Moss Point Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
The goal in a work injury claim is simple to state and hard to reach: your medical treatment approved without a fight, your weekly checks arriving on time, and no one pushing you back to the job before your doctor says you are ready. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, and for anyone searching for a Moss Point workers’ compensation lawyer, that means help with claims arising in Moss Point, Jackson County, and the surrounding Gulf Coast.
Moss Point sits in a corridor of heavy industry. Shipbuilding and fabrication, marine and port work, industrial plants, and the construction and maintenance crews that service them all produce the kinds of injuries that fill comp dockets: crushed hands and feet, torn shoulders and knees, herniated discs from repetitive lifting, and burns. These are also the injuries insurers like to contest, usually by calling them degenerative, unrelated to work, or healed enough to return to full duty.
Mississippi comp claims are not decided in a county courtroom. They go through the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative body with its own procedures, deadlines, and standards of proof. Knowing how that system actually runs is what separates a claim that gets paid from one that stalls.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Moss Point Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation as the center of its practice, not as a sideline to car wrecks and slip-and-falls. The firm’s attorneys bring over 75 combined years of experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. We represent injured workers throughout Mississippi, including Moss Point, Pascagoula, Gautier, and the rest of the Gulf Coast, as well as across Louisiana. The firm is also available in Spanish, and phones are answered 24 hours a day.
Several of the firm’s results involve the same injuries common in coastal industrial work: a $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $385,000 for a project manager injured when his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. The firm also holds a 2026 Best Law Firms ranking for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both Partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Clients consistently describe an attorney who listened, stayed in contact, and stood up to the insurance company at every step.
The financial terms are straightforward. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and you pay no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
Injuries and Claim Types We See from Moss Point Workplaces
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the most common serious comp injury in physical trades. Insurers routinely blame degenerative disc disease; the answer is medical evidence showing that years of lifting or a single incident caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and knee injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears are frequent among welders, fitters, pipefitters, and laborers working overhead or on uneven decks. Employers often label them old sports injuries.
- Fractures: Feet, ankles, hips, and other bones broken in falls from scaffolding, staging, or vessels can require specialists and multiple surgeries, with long stretches away from work.
- Burns and catastrophic injuries: Industrial plants, fabrication yards, and energy-sector job sites carry risks of severe burns, crush injuries, and other life-altering harm that can leave a worker permanently unable to return to the same job.
- Truck and delivery driver injuries: Drivers hauling freight along the Gulf Coast corridors face wrecks, loading injuries, and repetitive strain, and a crash caused by another driver can also support a separate injury claim.
- Occupational illness and repetitive trauma: Hearing loss, respiratory conditions, and cumulative joint damage develop gradually, which makes proving the connection to work the central fight.
- Firefighter and first responder claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job are recognized categories we handle.
- Third-party injury claims: When a negligent contractor, property owner, equipment maker, or outside driver contributed to your injury, you may have a personal injury case alongside your comp benefits.
What to Do After a Work Injury in Moss Point, Step by Step in Practice
Report the injury to your employer right away, and in any event within 30 days of the accident. Do it in writing if you can, and keep a copy. A late report is one of the easiest ways for an insurer to attack an otherwise valid claim, and verbal notice to a supervisor who later forgets the conversation is not much protection.
Get medical care and be specific with every provider about how the injury happened at work. Medical records written in the first days become the backbone of the claim, and a vague history (“my back hurts”) gives the insurer room to suggest another cause. Follow your doctor’s restrictions even when a supervisor pressures you to do more, and do not accept a return to full duty that your physician has not approved.
Mississippi generally gives you two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If no disability benefits were ever paid, failing to file within the two years can bar the claim entirely. Do not treat the two-year window as a comfortable cushion; evidence fades and witnesses leave long before it closes. Coverage begins from your first day on the job, with no waiting period.
If your claim is denied or your checks stop, the case is heard by an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing. Either side can seek review by the Full Commission, which examines the record built before the judge rather than starting over with new testimony. That makes the first hearing the one that matters most; the evidence you present there is generally the evidence you are stuck with. A party dissatisfied with the Full Commission’s final award can appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and the Supreme Court often assigns those appeals to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appellate review is confined to the record made before the Commission.
Common mistakes include giving a recorded statement to the adjuster before understanding what it will be used for, signing medical releases broader than necessary, posting about activities on social media, and skipping follow-up appointments, which insurers cite as proof you recovered. If an adjuster calls, you can politely decline to discuss details until you have spoken with a lawyer. If your injury happened in Louisiana, say on a project across the state line, different deadlines apply, including a one-year filing window, so tell us where the accident occurred at the first call.
How Insurers Contest Gulf Coast Comp Claims, and How Benefits Are Calculated
The insurance playbook is predictable. They argue the accident did not happen at work, blame a pre-existing condition, claim the injury is not serious enough to keep you out, or stop payment without notice. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim. If your work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits can still be owed, and answering that argument with strong medical opinion evidence is among the most important parts of the case.
Wage-loss benefits in Mississippi are generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that the state adjusts periodically. Temporary total disability and permanent total disability benefits run on that two-thirds formula, and for most categories payments cannot continue beyond 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability in the general category is also limited to 450 weeks. Medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary is covered separately from wage benefits, and the real battles usually concern which doctor you see, whether a recommended surgery is approved, and whether you have reached maximum medical improvement.
When a claim settles, the number reflects medical evidence, your wages, your age and education, your ability to return to comparable work, and the strength of the insurer’s defenses. Our settlements, including the back injury results noted above, came from building those pieces before negotiating rather than after.
Questions Moss Point Workers Ask About Comp Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests.
How much does it cost to hire Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and fees are collected only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury in Mississippi?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Sooner is better, and written notice is safest.
How long do I have to file a claim with the Commission?
Generally two years from the date of injury or from the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert. If no disability benefits were paid in those two years and no claim was filed, the right to benefits can be lost.
Am I covered if I was hurt in my first week on the job?
Yes. Mississippi coverage applies from the first day of employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement.
Can my employer fire me for filing a comp claim?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation so we can review your options.
What if the insurer says my injury is just wear and tear?
That is the pre-existing condition defense. If your job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still qualify. Treating physicians’ opinions about work causation are often the deciding evidence, so we gather them early.
The Commission is in Jackson. Do I have to travel there for my case?
Evidentiary hearings are held before Administrative Judges, and review hearings before the Full Commission take place in Jackson. We handle the logistics of hearings, filings, and depositions so that you are not managing the process yourself, and we will tell you in advance when your own attendance is actually required.
What if my injury was partly my own fault?
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so carelessness on your part generally does not defeat a claim. A separate third-party injury lawsuit, however, is affected by fault, and Mississippi reduces a recovery in proportion to the plaintiff’s share of fault rather than barring it.
Can I pursue a lawsuit in addition to workers’ comp?
Often yes, when someone other than your employer contributed to the injury, such as a negligent driver, a contractor on a shared site, or a defective equipment manufacturer. Coordinating the comp claim with the injury claim matters because settlements in one can affect the other, including the comp carrier’s right to reimbursement.
Will I be paid while my claim is being contested?
Not automatically. If the insurer denies the claim or stops payment, you may go without wage benefits until a hearing, which is one reason prompt legal help matters. We press for treatment and benefits that are owed while the dispute proceeds.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Moss Point and Jackson County Injured Workers Across the Gulf Coast
We represent injured workers in Moss Point and throughout Jackson County, including Pascagoula, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Escatawpa, and Gulf Park Estates. Our reach continues along the Gulf Coast through Biloxi, Gulfport, D’Iberville, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, and Waveland, and inland to Hattiesburg and the communities around it. Across the rest of Mississippi, we handle claims from Jackson, Madison, Southaven, and the Delta to north Mississippi.
Because many Gulf Coast workers cross state lines for jobs, we also represent clients injured in Louisiana, from New Orleans and South Louisiana to Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and north Louisiana. Whatever your trade, from shipyard work to plant maintenance to trucking, the same priorities apply: prompt notice, solid medical documentation, and a lawyer who knows how these claims are fought.
Speak With a Moss Point Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job, you do not have to take on the insurance company by yourself. A Moss Point workers’ compensation attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain where your claim stands, and tell you what deadlines apply to your situation. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call today to talk through your case.
