Marshall County Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A workers’ compensation claim in Marshall County is not decided in the county courthouse, and that surprises a lot of injured workers. Mississippi comp claims go before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative body, and the rules, deadlines, and strategies that govern that process look very different from an ordinary lawsuit. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Holly Springs, Byhalia, and the rest of Marshall County.
Marshall County sits in the northern tier of the state, close enough to the Memphis area that thousands of residents work in warehouses, distribution centers, trucking, and manufacturing. Those are physical jobs, and they produce the kinds of injuries that insurers love to argue about: backs that give out after years of lifting, shoulders torn by repetitive overhead work, knees wrecked on concrete floors. If you were hurt at work and the carrier is delaying, denying, or cutting off your benefits, the details below are worth knowing before you say anything more to an adjuster.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Marshall County Workers’ Comp Claim
Our firm represents injured workers in Marshall County and throughout Mississippi, along with South Louisiana, and workers’ compensation is the center of our practice. Most attorneys who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who handle a work injury only when one walks in the door. We are built the other way around. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off before they should have been, and we have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish: hablamos español.
The results reflect the kind of injuries Marshall County workers actually suffer. We secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, and $385,000 for a project manager injured after being struck in his work vehicle. Other outcomes include $190,000 for a truck driver hurt in a wreck on the job, $175,000 for a delivery driver with a lumbar injury, and $135,000 for a diesel mechanic with a SLAP tear. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome, but they show the depth of experience behind each file.
Rob Lunsford, our 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, 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 regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Clients consistently tell us they felt heard and that their attorney stood up to the insurance company at every step.
Common Work Injuries and Claims We Handle for Marshall County Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the bread and butter of warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing claims. Carriers routinely blame degenerative disc disease, so the case turns on medical evidence showing that the job caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often come from repetitive lifting, pulling, or climbing. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and we answer that with treating-physician opinions and work history.
- Truck Driver and Delivery Driver Injuries: Marshall County’s position along major freight routes into the Memphis area means many residents drive for a living. Crash injuries, loading-dock falls, and cumulative strain claims all fall under comp, and a crash caused by another driver may also support a separate injury claim.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and other bones from falls, struck-by incidents, and machinery accidents can require specialists and complex surgical repair, with long stretches away from work.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial plants and job sites carry the risk of severe burns and life-altering trauma, where lifetime medical care and permanent disability benefits are at stake.
- Construction and Trades Injuries: Falls from scaffolding and ladders, crush injuries, and equipment accidents affect laborers, ironworkers, and tradespeople working on projects across north Mississippi.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job can all support a claim, though these often require extra medical proof.
- Denied and Cut-Off Benefits: Whether the carrier denies the claim outright, stops paying wage benefits without warning, or pushes you back to work before your doctor clears you, we challenge it before the Commission.
What to Do Right Now After a Work Injury in Marshall County
Start with notice. Mississippi requires you to report your injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident, and the sooner the better. Do it in writing if you can and keep a copy. A verbal mention to a supervisor who later forgets the conversation is one of the easiest ways for a carrier to start building a denial. Then get medical care and tell every provider that the injury happened at work, so the records connect your condition to your job from the first visit.
Write down what happened while it is fresh: the date, the time, what you were doing, who saw it, and which body parts hurt. Collect names of coworkers who witnessed the accident or know about the conditions that caused it. Keep your pay stubs, since your benefits are calculated from your average weekly wage. Be careful with recorded statements to the insurance adjuster. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that sound routine but plant the seeds of a pre-existing condition or late-reporting defense.
Know the second deadline too. In Mississippi, if no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the date of injury, your right to benefits can be barred unless you file a claim with the Commission during that period. The formal filing is a Petition to Controvert, and the two years generally run from the date of injury or the date of the last compensation payment. Do not assume the carrier’s early payments mean you are protected; they can stop at any time.
Your claim will not be heard in a Marshall County courtroom. It goes to the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, where it is heard at an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge. If either side appeals, the Full Commission reviews the record made before the judge; it is not a new trial, which means the evidence gathered at the first hearing matters enormously. A final Commission award can then be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Building the record correctly from the start is the difference between a strong appeal and no appeal at all.
How Wage Benefits and Medical Coverage Work in Mississippi
Coverage begins on your first day on the job, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. Employers with five or more employees must carry coverage. Your medical treatment related to the injury should be paid for, and if you cannot work, temporary total disability benefits generally pay two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that is adjusted periodically. Permanent total disability benefits use the same two-thirds formula, and payments are generally capped at 450 weeks, as are permanent partial disability payments in the catch-all category of cases.
The real fights come over how long benefits last and how disabled you are. Carriers push for early releases to work, rely on doctors they select, and argue that your condition predates the job. Disability in Mississippi is not just a medical question; it also looks at what the injury does to your ability to earn a living, given your education, skills, and work history. That is why the strength of your medical evidence and vocational picture shapes both the value of a settlement and how long you are paid.
If someone other than your employer contributed to the injury, such as a negligent driver who hit your work vehicle or a contractor with an unsafe site, you may also have a separate injury claim. We handle both sides so the comp claim and the injury claim work together instead of against each other.
Marshall County Workers’ Compensation Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim in Marshall County?
Not every claim needs 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 change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its side, and you should have someone protecting yours.
How much does it cost to hire Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
In Mississippi you must report the injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Waiting risks giving the carrier a late-notice argument, so report it right away 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. If no disability benefits were paid within two years of the injury, the claim can be barred unless you filed with the Commission during that window. The notice and filing rules appear in Mississippi Code section 71-3-35.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation 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 the insurance company says my injury is a pre-existing condition?
That argument does not automatically end your claim. If your job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering it with strong medical evidence is a core part of what we do.
Will the insurance company pick my doctor?
Carriers often steer injured workers toward providers they prefer, and those doctors may be quick to release you or attribute the problem to age or wear. Whatever your situation, you should understand your options for treatment before accepting a referral, and you should always tell any doctor exactly how the injury happened.
What happens at a hearing, and is it like a trial in court?
It is more formal than an adjuster’s phone call but different from a jury trial. An Administrative Judge hears testimony and reviews medical records and other evidence. There is no jury. Because any appeal to the Full Commission is decided on the record from that hearing, what is presented the first time is critical.
My employer has fewer than five employees. Am I out of luck?
Mississippi’s mandatory coverage rule applies to employers with five or more employees, so smaller employers may fall outside the system. That does not always end the discussion, because employee counts and how work is structured can be disputed. It is worth a conversation before you assume you have no claim.
I was hurt driving for work and another driver caused the wreck. Can I do both?
Often yes. You can receive comp benefits from your employer’s carrier while also pursuing a claim against the at-fault driver. The two claims interact, particularly when the comp carrier seeks reimbursement from a third-party recovery, so they should be handled together from the beginning.
Can I still get benefits if I am a Spanish speaker with limited English?
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 From Holly Springs to Byhalia and Across North Mississippi
Our work for Marshall County clients begins in Holly Springs, the county seat, and extends to Byhalia, Potts Camp, Red Banks, Mount Pleasant, Waterford, and Slayden, along with the rural communities and crossroads between them. Many Marshall County residents commute for work, so we also represent people who live here but were hurt on a job in a neighboring county or just across the state line.
Nearby, we serve workers in Benton County, Tippah County, Union County, Lafayette County, Panola County, Tate County, and DeSoto County, including communities such as Olive Branch, Southaven, Hernando, Oxford, Batesville, and Senatobia. Across the rest of the state our attorneys represent injured workers in Madison, Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, and the Delta, and we also handle claims in Louisiana, from Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport to South Louisiana generally. Wherever the injury happened, the claim goes through the same process, and we know how to move it forward.
Talk With a Marshall County Workers’ Comp Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job and the insurance company is questioning what happened, slow-walking your treatment, or cutting off your checks, a Marshall County workers’ comp attorney at our firm can step in and take the weight off your shoulders. We deal with your employer and its insurer, build the medical and wage evidence the Commission needs, and fight for the benefits the law entitles you to.
Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us today and tell us what happened. We help injured workers. That is all we do.
