Plaquemine Personal Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people in Plaquemine and throughout Iberville Parish, along with the rest of South Louisiana and communities across Mississippi, handling workers’ compensation claims, car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death cases. The firm’s practice has been built around people hurt at work, which matters here, because so many injuries in this part of the state happen on the job.
If you are searching for a Plaquemine personal injury lawyer, you are probably dealing with one of two realities: an accident that was someone else’s fault, or an injury at work that may fit both a comp claim and a claim against an outside party. Plaquemine sits in an industrial corridor along the Mississippi River, where plant turnarounds, contractor crews, tank trucks, and river traffic put workers on sites that are inherently hazardous. A single incident can produce two separate legal tracks, and the way you handle the first can affect the second.
Those tracks run on different clocks and under different rules. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system with its own deadlines and its own judges. A personal injury claim against a negligent driver or a contractor who is not your employer is a lawsuit that turns on fault. Getting the two to work together, rather than undercutting each other, is the part that gets missed when the injury is treated as a single problem.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Plaquemine Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a law firm that represents injured workers and accident victims across Louisiana and Mississippi, serving Iberville Parish, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport as well as Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta. Clients pay nothing up front, consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and fees are collected only if there is a recovery. Phones are answered around the clock, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language, since the firm says “Hablamos espanol.”
That focus shows up in results. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, including $685,000 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 he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Those cases involve the same kinds of injuries and workplaces that produce claims around Plaquemine.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and has argued personal injury and insurance cases before state appellate courts, which is exactly the experience a contested third-party claim calls for. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stands up to the insurance company. One reviewer wrote that Brad Baskin “fought with the insurance company” every step of the way. For a Plaquemine plant worker or truck driver, that matters most when an adjuster starts questioning how the accident happened.
Injury Claims That Come Out of Plaquemine’s Work and Roads
- Plant and Industrial Site Injuries: Burns, falls, crush injuries, and exposure incidents at facilities along the river are first a workers’ compensation matter. If a contractor, equipment maker, or another company on the site contributed, a separate injury claim may exist beyond comp.
- Work Vehicle Crashes: A driver hurt in a company truck or on a job errand collects comp benefits, and may also sue the at-fault driver. The firm’s $385,000 result for a project manager struck in his work vehicle shows how these cases play out.
- Truck Accidents on Highway 1 and the River Corridor: Tank trucks, flatbeds, and delivery vehicles share Louisiana Highway 1 and nearby roads with commuters. Trucking cases involve carriers, drivers, and often several layers of insurance.
- Car Accidents: Rear-end collisions, intersection crashes, and wrecks on the roads connecting Plaquemine to Baton Rouge produce back, neck, and shoulder injuries that can linger for years.
- Premises Liability: Unsafe stores, apartment complexes, parking lots, and worksites where a property owner ignored a known hazard. Fault, not employment, controls these claims.
- Wrongful Death: When a fatal crash or workplace incident takes a family member, survivors may have both death benefits under comp and a wrongful death claim against a negligent third party.
- Back, Neck, Shoulder, and Knee Injuries: Herniated discs, rotator cuff and SLAP tears, and meniscus tears are among the most common serious injuries the firm handles, and insurers often blame them on age or old sports injuries.
What to Do in the Days After an Injury in Iberville Parish
Get medical care first, and tell every provider how the injury happened. Records made in the first days are the foundation of your claim, and gaps in treatment are something insurers use against you. If the injury happened at work, report it to your employer promptly. In Louisiana, notice to the employer is due within thirty days of the injury, and a compensation proceeding can be defeated without it. Put the report in writing if you can.
Then separate the two questions. Workers’ compensation claims in Louisiana go through the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which runs district workers’ compensation courts around the state. Plaquemine cases are not tied to a single local office; under state law the worker can choose to have the case heard in the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where the worker lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the injury, though that period can stretch to three years from the last compensation payment when benefits have been paid.
A lawsuit against someone other than your employer follows a different deadline. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s period for most injury lawsuits is two years from the day the injury occurred. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Wrongful death claims allow the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury, with a shorter limit for death claims based on medical malpractice.
Fault rules have also tightened. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and a lower share of fault reduces the award proportionally. That makes early evidence matter: photographs, witness names, the police report, and your own account before an adjuster shapes it. Be careful with recorded statements to the other side’s insurer, and do not sign broad medical releases without advice.
If you are hurt at work, do not assume a denial ends things. When an insurer refuses a treatment request, the dispute goes through a utilization review process with tight deadlines: fifteen calendar days from written notice of the denial to file the dispute form, then a decision from the medical director, and a further forty-five days from that decision to seek review. Judgments from a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed, and for cases in this part of the state that review runs through the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. Missing one of these short windows can cost you treatment you were entitled to.
When a Work Injury Also Gives You a Claim Against Someone Else
Workers’ compensation generally keeps you from suing your own employer for a workplace injury. It does not protect everyone else. A subcontractor from another company, the manufacturer of defective equipment, a property owner, or a driver who hit your work truck can all be sued. The comp insurer that paid your medical bills often has a right to be reimbursed from a third-party recovery, so the order and structure of settlements matter. A comp settlement signed carelessly can interfere with the larger injury claim, and a third-party settlement can affect ongoing comp benefits.
This is the practical reason to hire a Plaquemine injury attorney who also knows comp. Someone who handles only car wrecks may miss the comp lien. Someone who handles only comp may never look for the outside party. The firm’s attorneys work on both sides of that line, so the claims are built to fit together.
Frequently Asked Questions About Plaquemine Injury Claims
Do I need a personal injury lawyer or a workers’ compensation lawyer?
It depends on how you were hurt. An injury on the job is a workers’ compensation claim first. A crash or fall caused by someone who is not your employer is a personal injury claim. Many work injuries involve both, and Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe handles each.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are paid only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. In workers’ compensation cases, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to file an injury lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the day the injury was sustained. Older injuries remain under the former one-year period, so the date of the accident decides which rule applies.
What is the deadline to report a work injury?
Louisiana requires notice to your employer within thirty days of the injury. A formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the injury, with a longer window if compensation payments have been made.
Can I get both workers’ compensation and a personal injury settlement?
Yes, when someone other than your employer caused the injury. The comp insurer may seek reimbursement from the outside recovery, which is why coordinating the two claims matters.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery if you are found 51 percent or more at fault, and a lesser share reduces your award by that percentage. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. Because the threshold is so consequential, how fault is documented early in the case matters a great deal.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, raise it in your consultation so the firm can review your options.
Does a pre-existing condition end my claim?
No. If your work caused, worsened, or accelerated a condition such as a degenerative disc, you may still be entitled to benefits. Insurers raise this argument constantly, and strong medical evidence is how it is answered.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
Treatment for a work injury should be paid by the comp insurer, and a health plan may resist covering it. If the comp insurer denies a treatment request, the dispute process has a fifteen-day filing deadline, so do not let a denial sit.
What if a family member died in a crash or at work?
Louisiana generally allows the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury to bring a wrongful death claim, with a one-year limit when the death is tied to medical malpractice. Death benefits under comp may also be available when the death was work-related.
Do I need a lawyer for a smaller injury claim?
Not every claim requires one. But if benefits are denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or you will be out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests.
Can the firm help if I speak Spanish?
Yes. Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Plaquemine Injury Clients Across Iberville Parish and South Louisiana
The firm’s work starts with Plaquemine and Iberville Parish, and reaches the neighboring communities where people commute, work, and drive every day. Clients come from Plaquemine and the communities along the river, and from nearby Baton Rouge and the surrounding Capital Region, along with Lafayette, Lake Charles, and New Orleans. The firm also represents injured workers and accident victims in Shreveport and north Louisiana, and across the state line in Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi.
Whether the injury happened at a plant, on a job site, on a highway, or in a parking lot, the claim is built on the same foundation: medical evidence, a clear account of what happened, and a plan that accounts for every source of recovery.
Talk With a Plaquemine Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a crash, on a job site, or because of someone’s carelessness, a Plaquemine injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can tell you which claims you have, which deadlines are running, and how the pieces fit together. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless there is a recovery. Call the firm to talk through your case.
