Pascagoula Work Injury Lawyer
If you got hurt on a job in Pascagoula, you are probably already hearing from the adjuster, the employer, or both, and you are trying to decide whether to talk to a lawyer before you say the wrong thing to the wrong person. That is a reasonable instinct. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi, including Jackson County and the Gulf Coast, and if you need a Pascagoula work injury lawyer, this is the kind of case we take on every day.
Pascagoula is an industrial town. The shipyard, refinery and chemical plant work, the contractors who service those facilities, the marine and port trades, and the trucking that moves it all produce injuries that are heavy and mechanical: crushed hands, torn shoulders, ruptured discs, burns, fractures, and the slow wear of years of lifting and climbing. Those injuries often arrive with a second problem, which is an insurance company that wants to call the injury old, minor, or unrelated to the job.
What follows covers what you are entitled to, what deadlines apply, how a denied claim gets fought, and the questions injured workers in Pascagoula most often ask us.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Pascagoula Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including Pascagoula, Jackson County, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Madison, the Delta and north Mississippi. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who handle a work injury only when one walks in the door. We built the firm the other way around.
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 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, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team.
The results reflect the kinds of injuries that come out of industrial work. We secured $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. Across the firm’s history we have recovered more than $100 million in settlements. Clients tell us what they value most is that we listen, stay in the fight with the insurance company, and explain each step.
The cost question is simple. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay nothing unless we recover benefits for you. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish, so Spanish-speaking workers can handle the whole case in their own language.
Injuries and Claim Types We Handle for Pascagoula Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are among the most common injuries from heavy industrial and fabrication work. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, so the case turns on medical evidence showing that years of physical labor, or a single incident, caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears and meniscus tears come from overhead work, pulling and dragging heavy material, and climbing. When an employer calls the injury an old sports injury, we answer with the medical history and the work that aggravated it.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips and other bones from falls, dropped loads and struck-by incidents can require specialists and complex surgical repair, followed by long recovery periods away from work.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Refinery, plant and industrial site work carries fire, chemical and heat exposure. These cases involve long-term treatment, permanent disability questions and the largest financial stakes.
- Truck Driver and Delivery Driver Injuries: Wrecks and loading injuries happen on the roads and industrial routes around the Gulf Coast. A driver hurt by another motorist may have both a comp claim and a separate injury claim.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress and job-related cancer are all conditions we pursue for firefighters and first responders.
- Denied and Cut-Off Claims: Carriers deny that the accident happened at work, stop paying without warning, or push workers back before a doctor clears them. We handle denials and appeals from start to finish.
What to Do Right Now After a Job Injury in Pascagoula
Start with the medical care and the paper trail, in that order. Get treated, tell the provider the injury happened at work, and describe every body part that hurts, not just the worst one. Gaps and omissions in early medical records are what insurers use later to say a symptom is unrelated.
Then report the injury to your employer, preferably in writing, and keep a copy. In Mississippi you must give your employer notice within 30 days of the accident. That is the outer limit, and waiting invites arguments, so do it immediately. Write down who saw the accident, what equipment or conditions were involved, and the date and time. Photograph the scene if you can, and keep anything the company gives you, including incident reports and any statement you are asked to sign.
The filing deadline is separate from the reporting deadline. Under Miss. Code 71-3-35, if no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the date of injury, the right to benefits is barred unless you file a claim with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission during that period. The claim is generally started by filing a Petition to Controvert. If benefits have been paid, the two years can run from the last payment, which is why we do not like workers guessing at their own deadlines.
Mississippi workers’ comp is not decided in a regular courtroom. The Commission administers the system, and cases are heard either at an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge or on review before the Full Commission. When a decision is appealed to the Full Commission, the commissioners review the record made before the Administrative Judge. It is not a new trial, which means the evidence you build early is the evidence your case lives or dies on. A final Commission award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and the Supreme Court often assigns those appeals to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals are decided on the record, again with no second chance to add evidence.
A few mistakes cause the most damage. Do not give a recorded statement to the carrier before you understand what it will be used for. Do not skip treatment because the insurer is slow to approve it. Do not return to work against your doctor’s restrictions because someone in management says light duty is available. And do not sign a settlement or release without knowing what it gives up, because a settlement can close medical benefits for good.
What Wage and Medical Benefits Actually Pay
Mississippi covers you from your first day on the job, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. Medical benefits cover reasonable and necessary treatment for the work injury, including doctor visits, surgery, therapy and medication.
For wage loss, temporary total disability and permanent total disability are paid at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that the state adjusts over time. Those payments cannot run beyond 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability is likewise capped at 450 weeks in the cases that fall under the general category. The statute also sets a weekly floor, with an exception for partial disability and partial dependency cases. How your average weekly wage is calculated matters enormously, and it is one of the places where carriers shave numbers, especially for workers with overtime, multiple jobs, or seasonal work in the industrial trades.
Disability is decided by how much the injury reduces your ability to earn, not only by what a doctor says about your body. A worker who can no longer do heavy fabrication or rigging work but can technically sit at a desk may still have a substantial loss of earning capacity. Building that case takes medical evidence, work history and often vocational evidence.
When the Injury Involves Someone Other Than Your Employer
Workers’ compensation generally prevents you from suing your employer, but it does not prevent claims against other parties whose negligence contributed. On a busy industrial waterfront there are often many: a subcontractor on the same site, an equipment manufacturer, a property owner, or a driver who hits you on the road. A third-party claim can recover damages that comp never pays, and the comp claim and injury claim need to be coordinated so that one does not undermine the other. Mississippi applies pure comparative negligence to these claims, so fault assigned to you reduces your recovery rather than eliminating it. We represent injured people in car and truck accidents, premises liability and wrongful death matters as well.
Pascagoula Work Injury Questions, Answered
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim in Pascagoula?
Not every claim requires one. But if your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced or cut off, or if the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer makes a real difference. The carrier has adjusters and attorneys looking out for its interests, and you should have someone looking out for yours.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance case costs, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Mississippi requires you to notify your employer within 30 days of the accident. Report it right away and put it in writing so there is no dispute later about whether or when you told them.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury, or from the date of the last compensation payment if benefits were paid. If nothing has been paid and you do not file within that window, the right to benefits is barred.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Mississippi protects workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us at your consultation so we can look at your options.
The insurance company says my injury is pre-existing. Is my claim over?
No. 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. This argument comes up constantly with back, neck, shoulder and knee injuries, and answering it with strong medical evidence is central to our work.
What if my claim has already been denied?
A denial is not the end. The case can go before an Administrative Judge at the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, then to the Full Commission on review, and if necessary on to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Because the review stages rely on the record, getting the evidence right at the first hearing matters.
Will I get paid while my claim is being decided?
If the carrier accepts the claim, wage benefits begin after the injury. If it contests the claim, payments may stop or never start, which is one of the main reasons workers hire us. We push for the medical care and wage benefits you are owed while the dispute is resolved.
I work for a contractor at one of the big industrial facilities. Who is responsible?
Your direct employer or its carrier is typically responsible for the comp claim. But if a different company, such as the facility owner, another contractor or an equipment maker, contributed to the accident through negligence, you may also have a separate claim against them. Those relationships are not always obvious, so ask before assuming.
Can I settle my claim and still get medical care later?
That depends on how the settlement is structured. Some settlements close out future medical benefits entirely. Before you agree to anything, you need to know what you are giving up, what your future treatment is likely to cost and whether the amount reflects your real wage loss.
What if I was partly at fault for my own accident?
Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault system, so your own carelessness does not by itself defeat a comp claim. Fault becomes important in a separate third-party injury claim, where Mississippi’s pure comparative negligence rule reduces your recovery by your share of fault instead of barring it.
Do you handle Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. Hablamos español. Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Injured Workers Across Pascagoula and Jackson County
Our work for injured workers starts in Pascagoula and reaches across Jackson County, including Moss Point, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Escatawpa, Vancleave, Hurley and Gulf Hills, along with the industrial and waterfront areas that support the local economy. Just to the west, we also represent workers in Harrison County communities such as Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian and D’Iberville, and in neighboring Hancock, Stone, George and Greene counties.
Beyond the Gulf Coast, we serve injured workers in Hattiesburg, Jackson, Madison and the Delta, and north Mississippi communities such as Southaven. Our attorneys also represent workers across South Louisiana and north Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Shreveport. Wherever the injury happened, the questions are the same: who pays for treatment, who pays the bills while you recover, and what happens if the carrier says no.
Talk With a Pascagoula Work Injury Attorney Today
If you are hurt, behind on bills, and getting pushback from an insurance company, you do not have to sort it out alone. A Pascagoula work injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which deadlines apply to your claim, and tell you honestly where you stand. Consultations are free, we advance the costs, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
Our phones are answered 24 hours a day. Call us, or send your case details, and let us start working on the medical care and wage benefits the law entitles you to. We help injured workers. That is all we do.
