District of Columbia Burn Injury Lawyer: Your Rights After a Burn

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By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a burn in the District of Columbia

D.C. has an ABA-verified adult burn center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and Children’s National has a pediatric listing. American Burn Association guidelines say all children may benefit from burn center referral (ABA referral guidelines).

Because your own misstep can end a D.C. claim, write down how the burn happened the same week. Then:

• Save the cup, lid, appliance or clothing involved.
• Photograph the burn as it heals, and the scene.
• Collect witness names and any incident or police report.
• Ask in writing that video be preserved.
• Say nothing about fault to an insurance adjuster until you have legal advice.

The deadline to file in the District of Columbia

The D.C. Code has no category written for personal injury. Burn claims fall under the residual rule for actions “for which a limitation is not otherwise specially prescribed,” which allows three years (D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8)). A burn caused by an assault or battery has a one-year limit (§ 12-301(a)(4)).

Section 12-301 builds discovery language into only specific claims: toxic-substance injury to real property and sexual abuse. The general discovery rule for injury claims is court-made and is not covered here, so do not count on a late start.

The notice to the District is a separate step. Within six months after the injury, the claimant, an agent or an attorney must give written notice to the Mayor stating the approximate time, place, cause and circumstances (D.C. Code § 12-309). A Metropolitan Police Department report made in the regular course of duty counts as notice.

How fault works in the District of Columbia

D.C. keeps the common-law rule. In Wingfield v. Peoples Drug Store, Inc., 379 A.2d 685 (D.C. 1977), the court wrote: “The rule is simply that contributory negligence bars a plaintiff’s recovery.” There is no reduction by percentage. If you were negligent and that negligence contributed to the injury, you can lose the case outright.

Take a customer burned when a carryout cup of coffee splits open as it is handed through a window. If the defense convinces a jury that she squeezed the cup too hard, she may recover nothing, even if the shop’s lid was defective. Hot drinks are frequently served at 160°F to 185°F (Brown & Diller, Burns 2008).

There is one statutory exception. A pedestrian, cyclist or other vulnerable user of a public highway or sidewalk who collides with a motor vehicle or another vulnerable user is not barred “unless the plaintiff’s negligence is a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury and greater than the aggregated total negligence of all the defendants” (D.C. Code § 50-2204.52). The law was enacted in 2016 and amended in 2021. A cyclist burned when a car hits her and catches fire could fall under it.

Damages and caps in the District of Columbia

D.C. rules on punitive damages and on any limit in medical malpractice cases were not confirmed from an official source for this page, so they are not described here. A lawyer licensed in the District can tell you whether either affects your claim.

Meanwhile, keep a record of your losses: bills, missed work, the surgeries your doctors expect, and photos of scarring over the months.

Burns at work in the District of Columbia

Comp “shall constitute the employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer” (D.C. Code § 32-1504). It is also the exclusive remedy against the employer’s insurer and their employees and officers acting within the scope of their work. The exception in the text is an employer that failed to secure comp. There is no express intentional-injury exception.

A kitchen worker burned by a commercial steamer that a repair company serviced badly need not choose between comp and a suit against the repair company (D.C. Code § 32-1535(a)). Watch the timing: accepting comp under an award assigns the claim to the employer unless the worker sues within six months after the award. The rights return to the worker if the employer does not sue within 90 days (§ 32-1535(b)). From any recovery, the employer is credited with its outlays, and fees and costs are shared in proportion (§ 32-1535(e)-(f-1)).

Burn centers in the District of Columbia

The ABA directory lists two burn programs in D.C. One is ABA-verified for adults. The pediatric listing is not ABA-verified.

Source: American Burn Association, Find a Burn Center, directory checked November 2026.

Who may be liable for a burn

Landlords and building owners may answer for wiring, radiators, water heaters and smoke alarms. A contractor at a construction site can be sued by another employer’s worker. Product makers answer for e-bike batteries and appliances that fail. Gas utilities come up after leaks, and restaurants over scalding drinks and loose lids.

How Beverly Law helps in the District of Columbia

Beverly Law is a California firm with attorneys licensed in California and Washington State. For a burn in the District of Columbia, the firm turns to attorneys licensed in the District through its referral network. Requesting a free case review gets you connected with a D.C.-licensed burn injury attorney, usually within one business day.

Related pages

• Burn injury lawyer · Burn injury law by state · Burn centers · Maryland · Virginia

This page is general information about District of Columbia law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change; a lawyer licensed in the District of Columbia can tell you how they apply to your case.

Common questions

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Burn Injury Lawyer

Important: Attorney Advertising. This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Beverly Law is a California firm whose attorneys are licensed in California and Washington; for injuries in other states it works with attorneys licensed there through its referral network. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.