A burn injury can be one of the most traumatic injuries to recover from. Burns are excruciating to the victim and result in long recovery times and expensive surgeries and skin grafting procedures. Even when burn victims have "healed," they are left with permanent nerve damage, pain, disfigurement, or scarring.

Millions of people in the United States are injured in burn accidents each year. Fires, explosions, scalds from hot liquids, chemical spills, car accidents/airbag deployment, electrocutions, and other serious accidents can result in burns. If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury in Beckley or anywhere in West Virginia, Rist Law Offices can help to recover compensation from negligent parties who caused the burn.

It is important to speak to an experienced burn injury attorney about your case. The problems associated with burn injuries require specialized experts that are not needed with other injury cases. Compensation for medical bills, hospital bills, loss of income, future surgeries, counseling, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and losses to the family can potentially be recovered in a burn injury case. Many of the amounts for losses will have to be established by experts, including future surgery or reconstructive procedures. Damages for mental or emotional injuries will also need to be established with expert evidence through the use of psychologists or other experts.

How are burn injuries classified?
The severity of a burn falls into the following categories:

First-degree burns
This is where only the first layer of skin is burned. These burns result in redness of the skin that will generally heal in a short period of time.

Second-degree burns
With this type of injury, both the first and second layers of skin are burned. The injury results in blisters and skin that appears to be moist or wet. This injury is also more painful than a first-degree burn.

Third-degree burns
All layers of the skin are burned or charred and the underlying tissue is also damaged. A third-degree burn wound will appear white or black and will be dry. This type of burn may be painless due to the destruction of nerve endings. Permanent scarring is inevitable with a third-degree burn.

Fourth-degree burns
A fourth-degree burn reaches the tissues underlying the skin, including the bones and muscles. Permanent scarring is inevitable with this category of burn.


We offer free initial consultations to all burn injury victims. We handle cases throughout the state of West Virginia and will schedule a free initial consultation anywhere in the state. We accept all burn injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that we do not earn a fee until your case is settled or won at trial. Call us at 1-866-982-5299 to get help with your case today.