Chickasaw County Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A Chickasaw County workers’ compensation lawyer is working a claim that will never see the inside of a county courthouse. In Mississippi, injured workers go before an administrative commission, not a judge and jury, and that changes how a claim is built, argued, and won. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including Houston, Okolona, and the rest of Chickasaw County, and workers’ compensation is the center of what we do.
That matters here because Chickasaw County’s economy runs on the kind of work that hurts people: furniture and upholstery plants, manufacturing floors, poultry and agricultural operations, trucking, and the logging and timber trade that runs through north Mississippi. These jobs produce back and spine injuries, crushed hands, torn shoulders, and knees that give out after years on concrete. When a claim gets denied or benefits stop, the fight moves to a state agency in Jackson, and the evidence you build before that point decides the outcome.
Why Mississippi Comp Cases Don’t Work Like Other Injury Claims
People searching for help after a plant injury often assume they will sue their employer. Workers’ compensation is a different system. It pays regardless of fault, and in exchange it limits what you can recover and sends disputes to the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. The Commission is run by three people appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and it administers the law rather than acting as a court.
Coverage starts on your first day on the job. There is no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. The wage-loss benefit is up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a weekly maximum set by the Legislature. Temporary total and permanent total disability benefits cannot run longer than 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability payments in the general category are capped at the same length.
Your case is heard in one of two ways: an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge, or a review hearing before the Full Commission. Review by the Full Commission is not a second trial. It looks at the record made in front of the Administrative Judge, which is why the first hearing carries so much weight. Evidence that was never put on the record rarely gets a second chance.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Chickasaw County Comp Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and South Louisiana, from north Mississippi and the Delta to the Gulf Coast. Most attorneys who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who handle a work injury only when one happens to come through the door. We built the firm the other way around. Our attorneys bring more than 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients.
Rob Lunsford, our 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 regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kinds of injuries common in industrial north Mississippi: $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 his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for an oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stands up to the insurance company. We advance case costs, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish.
Injuries and Claims We Handle for Chickasaw County Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated lumbar and cervical discs are the most common serious claims from plant, warehouse, and trucking work. Insurers frequently blame degenerative disc disease, and we answer with medical evidence showing how years of physical labor or a single incident caused or worsened the injury.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often come from repetitive lifting, pulling, or a fall on a production floor. When the employer calls it an old sports injury, the medical timeline and work history become the heart of the case.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and other bones from falls, struck-by incidents, and equipment accidents can require specialists and complex surgical repair, which means long stretches away from work.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial sites, plants, and oil field work can produce severe burns and life-altering injuries that call for lifetime medical planning, not a quick settlement.
- Truck Driver and Delivery Injuries: Drivers hauling through north Mississippi face wrecks and strain injuries, and these cases often involve a second claim against the other driver alongside comp benefits.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job are claims we handle for those who serve their communities.
- Occupational Illness and Repetitive Trauma: Conditions that develop over months or years, like hand, wrist, and spine problems from repetitive work, are compensable even without a single dramatic accident.
What to Do After a Work Injury in Chickasaw County
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can. Mississippi gives you 30 days from the accident to give notice, and waiting that long hands the insurer an argument. Ask for the name of the carrier and keep a copy of whatever you submit. If a supervisor tells you not to bother with paperwork or suggests using your own health insurance, that is a warning sign, not a courtesy.
Get medical care and be specific with every provider about how the injury happened at work. Vague histories in medical records are what insurers quote back to you later. Follow your doctor’s restrictions even when your supervisor pushes you to return early, and keep a record of every missed shift, mileage to appointments, and out-of-pocket cost.
On deadlines, the notice window is separate from the filing window. If no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the injury, your right to benefits is barred unless you have filed a claim with the Commission during that period. Formally, that means a Petition to Controvert filed with the Commission, and the two years can also run from the last compensation payment. Do not let a promise of eventual payment lull you past that line.
If your claim is denied, the case goes to the Commission in Jackson, where an Administrative Judge hears the evidence. A party who loses at the Full Commission can appeal a final award within 30 days, and the appeal goes to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals are decided only on the record made before the Commission, so the work of building that record starts the day you hire a lawyer. A Chickasaw County workers’ comp attorney should be gathering medical opinions, witness statements, and your job history long before any hearing is set.
Common mistakes are predictable: giving a recorded statement to the adjuster without preparation, signing medical releases that open your whole history, going back to work before you are cleared, and missing a deadline because the insurer said a decision was coming. Talk to a lawyer before any of those steps.
How Insurers Fight These Claims
The playbook is familiar. The carrier argues the accident did not happen at work, blames a pre-existing condition, pushes you back before your doctor clears you, or stops payments without warning. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated it, benefits may still be owed, and that argument is won with medical testimony, not with sympathy.
Some work injuries also involve someone other than your employer, such as a negligent driver who hits your work truck or a contractor whose unsafe site causes a fall. In those cases you may have a separate personal injury claim alongside comp, and we make sure the two claims work together instead of against each other.
Questions Chickasaw County Workers Ask About Comp Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if you will be out of work for a long time, a lawyer can change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys working for it. You should have someone working for you.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Thirty days from the accident in Mississippi. Report it as soon as you can, and put it in writing.
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 within two years of the injury and no claim was filed, the right to benefits is barred.
How much will I receive while I cannot work?
Wage-loss benefits are up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a weekly maximum that is adjusted over time. Temporary and permanent total disability benefits cannot run beyond 450 weeks.
Am I covered if I was hurt on my first day?
Yes. Coverage begins on the first day of employment with no waiting period or minimum earnings requirement.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Mississippi 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 my injury came on gradually instead of in one accident?
Repetitive trauma and occupational illness can be compensable. The proof looks different, relying on medical opinions connecting the condition to your work duties, which is why early and detailed reporting to your doctors matters.
Will my own health insurance cover treatment while my comp claim is pending?
Sometimes providers bill health insurance when comp has denied the claim, but that can create reimbursement problems later. Tell us before you rely on it so we can plan around liens and repayment demands.
What happens at the hearing, and is it a trial?
It is an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge at the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not a jury trial. Testimony and medical records become the record, and any later review by the Full Commission works from that record rather than starting over.
Can I still bring a separate claim if someone other than my employer caused the injury?
Often yes. A negligent driver, equipment manufacturer, or outside contractor can be liable even though your employer is protected by the comp system. Those claims run on separate deadlines, so raise them early.
Do you represent workers who speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Injured Workers Across Chickasaw County and North Mississippi
Our work for Chickasaw County clients begins in Houston, the county seat, and extends through Okolona and the surrounding rural communities where plants, farms, and timber operations employ much of the workforce. Workers who live in Chickasaw County often commute to jobs in neighboring counties, and we represent them wherever the injury happened. That includes nearby Calhoun, Pontotoc, Monroe, Clay, Webster, and Lee Counties, and communities such as Pontotoc, Tupelo, West Point, Aberdeen, and Calhoun City.
The firm represents injured workers statewide in Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, and the Delta, and across South Louisiana in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. A claim from a Chickasaw County worksite follows the same Commission process no matter where you live in the state, and our attorneys appear before it regularly.
Talk to a Chickasaw County Workers’ Compensation Attorney
If you were hurt at work in Chickasaw County, the insurance company is already building its version of events. A Chickasaw County workers’ compensation attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can start building yours: the medical evidence, the witness accounts, and the work history that answer the insurer’s arguments. Call us any hour of the day. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
We help injured workers. That is what we do. Call today and tell us what happened.
