LaPlace Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A back strain on a loading dock along the River Road corridor or a burn at an industrial site near the Mississippi can leave a worker in LaPlace with medical appointments to keep, a paycheck that has stopped, and an adjuster asking for a recorded statement. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation claims for injured workers in LaPlace, St. John the Baptist Parish, and across South Louisiana and Mississippi.
If you are searching for a LaPlace workers’ compensation lawyer, the first thing worth knowing is that LaPlace sits in St. John the Baptist Parish, and that detail shapes where an appeal would eventually land. Louisiana’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal covers four parishes: Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist. Claims start before a workers’ compensation judge in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the rules for choosing where your hearing is held give you more flexibility than most injured workers realize.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a LaPlace Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, including LaPlace and the surrounding River Parishes, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the rest of South Louisiana. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury only when one walks in. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and consultations are free, case costs are advanced, and there is no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call.
The people behind that record matter. 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 tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kinds of injuries that come out of industrial and labor-heavy 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. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, answers questions, and fights the insurance company at every step.
Injuries and Claims We Handle for LaPlace Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are among the most common comp injuries for people who lift, climb, or drive for a living. Insurers often point to degenerative disc disease, so the case turns on medical evidence showing that work caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears frequently follow repetitive overhead work, pulling heavy pipe, or a fall. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and that argument has to be answered directly.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plants, refineries, and rigs in South Louisiana produce serious thermal and chemical burns and crush injuries that require long treatment and often lead to permanent disability benefits.
- Fractures: Feet, ankles, hips, and other bones broken in falls or equipment accidents can require specialist surgery and months away from work.
- Truck and Vehicle Accidents on the Job: Delivery drivers, truckers, and workers in company vehicles are exposed on I-10, I-55, and the River Region highways. These cases can carry both a comp claim and a separate claim against the at-fault driver.
- Firefighter and First Responder Conditions: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job can all support claims.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace accident takes a life, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits and may also have a separate civil claim against a third party.
What a LaPlace Injured Worker Should Do Now
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can. Louisiana requires notice within 30 days of the accident, and a compensation proceeding generally cannot go forward without it. The formal claim must generally be filed within one year of the accident. If the insurer has paid benefits, that deadline can stretch to three years from the last payment, but do not count on an exception. Waiting is the single most common way people weaken a valid claim.
Get medical care and tell every provider that the injury happened at work, describing the mechanism specifically. Vague histories become ammunition later. Keep copies of work restrictions, pay stubs, and anything your supervisor says about the incident, and write down the names of coworkers who saw it happen. Be careful with recorded statements to the adjuster; they are used to find inconsistencies, not to help you.
Where your hearing takes place is partly your choice. Louisiana lets the worker elect the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. That choice can matter for convenience, and our attorneys can advise on it. The state operates ten district workers’ compensation courts, including one in New Orleans and one in Baton Rouge.
If the insurer refuses a treatment your doctor recommends, the clock is short. A dispute over medical treatment goes to the OWC on Form 1009, which must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial; the OWC medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, Form 1008 must be filed within 45 days of the date the decision was issued, and the clock runs from issuance, not from when you open the envelope. A final judgment from a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the court of appeal, and the delay is 30 days for an appeal that suspends the judgment and 60 days for one that does not. Missing any of these windows can end an otherwise strong argument.
How Louisiana Wage Benefits Work When You Cannot Return to Full Duty
Medical benefits are only half of a comp claim. While you are completely unable to work, you receive temporary total disability benefits, set at two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a weekly cap that the state adjusts each year. The cap is fixed by your date of accident, so it is not recalculated later.
Many LaPlace workers fall into a harder middle ground: released to lighter duty, but unable to earn what they did before. That is where supplemental earnings benefits come in. When you cannot earn at least 90 percent of your pre-injury wages, SEB pays two-thirds of the difference between what you earned at the time of injury and what you are earning or are able to earn. SEB continues until you are released to full duty, return to your pre-injury earnings, or reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that 520.
The phrase “able to earn” is where disputes happen. Insurers hire vocational consultants to produce lists of jobs they claim you could perform, whether or not those jobs exist nearby or fit your restrictions. Documenting your job search and your physical limits is part of protecting the benefit. Permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits, along with additional benefits for catastrophic injury or death, are available when the injury leaves lasting impairment.
When Someone Other Than Your Employer Caused the Injury
Workers’ compensation does not let you sue your employer for negligence, but it does not bar claims against outside parties. A driver who hits your work truck, a contractor whose unsafe site causes a fall, or a manufacturer of defective equipment can each be a separate source of recovery. Louisiana now gives two years from the day of injury for most injury lawsuits arising on or after July 1, 2024, and earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing in these civil cases, which makes early evidence gathering far more important. The comp carrier usually has a reimbursement interest in any third-party recovery, so the two claims have to be coordinated, not handled separately.
LaPlace Workers’ Compensation Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one. If your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or 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 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. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury and file a claim in Louisiana?
Report to your employer within 30 days of the accident. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury, though payments made by the insurer can extend that to three years from the last payment.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp 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 a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical opinions tying the work to the change in your condition are the core of the response.
Do I have to see the company’s doctor?
Louisiana generally gives you the right to choose your treating physician in a given specialty, and your choice carries weight in the case. Do not accept a referral just because your employer or adjuster suggests one without understanding what that choice means for your claim.
What if the insurer denies the surgery my doctor recommends?
That is a medical treatment dispute handled through the OWC’s utilization review process. You have 15 calendar days from receiving written notice of the denial to file Form 1009, so contact an attorney immediately.
Can I get workers’ comp and also sue someone else for the same injury?
Often yes, when a third party such as another driver or a contractor contributed to the accident. The comp claim and the injury claim have separate deadlines and rules, and the insurer may claim reimbursement from a third-party recovery, so they need to be managed together.
My injury developed gradually from repetitive work. Is that covered?
Occupational diseases and cumulative injuries can be compensable. Because there is no single accident date, documenting when you first connected the condition to work and when you told your employer is especially important.
Will my health insurance pay while my comp claim is pending?
Health insurers often exclude work injuries, and a denied comp claim can leave you with bills no one is paying. Tell providers the injury is work-related, ask whether they will hold bills while the claim is resolved, and have counsel push the carrier for authorization rather than paying out of pocket.
Do you help Spanish-speaking workers?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving LaPlace and the River Parishes Workers’ Compensation Clients
We represent injured workers in LaPlace and across St. John the Baptist Parish, including Reserve, Garyville, Edgard, Wallace, and Mount Airy. Our work extends to neighboring St. Charles Parish communities such as Destrehan, Norco, Luling, and Hahnville, and to St. James Parish, including Vacherie and Convent. Further along the river corridor and the I-10 and I-55 routes, we serve clients in Kenner, Metairie, Harahan, and River Ridge in Jefferson Parish, and in New Orleans and the surrounding area.
Beyond the River Region, the firm handles claims for workers hurt in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana. We also represent injured workers across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, and the Delta. Wherever the injury happened, the same legal team applies the same focus on workers’ compensation.
Talk With a LaPlace Workers’ Compensation Attorney
If you were hurt on the job and the insurer is questioning your claim, cutting off benefits, or refusing treatment, a LaPlace workers’ compensation attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened and tell you where you stand. Consultations are free, phones are answered around the clock, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call today to schedule a consultation or send us your case details, and let our team deal with the insurance company while you focus on getting well.
