Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey
Wife burned by her boss and vendors
My wife is a receptionist for a plastic surgeon. Vendors visited the office to demonstrate a new laser device for removing spider veins. My wife, who is Afro-American, volunteered to let them test it on her. The vendors assured her and her boss that it was safe for ''black'' skin. They demonstrated it on her thigh, then let her boss try. They both ended up burning her. She had about a square inch total burned skin. This is not her boss's fault. He asked the vendors' company for $100,000 damages on behalf of my wife. They came back with an offer of only $20,000. A local lawyer advised her to take the money, because her burns were not that extensive. She and I feel we can get a lot more, especially since the vendors' company admitted that they probably didnt do enough research on Afro-American skin.
She wants to find a black lawyer and perhaps emphasize the race issue.
What are her chances of getting much more than $20,000?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Wife burned by her boss and vendors
Your chances of getting more may be about the same as your chances of getting less, but no one can assess the value of a case on the meager facts you present. Particularly if you are going to pursue some kind of race based claim, your venue will be a very important consideration. What county would you sue in? You say there is a square inch of burned skin. Where is it. a square inch on the cheek or forehead could be worth a fortune. On the back of the thigh, above the hemline, much less.
What does the scar look like? Is it merely discolored, or is it raised, bumpy, keloid?
Will the scar be permanaent, or will it disipate in time? Can it be surgically revised?
Is it accompanied by any pain or disability? If so are they temporary or permanent?
Those are the questions that have to be answered to put a range of likely settlement values on your claim.
Understand that an attorney will have to deliver you more than 30K in order to put in your pocket what you ever have.
Also understand that you have topended the claim at $100,000.00. An attorney could decide it was worth a million bucks, but no insurance company will allow it to be settled for more than 100,000, because you already indicated you would accept that much.
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