Tampa Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Getting a Lawyer For a Burn

Question:

My 2 daughters (ages 8 & 5) and I went to a chain restaurant. My daughters ordered hot chocolate. Usually they put hot chocolate in small kids cups with lids. Except for this time, the hot chocolate arrived in a bigger to-go sized cups without lids. My 5 year old went to lick whipped cream off the top and spilled the whole cup on herself. She immediately started screaming, crying and trying to take her shirt off. The manager came over, took a report, pictures and gave us burn cream and a bandaid. The waitress then brought out chocolate milk in the normal kids cups with lids. When I looked at my daughter’s chest, there is a 3″ by 1″ spot where the skin looked as if it melted. We left (didn’t charge us for food) and went to the ER, where we learned she has 2nd degree burns. Would it be worth it to contact a lawyer?

Answer:

Yes, you should contact a qualified personal injury attorney.  Your daughter will possibly have scarring and/or discoloration (which may be permanent) in the area of the burn, and you will likely be responsible for medical bills for your daughter’s medical treatment.  You should, however, expect that the defense attorney will likely assert that you were careless in not more closely supervising your daughter in hopes of pinning some percentage of the negligence on you.

This legal question was provided by a Avvo and answered by Dennis Morgenstern an experienced Tampa FL Personal Injury Lawyer.  This does not consent an attorney client relationship.