Burn Injuries
Burn injuries caused by someone's negligence need an experienced burn injury attorney like Derek Merman. It takes a special, experienced attorney to understand and convince a jury to award full value for burn injuries and deaths. Derek Merman has experience trying burn cases to verdict. In March 2012 he was co-lead counsel for Bobby and Diana Roye against DuPont and was instrumental in receiving a verdict of $11,965,000 for the Royes. Before hiring an attorney to represent you or a loved one who has been severely burned, make sure the lawyer has actual success at trial. You may be surprised how few attorneys do and how many attorneys will take your case hoping for a quick settlement. You need an attorney that is in for the long haul and knows what the long haul requires.
Experience is important for several reasons. First, a burn victim needs to know that his or her attorney knows what he is doing and has done it well before. There is a real sense of relief knowing that your attorney has been there before and will take care of you. Second, it is important that your attorney knows how to succeed for you. Peace of mind is great, but results are what matter in a litigation. Mr. Merman has proven he can get results. Very few lawyers have received two verdicts over ten million dollars – Derek Merman did it twice before turning 40. Finally, experience is important because defense attorneys do research on their opponents. You want a lawyer that the other side will take seriously – an attorney they know has been there before and who knows how to talk to juries about burn injuries. You need an attorney to represent you that the defense counsel knows has the guts, and resources, to take your case to and through trial. Derek Merman has proven that he is fearless, experienced and successful. That matters.
Burns are perhaps the most painful, debilitating, enduring and life-changing injuries a person can suffer. Burns do horrific damage to tissue and it is very difficult to recover from a serious burn. Even worse than the burn itself is the treatment. Those who have been seriously burned know the horrors of the “tank room” where the dead tissue is scrubbed from the burn so new tissue can heal. The pain experienced daily in the tank room is unbelievable. Once the burn is scrubbed, it needs new tissue to use as a substrate for healing. This healthy tissue is harvested from wherever the doctors can find healthy skin. The skin is removed with what looks like a cheese slicer. Burn patients suffer in areas where they are not burned on top of the excruciating pain of their burn sites.
Unfortunately, the tank room and skin grafts are not the worst thing burn patients face. The skin (the integumentary system) provides our primary protection from germs and viruses. Most serious burn victims that do not make it through the treatment pass on because of infection. Staph infections, legionnaires’ disease, and pneumonia are a few of the common infections associated with recovering from a burn. Burns also typically cause massive system failures – so in addition to scrubbings, grafts, and infections, burn patients often lose kidney and liver function.
Even the most successful burn treatments leave the victim in a difficult condition. All of the time spent in a hospital bed often causes a condition called neuropathy. Prolonged disuse of extremities causes clubbing, bridging and clawing of the hands and feet as the ligaments tighten. Many times surgery is required so the victim can use his hands or feet again at all – even when his hands and feet were not burned.
If you or a loved one has been seriously burned, it is crucial that you choose a lawyer with a proven track record of success. Talk to Derek Merman before you hire anyone. Don’t be a victim twice.
