relationship and family life

Punitive damages are available under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1 when the defendant’s conduct rises above ordinary negligence into willful misconduct, conscious indifference, or deliberate disregard for the safety of others. A landlord who received multiple written complaints about faulty wiring and took no action, an employer who knew a chemical storage system was non-compliant and continued operations, and a product manufacturer who concealed known defects in a heating appliance are all scenarios where punitive damages are potentially available. Georgia generally caps these at $250,000, but the cap does not apply in product liability cases, which are common in burn injury litigation.

Wrongful death claims. When a burn injury results in death, surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 seeking the full value of the life of the deceased, including projected lifetime earnings, services, companionship, and the intangible value of the person’s existence. Our firm handles wrongful death claims arising from fatal burn injuries with the same preparation and expert resources we bring to all burn injury litigation.

Who May Be Liable for Your Burn Injury in Georgia?

Liability in a burn injury case frequently extends beyond the most obvious defendant. Identifying every responsible party is critical to maximizing recovery, particularly when a primary defendant’s policy limits are insufficient to cover catastrophic injuries.

• At-fault drivers bear liability when a vehicle collision produced the fire or fuel system failure that caused the burn. When a defective fuel system worsened the burn injuries in a crash that another driver caused, both the driver and the vehicle manufacturer may face liability.
• Property owners and landlords bear liability when dangerous conditions on the premises, faulty wiring, inadequate fire suppression systems, blocked exits, absent smoke detectors, or improperly stored flammable materials, caused the fire or contributed to the severity of the burn injuries. When those hazards were known and unremediated, the liability case is straightforward.
• Employers are responsible for workplace burn injuries under both workers’ compensation and, when third-party negligence is involved, civil personal injury liability. Direct employer liability arises when the employer failed to provide adequate safety equipment, training, or hazard controls. Third-party civil liability may exist against equipment manufacturers, chemical suppliers, or property owners whose conduct contributed to the workplace burn.
• Product manufacturers and distributors face product liability claims when a defective product, a space heater, an electrical appliance, a chemical product with inadequate warnings, a vehicle fuel system, caused or worsened the burn injury. Georgia’s product liability framework allows claims based on design defect, manufacturing defect, and failure to warn, and the punitive damages cap does not apply in product liability cases.
• Government entities may bear responsibility when infrastructure failures, including defective traffic signals, poorly maintained road conditions that contributed to a vehicle fire, or a government-operated facility’s negligent maintenance, caused the injury. Claims against government entities in Georgia require ante litem notice within 12 months for state entities and as little as 6 months for many municipal entities.

Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win. 

How We Build Your Burn Injury Case

Burn injury cases require investigation that begins immediately, before evidence is lost, scenes are remediated, and witnesses disperse. Here is how we approach every serious burn injury case we handle.

• Immediate evidence preservation. In commercial and industrial burn cases, we send litigation holds to the responsible parties within days of engagement to preserve maintenance records, inspection logs, safety training documentation, chemical storage records, and incident reports. Fire department investigation reports, OSHA inspection records, and building department citations are obtained as early as possible. Physical evidence including defective products, electrical components, and chemical containers is identified and preserved before it is discarded.
• Fire causation and safety expert retention. The cause of the fire and the safety failures that produced it are established through expert analysis, not assumptions. Fire investigators determine origin and cause. Electrical engineers analyze wiring failures. Industrial hygienists and safety engineers assess OSHA compliance. Chemical engineers analyze exposure mechanisms and the adequacy of containment protocols. Automotive engineers analyze vehicle fuel system failures. The right expert for the specific cause type is retained from the earliest stages of the case.
• Medical expert engagement. Burn specialists, plastic surgeons, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, and psychological experts document the injury’s current and future medical implications. Life care planners develop comprehensive projections of every category of future care. Vocational rehabilitation experts assess the permanent impact on earning capacity.
• Liability analysis across all defendants. We evaluate the full liability picture, including every party in the chain from property owner to equipment manufacturer to chemical supplier, to identify every defendant whose conduct contributed to the injury and whose insurance coverage is available to compensate the harm.

The Statute of Limitations for Burn Injury Claims in Georgia

Georgia imposes a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. The clock starts on the date of the injury. Miss that deadline and the claim is gone, regardless of how severe the burns or how clear the negligence.

When government entities are involved, notice requirements are significantly shorter. Claims against state entities require ante litem notice within 12 months of the injury. Claims against many municipal entities require notice within six months. Missing these deadlines eliminates the government entity claim even if the two-year window for other defendants remains open.

Two years sounds like sufficient time. For a serious burn injury case requiring fire causation investigation, expert retention, life care planning, and the development of a complex damages case, it is not. The sooner an Atlanta burn injury attorney is involved, the more evidence is preserved and the stronger the case that can be built. Call (404) 888-4444 to start that process today.

Why Wetherington Law Firm for Your Atlanta Burn Injury Case

Serious burn injury cases require resources, investigative capacity, and expert relationships that most law firms cannot commit to. Fire causation experts, electrical engineers, industrial safety specialists, burn medical specialists, life care planners, vocational rehabilitation experts, and forensic economists all need to be retained, engaged, and prepared. The costs of that preparation run into the tens of thousands of dollars before a case ever resolves. The Atlanta burn injury attorneys who achieve full recovery in burn injury cases are the ones who make that investment without hesitation, because they understand what the case represents for the client.

We make that investment because we understand what is at stake. A burn injury settlement or verdict is not just a legal outcome. It is the financial foundation for a life that has been permanently altered. The difference between full compensation and an inadequate settlement is the difference between affording the reconstructive surgery, the psychological treatment, and the ongoing scar management the injuries require and going without them. Between maintaining financial stability and the long-term hardship that follows when a legal claim does not account for every dimension of the harm.

As a burn injury law firm serving Atlanta and all of Georgia, we:

• Move immediately to preserve critical evidence, fire investigation records, maintenance logs, OSHA records, and physical evidence, before it disappears
• Retain fire causation experts, safety engineers, medical specialists, life care planners, and vocational economists from the earliest stages of each case
• Advance all case costs so clients face no out-of-pocket expense during litigation
• Prepare every case for trial, because insurers and property owners respond differently to a firm that will actually go to the courthouse
• Handle every case on a contingency fee basis, you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you
• Communicate directly and honestly about the strength of the case, the realistic range of recovery, and what the process will require

When you are ready to talk, contact us online or pick up the phone.

Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Atlanta Burn Injury Claims

How much is a burn injury case worth in Georgia?

The value depends on the severity of the burns, the total medical costs incurred and projected over your lifetime, the degree of permanent scarring and disfigurement, lost wages and lost earning capacity if the injury affects your ability to work, and the non-economic impact on your daily life and psychological wellbeing. In cases involving third-degree or fourth-degree burns over significant body surface areas, the economic damages alone, built through a comprehensive life care plan and forensic economic analysis, can reach into the millions. There is no standard figure. A realistic assessment requires that the medical picture is fully developed, the future care needs are projected by a qualified life care planner, and the economic losses are calculated by a forensic economist specific to your situation. We can give you a realistic range once that work has been done.

How long do I have to file a burn injury claim in Georgia?

Two years from the date of the injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 for most burn injury claims. When a government entity is involved, notice requirements can be as short as six months for municipal entities and twelve months for state entities. Missing those shorter deadlines eliminates the government entity claim even if the standard two-year period has not yet closed. Given the investigation, expert retention, and case preparation that serious burn injury cases require, engaging an Atlanta burn injury lawyer as early as possible is the right approach regardless of where the deadline stands.

Can I sue my landlord for a burn injury caused by a fire in my apartment?

Yes, if the landlord’s negligence contributed to the fire or to the severity of your injuries. Property owners in Georgia owe a duty of reasonable care to their tenants and lawful visitors under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1. When a landlord knew about faulty wiring, malfunctioning fire suppression systems, absent or non-functioning smoke detectors, or other fire hazards and failed to address them, that knowledge and failure to act is the basis for premises liability. When documentation exists showing prior complaints or inspection findings that were ignored, the liability case is strong. An Atlanta burn injury attorney can assess the specific facts of your situation.

Does Georgia’s 2025 Tort Reform Law affect my burn injury case?

Yes, in several ways. The tort reform law limits medical damages evidence to actual costs paid or incurred rather than billed amounts, restricts anchoring tactics in closing arguments for non-economic damages, and introduces bifurcated trial procedures in certain cases. For negligent security burn cases, the law also imposes stricter standards for establishing prior wrongful conduct on the premises. These changes affect how burn injury cases are built, presented, and valued. Working with an Atlanta burn injury lawyer who has adapted their case preparation to account for these provisions is essential for any claim filed after the law’s effective date.

What if I was partially at fault for the fire or burn?

You can still recover under Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule as long as you are found less than 50% at fault. Your damages are reduced by your fault percentage, not eliminated, unless that percentage reaches 50% or higher. Defense teams in burn injury cases routinely argue that the plaintiff contributed to the fire, through conduct they characterize as careless or unsafe, to push the fault percentage up and the recovery down. Challenging those allegations with fire causation analysis, safety expert testimony, and objective evidence of how the incident actually occurred is one of the most important functions your attorney serves.

Can I pursue both a workers’ compensation claim and a civil lawsuit for a workplace burn injury?

In many cases, yes. Workers’ compensation provides coverage for medical expenses and a portion of lost wages for workplace injuries, but it does not compensate for pain and suffering, emotional distress, or the full economic value of permanent disfigurement. When a third party, a subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, chemical supplier, or property owner, whose negligence contributed to the burn injury, you can pursue a civil personal injury claim against that third party while also receiving workers’ compensation benefits. The civil claim can recover the categories of damages that workers’ compensation does not cover. An Atlanta burn injury lawyer can evaluate whether third-party liability exists in your specific workplace burn situation.

What types of experts are used in burn injury cases?

Burn injury cases typically require multiple experts depending on the cause and severity of the injury. Fire investigators establish the origin and cause of the fire. Electrical engineers analyze wiring failures and code violations. Industrial safety experts assess OSHA compliance and workplace safety failures. Chemical engineers evaluate chemical storage and handling protocols. Automotive engineers analyze vehicle fuel system defects. Burn specialists and plastic surgeons document the injury’s medical severity and treatment requirements. Physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians project long-term functional limitations. Life care planners project the cost of all future medical needs. Vocational rehabilitation experts assess the impact on earning capacity. Forensic economists calculate the present value of future losses. The specific experts required depend on the facts of the case, and building the right expert team from the earliest stages of investigation is one of the most important things a qualified burn injury law firm does.

How long does a burn injury case take to resolve in Georgia?

Timeline varies depending on the complexity of the case, the severity of the injuries, the number of defendants, and whether the case resolves through settlement or trial. Cases with clear liability and well-documented injuries may resolve within several months of filing. Cases involving disputed causation, multiple defendants, catastrophic injuries requiring extended medical treatment, or litigation against well-resourced institutional defendants can take a year or longer. Settling before maximum medical improvement is reached, or before the full scope of future care needs is established, can result in permanent undercompensation. Your attorney should give you an honest assessment of realistic timeline based on the specific facts of your case.

A burn injury caused by someone else’s negligence should not determine the rest of your life. The party responsible, and the insurer or institution standing behind them, will not voluntarily provide what you need to address the harm. Wetherington Law Firm has the experience, the resources, and the commitment to pursue these cases to their full value.

Call (404) 888-4444 or fill out our quick online form for a free consultation. All our cases are handled on a contingency basis and you do not pay us unless we win.