''Well, multiply that by right pockets and pants pockets and all the people who have flames flare up in their face while they're holding the lighter and kids playing with lighters, and you have a lot of cases,'' said John Andrews, the Tampa, Fla., lawyer who heads the Association of Trial Lawyers of America's network of lawyers handling cases. ''Between the United States and other countries where they sell Bic lighters, there are probably at least 1,000 claims.''

The lighters are sold in many parts of the world; those sold in the United States are made in this country, France, Greece, Spain and Mexico.

Mr. Andrews, who is compiling data on all the claims in the United States and Canada, said most of the injuries arise from butane leaks that either cause flames to flare up as much as four feet when the lighter is ignited, or keep the lighter from extinguishing properly, creating an ''afterburn'' that may not be discovered before the lighter is put away.

There are claims of Bic lighters exploding while in the user's hands, on the lap, even sitting, unused, on the dashboard of a car or a kitchen shelf. Although the Scripto lighter and the Cricket lighter can also cause injuries, Bic seems to be getting most of the claims, both because it has 58 percent of the market and, engineering experts say, because of special design characteristics the other lighters do not have.

Scripto-Tokai, the Japanese-owned company that makes the Scripto lighter, would not comment on how many claims it faced, but said that its lighters are constructed differently from those of other manufacturers, in that they have a special safety cap, and a core made of a self-extinguishing resin that will not melt until it reaches temperatures of at least 230 degrees centigrade, or 446 degrees Fahrenheit.

The American office of the Swedish Match Corporation, the Swedish company that makes the Cricket lighter, would not discuss whether there were legal claims pending.

''Bic keeps saying these are freak accidents,'' Mr. Andrews said. ''When you find out how many there are, you'll see that's not true. I've got the case of Kenneth Lovli, a 23-year-old who lived 17 horrible, horrible days after his lighter exploded and burned him over 70 percent of his body. I have a case for the estate of Jack Morris, who lived for three days after he flicked his Bic. There's Ramona Boroff, a woman in her 30's whose lighter exploded and left burns on her neck, chest and upper arm. I have another guy who had his nose burned. And that's just here in the Tampa area.'' The Safety of Children Is Another Concern