Michigan Scarring and Disfigurement Lawyer

Michigan Scarring and Disfigurement Lawyers

A scar from a car crash doesn't just change how you look. It can change how you feel every time you look in the mirror, walk into a room, or meet someone new. Many people spend years and thousands of dollars on reconstructive surgery and still live with damage that never fully goes away.

If someone else caused your injury, you shouldn't have to carry that cost alone. The Lee Steinberg Law Firm has helped injured Michiganders for more than 50 years and recovered more than $1 billion for our clients. As experienced scarring and disfigurement lawyers in Michigan, we know how to show insurance companies and juries what these injuries really cost. And under the Lee Free Guarantee, you pay no attorney fee unless we win.

Call 1-800-LEE-FREE today for a free, confidential consultation.

Scars Leave More Than a Mark

Scarring and disfigurement are physical injuries, but the emotional toll is often just as heavy. People living with visible scars commonly struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some pull away from friends, family, and work.

Scars on the face are often the hardest to live with. They're the first thing people see, and they can't easily be covered. That's why juries often take facial scarring especially seriously, and why your claim should account for both the physical and emotional harm.

What Causes Scarring and Disfigurement?

Scarring and disfigurement can come from many kinds of injuries. Deep cuts and lacerations can leave permanent scars, even after treatment. Burns from fire, hot surfaces, or chemicals can change the color and texture of your skin for years, or for good. Amputations, meaning the loss of a limb or body part, leave both physical limits and lasting scars. And trauma to the face, from deep cuts to eye injuries to damage to the teeth or mouth, can affect how you look, eat, speak, and see.

How Car Crashes Cause Scarring

Car crashes are one of the most common causes of serious scarring in Michigan. The force of a crash can turn almost anything inside the car into a hazard.

Shattered glass from the windshield or side windows can cause deep cuts. Loose items and debris can fly through the cabin. In a hard crash, your face or head can slam into the steering wheel, dashboard, or side window, leading to broken bones, cuts, and lasting disfigurement. Even safety features can cause injuries: an airbag opens with enough force to cause burns and blunt trauma, and a seatbelt can leave friction burns across the chest and neck. In the worst crashes, a driver or passenger can be thrown from the car, sometimes through the windshield. Car fires and explosions can also cause severe burns.

Other Accidents That Can Cause Scarring

Car crashes aren't the only cause. Scarring and disfigurement can also result from pedestrian and bike accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, defective products, workplace accidents, explosions, exposure to toxic chemicals, boating accidents, and medical malpractice. If someone else's carelessness caused your injury, you may have a claim.

Facial Scarring and Disfigurement

Facial injuries are some of the most painful to live with, both physically and emotionally. Understanding the type of scar you have can also help show what treatment you'll need, now and in the future.

Types of Scars

Keloid scars form when the body overproduces scar tissue while healing. They become raised and bumpy and can grow beyond the edges of the original wound. Large keloids can even limit how well you move your face. Doctors may treat them with steroid injections, silicone sheets or gel pads, freezing (cryotherapy), laser therapy, or surgery.

Hypertrophic scars look a lot like keloids. They're raised and thick, but they stay within the area of the original injury. They're often treated with steroid injections or silicone sheets to flatten them.

Contracture scars usually form after a burn. As the skin heals, it pulls tight, which can make it hard to move. These scars can go deeper than the skin and affect the muscles and tendons underneath.

Common Causes of Facial Scarring

Cuts and lacerations are the most common cause. In a crash, they often come from broken glass, debris, or hitting something inside the car.

Burns are another major cause. Thermal burns come from fire or heat, such as a car fire or explosion. Chemical burns come from acids and other harsh substances. First-degree burns usually heal without lasting scars, but second- and third-degree burns can leave severe scarring and often require skin grafts, a surgery that moves healthy skin to cover the damaged area.

Broken facial bones can also lead to disfigurement. The face has 14 bones, including the jaw (mandible), upper jaw (maxilla), cheekbones (zygomatic bones), and nasal bones. A fracture to any of them can change the shape of your face. Eye injuries and damage to the soft tissue of the face, like muscles and cartilage, often need emergency care and follow-up treatment from a plastic surgeon.

Michigan Law and Scarring After a Car Crash

Michigan's No-Fault law has a special rule that matters a lot in scarring cases. In most car crash cases, you can only sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering if your injury meets a legal "threshold." Under MCL 500.3135, one way to meet it is with a permanent serious disfigurement.

The law lists three ways to meet the threshold: death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. The law doesn't define "permanent serious disfigurement," but in plain terms it means a lasting scar or change to your appearance that's significant, not minor. Whether a scar qualifies depends on the details, like its size, location, and how noticeable it is. If there's no real dispute about your injuries, a judge decides whether the scar qualifies. If there is, a jury may decide. That's why photos, medical records, and opinions from plastic surgeons matter so much. We gather that proof to show your injury meets the standard.

A few other rules in the same law can affect your case. Your compensation can be reduced by your share of the blame, and you can't recover for pain and suffering at all if you were more than 50% at fault. If you were driving your own car without the No-Fault insurance Michigan requires, you can't recover these damages. On the other hand, you can sue the at-fault driver for medical bills and lost wages that go beyond your PIP coverage limits.

Your No-Fault Benefits Come First

Michigan is a No-Fault state. After a crash, your own auto insurance pays your medical bills and part of your lost wages first, no matter who caused the crash. This coverage is called personal injury protection, or PIP. It can cover reasonable and necessary treatment, including surgery and therapy related to your scars. You can learn more from the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Don't Miss the Deadlines

Under MCL 500.3145, many PIP claims must be brought within 1 year. You also generally can't get paid for expenses from more than one year before you file a lawsuit. That's called the "one-year back rule."

A lawsuit for pain and suffering against the at-fault driver usually has to be filed within 3 years under MCL 600.5805. We handle your No-Fault claim and your injury claim at the same time, so nothing slips through the cracks.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

Scarring cases often involve long-term costs, so it's important to account for the future, not just today. Depending on your case, you may be able to recover medical bills, including plastic and reconstructive surgery; rehab, physical therapy, and occupational therapy; lost wages; and future lost earnings if your injury affects your ability to work.

You may also recover for the harm that doesn't come with a bill: pain and suffering, emotional distress, damage to your self-esteem, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and the loss of enjoyment of life. Your spouse may also have a claim for loss of consortium, which is the legal term for the loss of companionship and closeness in a marriage after a serious injury.

Why Choose the Lee Steinberg Law Firm?

Insurance companies often try to downplay scars as "cosmetic." We don't let them. With more than 50 years of experience, we know how to document a disfigurement, work with plastic surgeons and other medical experts, and show the full impact of your injury, physically and emotionally. We also handle the paperwork and the insurance companies so you can focus on healing.

We serve injured people across Michigan, including Detroit, Southfield, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Sterling Heights. Meet our trial team on the attorneys page. And under the Lee Free Guarantee, we don't get paid unless we win your case, whether it settles or goes to trial.

What Makes a Top-Rated Scarring and Disfigurement Lawyer in Michigan?

When you're looking for a top-rated scarring and disfigurement lawyer in Michigan, look for a firm that understands Michigan's "permanent serious disfigurement" standard and knows how to prove it. You want lawyers who work with medical experts to show what future surgeries and treatment will cost, and who take the emotional side of your injury as seriously as the physical side.

You also want a real track record. We've recovered more than $1 billion for injured Michiganders over more than 50 years. And with the Lee Free Guarantee, there's no financial risk to you.

Talk to a Michigan Scarring and Disfigurement Lawyer for Free

If a car crash or another accident left you with scarring or disfigurement, you don't have to face it alone. Call the Lee Steinberg Law Firm at 1-800-LEE-FREE or fill out our online consultation form. There's no fee unless we win.