Oregon 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 Oregon

A second-degree burn damages the outer skin and the dermis below it, while a third-degree burn destroys the skin to its full depth (NIH/NIGMS). If you are sent to the Portland burn center listed below, ask for the transfer records.

Then keep proof: photos of the wound every few days and of the place it happened. Keep the cup, appliance, clothing or chemical container, and do not give a failed product back to the store. Talk with a lawyer before you give a recorded statement to an insurer. The Oregon State Bar’s Legal Referral Service can set up a first consultation of up to 30 minutes for $50 or less (Oregon State Bar).

If a fire was involved, the Oregon State Fire Marshal publishes data dashboards, including a Fire Casualties Dashboard and an NFIRS Dashboard, with datasets you can download as .csv files (OSFM dashboards).

The deadline to file in Oregon

The basic period is two years for an injury to the person not arising on contract (ORS 12.110(1)). ORS 12.115 adds a 10-year outer limit for negligent injury.

The two years do not always start on the day of the burn. In Schiele v. Hobart Corp. (1978), the Oregon Supreme Court said the period begins when a reasonably prudent person associates the symptoms with a serious or permanent condition and also sees the role the defendant played. Medical malpractice has its own statutory discovery rule: two years from discovery, with a five-year repose (ORS 12.110(4)).

Under the Oregon Tort Claims Act, notice is due within 180 days of the injury (one year for a wrongful death), plus up to 90 days if the injured person is incapacitated. For the state, notice goes to the Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services; for a local public body, to its principal administrative office, a governing-body member or its designated general counsel. Suit must follow within two years (ORS 30.275).

How fault works in Oregon

Oregon uses modified comparative fault. Your carelessness does not bar the case if your share is not greater than the combined fault of the others the jury weighs against you (ORS 31.600(1)). Past 50%, you recover nothing.

Picture a tenant scalded by a water heater the landlord had been told to repair. If the jury puts 20% of the fault on the tenant for reaching in to adjust it, the tenant collects 80% of the damages. At an even split, the tenant still recovers half. At 51%, the claim fails.

Damages and caps in Oregon

Oregon does not cap noneconomic damages, such as pain and disfigurement, in a personal injury case, medical malpractice included. Since 2021, the $500,000 limit in ORS 31.710 reaches only wrongful death actions, and not Tort Claims Act or workers’ compensation claims.

Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence of malice, or of a reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk of harm with conscious indifference to others’ health, safety and welfare (ORS 31.730(1)). The statute sets no dollar cap but divides the award.

Burns at work in Oregon

An employer that carries workers’ compensation coverage has exclusive liability under ORS 656.018(1)(a), so the comp claim is usually the only claim against it (ORS chapter 656). The exception is an injury caused by the employer’s deliberate intention to injure, which lets the worker take benefits and also sue for damages above them (ORS 656.156(2)).

If a subcontractor or the maker of a faulty steam valve is to blame, the worker may elect to sue that negligent third person (ORS 656.154; election rules in ORS 656.578). Under ORS 656.593, costs and attorney fees come off first, the worker keeps at least one-third of the balance, and the paying agency is reimbursed from the rest.

Burn centers in Oregon

The American Burn Association lists one burn center in Oregon. It is ABA-verified for adults and children.

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

Who may be liable for a burn

Ask who controlled the danger. A landlord or store owner may have ignored a gas smell. A restaurant may have served a drink far hotter than a customer expects; the ABA’s scald guide reports that 155°F water can cause a third-degree burn in adult skin in about one second (ABA scald guide). A contractor who is not your employer, the maker of a defective space heater, or a utility with a neglected line can also be responsible.

How Beverly Law helps in Oregon

Beverly Law is a California firm, and its attorneys are licensed in California and Washington. For a burn injury in Oregon, the firm works with Oregon-licensed attorneys through its referral network. A free case review connects you with a burn injury attorney licensed in Oregon, usually within one business day.

Related pages

• Burn injury lawyer · Burn injury law by state · Burn centers · Washington burn injury law · California burn injury law

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

Common questions

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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.