Some of the most devastating and gruesome injuries which our personal injury lawyers see occur as a result of fire. Fires in homes. Fires in apartments. Fires in condominiums. Fires in commercial units. Fires cause devastation to person and property. They also kill.
Often in fire injury and fire loss claims, damages are almost secondary for the lawyers. All of the lawyers for both Plaintiff and Defence recognize the loss suffered by the burn victim. The lawyers may argue about the extent of the damages and the impact and duration of those damages. But reasonable lawyers will recognize that serious burns cause serious injuries which have life long physical and psychological consequences.
Where things can tricky is when it comes to who will pay for those damages.
All lawyers are taught that it’s very important to sue a party with deep pockets; meaning that you have to make sure that you can sue a party who can pay a judgment or payout on a settlement.
If you sue a party with no assets, you have nothing to collect upon. The judgment which a Plaintiff is awarded is without any material value because you cannot collect from an impecunious party. Think of it like you can’t get blood from a stone.
The same adage applies to fire loss claims. Generally in personal injury cases, lawyers see insurance companies defend their insureds, and payout damages on a judment or settlement.
The same cannot be said in burn cases and fire loss cases.