I’m sorry to hear about your accident. You are not alone – it’s been estimated that over 100,000 people a year in the U.S. are burned by scalding water caused by a hot water heater being set too high. Many of these victims are under the age of 14 or are elderly.

Victims of hot water burns who are injured in hot tubs, showers, or bathtubs may have right to file a claim against the responsible parties that were negligent by providing unsafe water temperatures. Some of the parties that could be responsible include the manufacturer of the hot water heater, the building’s contractor, and any companies that were hired to maintain the hot water tank, faucets, or plumbing lines.

If a person is exposed to very hot water that has been overheated by a hot water heater, it takes less than five seconds to receive a serious third degree burn from the hot water. Young children under the age of five are at the greatest risk of sustaining a serious injury from the hot water that can lead to death. It’s been estimated that about a quarter of all burns involving children are from accidents involving hot tap water.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that families lower their hot water tank temperature settings to no higher than 120 degrees. Even at that temperature, a skin can receive a second-degree burn, but it takes a much longer time, which allows the opportunity to get out of hot water before skin is damaged. In addition, hot water valves in the home should be changed to anti-scald devices that can interrupt water flow after temps reach a specific level. Bathwater should be tested by an adult before putting a child into the tub.

Call the Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury attorneys at the Barber Law Firm if you wish to speak to an attorney about your hot water burn accident. You may be entitled to financial compensation for your ongoing medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

Whether or not you can hold your landlord responsible for your injuries depends on the circumstances of the fire. You may wish to speak to one of our personal injury attorneys about the fire. The attorney can help determine whether you have a solid case against the landlord or any other parties. 

Burns can be very traumatic for the burn victim. Burns can be extraordinarily painful. Burns are so painful because they involve an area with a high density of nerves. Burns can also leave physical and emotional scars behind. 

One of the risks of living in an apartment is that you may suffer consequences because of the actions of your landlord and neighbors, even if you have taken all necessary precautions to prevent a fire. After an apartment fire, it is common for landlords and building owners to pressure fire victims into not filing claims, in an attempt to avoid the financial ramifications of a lawsuit. 

Property owners and managers have a duty to take every reasonable action required to reduce the risk of a fire and to keep their buildings up to code for the safety of their tenants. If they fail to do so and a fire occurs, they can be held responsible. Some of the actions that landlords and property managers are expected to take for the safety of their tenants include providing and maintaining working smoke detectors, making sure the property is correctly wired, keeping exit paths clear from clutter, and providing and maintaining fire extinguishers for use on the property. 

Because of the expense involved, many landlords choose to cut corners and do not take all actions they should to prevent fires. If you have been harmed in an apartment fire that you believe could have been prevented by your landlord, talk to the Barber Law Firm about getting a consultation with a premises liability lawyer.

When a person walks across a parking lot, he or she probably assumes it will be a quick, unremarkable
trip to the car. However, many different types of accidents can happen in that short period of time. If a
parking lot owner in the Dallas-Fort Worth area fails to maintain his or her lot, it can create dangers that
can cause serious injuries to people using the parking lot. The property owner and / or the lessee may be liable for injuries due to failing to maintain the parking lot.

Business owners and property managers have a legal duty to maintain safe parking lots for customers. Those responsible for commercial property which is open to the public must be
diligent in upholding this duty. They must check for dangerous conditions in the parking lot, and ensure
that it is clean and free from holes or uneven pavement. If the parking lot is potentially dangerous, they
must provide proper lighting and security.

If a store, hotel, or restaurant fails to uphold its duty to maintain a safe parking lot, and a customer is
harmed as a result, the business owner can be held legally responsible. If a business attempts to avoid
responsibility for the accident, the accident victim should speak with an attorney immediately. Even if a
business is leasing the property from a landlord, the business most likely still has a duty to maintain the
property in a safe condition.

Injuries obtained from a slip or trip in a parking lot can be very costly and may prevent a customer from
ever returning to work or to his or her normal life. Some serious injuries that could occur in a parking lot
fall include head injuries, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and permanent disabilities.

If you have been the victim of a fall or another accident in a parking lot in the Dallas-Fort Worth area,
you should speak with one of our slip and fall attorneys. Call the personal injury attorneys at the Barber Law Firm. We can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

If you are attacked on commercial property, such as a business’s parking lot or parking garage, or inside a hotel or a store in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the business may be legally responsible for damages. Businesses are legally required to ensure that their property is safe. Business owners often choose to cut corners in the area of security. When that happens and a customer is harmed, he or she may be able to seek damages from the business owner under premises liability laws. A premises liability attorney can help. But here are a few points first.

Businesses typically have to take minimum steps to learn of dangerous conditions around the property, and to correct those dangers so their customers are not harmed. The most common types of attacks on business premises involve robberies, shootings, and rapes.

If a business owner fails to keep its customers safe, the business may be held liable for those injuries. There are some industry-accepted standards for businesses for appropriate lighting, supervision of the property, and other safety measures. If a business fails to take those steps, it may be held liable for negligence security. Negligent security can arise from a failure to: install video cameras, install appropriate locks, build a fence, ensure there is adequate lighting, run background checks on employees, or establish appropriate security policies and procedures. Victims of negligent security are entitled to compensation for their injuries. They may have significant medical bills. They may have undergone severe emotional trauma and could need intensive counseling or time off work.

Call our Dallas-Fort Worth attorneys at The Barber Law Firm if you have been the victim of an attack on business property. We can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.
We have multiple offices throughout the metro area at which we can help you.

By law, individuals who operate personal watercraft (such as jet skis), as well as boats, have a duty to operate the, as well as boats, safe manner. They also have the duty to take steps to protect their passengers as well as others on the water around them. Although most people would not drive a car without proper training or while intoxicated, many do not view boating the same way. Some common reasons boating and jet ski accidents occur include a lack of proper training, driving while intoxicated, driving too fast or in a reckless manner, and failing to keep a proper lookout.

Victims of jet ski and boating accidents who are harmed by the wrongful actions of another person can choose to pursue compensation through the court system. Many jet ski and boating accidents that result in injuries involve the negligence of family and friends, which can make victims reluctant to pursue a case. However, keep in mind that in most cases, insurance companies are involved, which means the wrongdoer will most likely not be out of pocket for his or her injuries. Also, you will have to live with your injuries for the rest of your life, yet you only have a short time in which to seek compensation.

If you have been involved in a jet ski or boating accident in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you should speak with an attorney at The Barber Law Firm about your legal options.

As a personal injury attorney firm in Dallas, we can attest to the fact that it’s important for all business owners to take steps to keep their employees and customers or clients safe and to protect their businesses from personal injury claims. Owning and operating a new business can be stressful enough without adding to the stress with a lawsuit. Following are some tips that can help your business avoid a potential claim:

– Get liability insurance for your business. One of the biggest sources of stress in regards to a lawsuit is how the claims will be paid. A business liability policy can help business owners cover costs related to a personal injury lawsuit. If you do not have any liability insurance and you are sued, you could face economic ruin.

– If an employee or a customer is injured, act quickly. Get the accident victim to medical professionals immediately. Many business owners take the opposite approach, and may in fact discourage the injured party from seeking medical attention, believing that the issue may just go away if medical treatment is not sought. That can backfire, and accident victims can have major complications later from not seeking help immediately.

– Operate a well-organized business. Train all employees on safety procedures, and encourage an open dialogue on safety concerns. Have policies in place for what is supposed to happen if an accident does occur, including documentation requirements.

– Be proactive. Identify hazards and take precautions. Inspect the premises and any company vehicles regularly.
With the proper plans in place, it’s likely that you will be able to prevent or at least minimize the damages from any accident at your business.

If you have been involved in an accident at a business that you believe was caused by the negligence of the business owner, you should speak with an attorney. Speak with The Barber Law Firm. We will give you a free consultation on your case. Call today to learn more about the firm.

It’s been estimated that Americans take over 100 billion trips on elevators each year. While elevators are very convenient, if they are not properly maintained, they can cause serious accidents or even death. There are an estimated 10,000 serious injuries due to elevators in the United States, and dozens of people are killed.

Most of the injuries that occur in elevators happen while the passengers are getting in and out of the elevator. It’s common for people to trip and fall when entering or leaving an elevator, particularly if the car does not properly stop, and is therefore not aligned with the floor. Although most elevators have safety features designed to prevent doors from closing on a person, these safety features can sometimes malfunction, causing injuries. Elevators can sometimes rapidly drop, throwing passengers around and resulting in serious injuries.

The elderly and small children are most at risk of being injured in an elevator. Elderly individuals are more prone to be hurt in a fall, and over half of the elevator-related injuries that require medical attention and involve the elderly are due to trips or falls. Children are also at risk, and their injuries typically involve the arms, hands, or fingers.

Although there are strict laws regulating elevator safety and maintenance, in some cases those laws are ignored. If a person is injured in an elevator because of poor maintenance, or non-functioning safety features, the injured individual could have grounds for a personal injury case. The building owner, the elevator’s manufacturer, or the maintenance company could be held liable for injuries.

If you have been injured by a defective elevator, call the Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury attorneys at The Barber Law Firm. We can help you hold the responsible party legally liable for your injuries. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

There are strict rules that daycare centers must follow under state law. The laws are generally designed to ensure that children are supervised at all times, the center has sanitary conditions, safe food and snacks are served, the center has a properly stocked first aid kit, and more. Typically, background checks must be performed on employees and there are rules about training for directors.

In most accidents where children are harmed in a daycare center, the infants and toddlers at the center were not properly supervised. It is critical that staff members keep close supervision of children at all times. Some common accidents involving day care centers include dropping children, children falling, fights between unsupervised children, ingesting poison, falls from changing tables, and allergic reactions.

Under Texas law, parents of children who are injured at daycare centers because of the negligence of staff members have the right to file a lawsuit against the facility where the accident occurred. In many cases, you may not be sure of the specific circumstances that occurred to cause your child’s injury. A qualified legal team can assist in investigating the matter to determine the likely cause. If the day care center was negligent, a claim can be asserted for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more.

If your child has been injured at a Dallas-area daycare center, call the Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury attorneys at the Barber Law Firm. We can help. Call us today at 972-231-5800 to learn more about your legal options.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligence of another party, your best course of action is to hire an attorney as soon as you possibly can. Failure to do so could seriously damage your case to the point that it is thrown out of court. At The Barber Law Firm, we don’t want you to make the same mistakes so many have made in the past. Here are a few of the most common ones that we see.

Don’t Wait Until You’ve Received All Your Medical Treatment

More than likely, you will not be able to resolve your negligence case until after your medical treatment has been completed, but it is still very important to hire a lawyer as soon as you can. The reason is that it could take several months before that treatment has concluded, and during that time your attorney will need to gather the evidence needed to help you achieve a positive result. Your case will become weaker the longer that you wait to hire a legal representative.

Don’t Ever Act as Your Own Lawyer

Just because you’ve seen an attorney on television or in a movie, that doesn’t mean you’re qualified to represent yourself in your negligence case. You have to be able to prove your case by following court procedures to the letter or else it won’t ever make it to a jury. Even the smallest mistake could lead to that case being thrown out. Any experienced defense attorney would find it very easy to file a summary judgment and have your case dismissed.

Please don’t let this happen to you. Contact The Barber Law Firm and let us show you how we may be of assistance. Do you know anyone who has ever tried to act as his or her own attorney? If so, share your story by clicking one of the social media icons on the right portion of this page.

Being involved in a car accident can be physically, emotional and financially traumatic. Injuries sustained during a car accident can be very serious and even life-altering. Wearing a seat belt can help to reduce the chances of getting hurt. The Barber Law Firm can help if you have been injured in a car accident. Here are some types of car accident injuries.

Broken Bones

Broken bones can occur during car accidents. Whether the break is in an arm, leg, or ribs, severe pain may result. It can be difficult to function normally if you have a broken bone. You may not be able to do your job properly, which may result in lost wages. If the break is serious, it may require surgery and a prolonged period of rehabilitation.

Cuts

Cuts are a common type of car accident injuries. They can be caused by broken glass or loose objects in a car that hit someone. Stiches or even plastic surgery may be needed to repair a cut.

Concussions

Concussions may occur during a car accident. They can be very serious and potentially result in traumatic brain injury. A blow to the head can cause a concussion. A Dallas personal injury lawyer can help ensure you are properly compensated if you get a concussion in a car accident.

These are a few types of car accident injuries that can affect your quality of life. Contact The Barber Law Firm for help if you are injured in a car accident. We will fight for just compensation for your discomfort and suffering.