Mississippi Wrongful Death Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents Mississippi families who have lost a spouse, parent, or child to a death that someone else caused, working for clients from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta. A Mississippi wrongful death lawyer handles a claim that sits at a crossroads most families do not see coming: the same fatal accident can produce a civil lawsuit against a negligent party, a workers’ compensation death claim against an employer, or both at once, and the order in which those claims are handled can affect what the family ultimately recovers.
That crossroads is where our firm’s background matters. Workers’ compensation has been the center of our practice, and we also represent families in wrongful death, car and truck accident, and premises liability cases across both Mississippi and Louisiana. When a worker dies in a crash on the way to a job site, in a fall on an unsafe construction project, or in an industrial accident involving a contractor who was not the employer, the question of who can be held responsible is rarely a single answer.
What Separates a Wrongful Death Claim From a Workers’ Compensation Death Claim
Families often hear two different terms after a workplace fatality and assume they describe one thing. They do not. A workers’ compensation death claim is a no-fault benefit system. It does not require proof that anyone was careless, but it also limits what the family receives to what the statute provides, and it is heard by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission rather than a jury. A wrongful death lawsuit is a negligence or intentional-wrong claim in civil court. It requires proof that a person or company breached a duty and that the breach caused the death, but it opens the door to a broader measure of loss, including the grief and loss of companionship that no comp benefit schedule compensates.
The two can run side by side when the party at fault is someone other than the employer. A negligent driver who strikes a work truck, a general contractor whose unsafe site causes a fall, or a manufacturer whose defective equipment fails can all be sued in civil court even while the family receives death benefits through comp. Because our attorneys live in the comp system every day, we are positioned to make sure the death benefit claim and the lawsuit are coordinated rather than set against each other.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Mississippi Wrongful Death Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a Mississippi and Louisiana injury firm whose attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience, and who have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. We serve families throughout Mississippi, including Hinds, Madison, and Rankin counties around Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, the Delta, and north Mississippi communities such as Southaven. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover for the family. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking families can work with our team in their own language through the whole case.
Rob Lunsford, 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 has argued personal injury and insurance cases before state appellate courts, which matters when a wrongful death case cannot be resolved without a courtroom.
Our results reflect the kind of serious injury work that often sits behind a fatality. 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. Past results do not guarantee any outcome, but they show the type of insurer resistance and medical proof our attorneys are used to handling.
Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims in Mississippi
- Work Vehicle and Highway Crashes: Delivery drivers, truck drivers, and field employees travel Interstate 55, Interstate 20, and Highway 49 daily. When a negligent driver causes a fatal collision involving someone working at the time, the family may have both a civil claim and a comp death claim.
- Construction and Industrial Site Falls: Ironworkers, laborers, and project crews work at height and around heavy equipment. If a subcontractor, equipment owner, or site controller other than the employer created the hazard, that party can face a wrongful death suit.
- Oil Field and Plant Accidents: Fires, burns, and equipment failures on rigs and at industrial facilities can kill quickly. Defective equipment and unsafe contractor practices are common sources of third-party liability.
- Premises Liability Deaths: Inadequate security, unsafe stairs or flooring, and poorly maintained property can cause fatal injuries to customers, tenants, and visitors, and the property owner may be responsible.
- Trucking and Commercial Vehicle Collisions: Fatal crashes with tractor-trailers raise questions about driver fatigue, maintenance records, and the carrier’s practices, and often involve several insurers.
- First Responder and Firefighter Deaths: Heart and lung disease, cancer, and other conditions tied to the job can end in a death claim that turns on medical proof of the connection to the work.
- Medical Negligence Deaths: A death following a missed diagnosis or surgical error carries a shorter filing window than a typical negligence case and requires early attention.
- Claims Against Government Entities: A death involving a county, city, or state agency falls under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, with its own notice rules and a one-year limit.
What a Family Should Do in the Weeks After a Death
The first priority is to preserve evidence while it still exists. If the death followed a vehicle crash, the police or highway patrol report, photographs of the scene, and the names of any witnesses are worth gathering at once. If it happened at work, ask that the employer’s incident report be preserved, and keep copies of pay stubs, the employee’s job description, and any texts or messages about the conditions that led to the accident. Do not sign releases or give recorded statements to any insurance adjuster before speaking with an attorney, because early statements are frequently used to assign blame to the person who died.
Deadlines drive the next steps, and they differ depending on the type of claim. In a workers’ compensation matter, the employer must be notified within 30 days of the accident, and a claim must generally be filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years. Those windows are found in Mississippi’s workers’ compensation statute and can be affected when benefits have already been paid. For a civil wrongful death suit based on negligence, Mississippi generally allows three years, while an intentional wrong carries a one-year limit. A death that follows medical malpractice is governed by a two-year period, and a claim against a county or other governmental body requires notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act and must be brought within one year. Because a single death can trigger several of these clocks at once, the shortest one controls how fast the family has to act.
Civil wrongful death suits in Mississippi are filed in state circuit court in the county where the case belongs, such as Hinds County Circuit Court for many Jackson-area matters, or in federal court when the parties are from different states. In the Jackson area, federal cases are heard in the Southern District of Mississippi, with appeals going to the Fifth Circuit. Workers’ compensation death claims are different: they go before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, where an Administrative Judge hears evidence and the Full Commission reviews the record on appeal. A final Commission award can then be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and that court may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. A common mistake is waiting for the comp claim to resolve before looking at a civil case; the two have separate deadlines and one does not pause the other.
Who Can Bring the Claim and What Recovery Looks Like
Mississippi’s wrongful death statute allows certain family members to pursue the claim, and the closest relatives, such as a surviving spouse and children, are typically at the center of it. A case can seek economic losses like lost income the person would have earned, funeral and medical expenses, and the value of lost support and household contribution. It can also seek noneconomic damages for the grief and loss of companionship a family endures. Mississippi caps noneconomic damages at $1,000,000 in most wrongful death cases, and at $500,000 where medical malpractice is involved. The caps do not apply to economic damages, which is why careful documentation of the person’s earnings and career trajectory is so important.
Fault matters too. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, so if a jury decides the person who died bore some share of the blame, the award is reduced by that percentage rather than eliminated. Insurers know this and often argue that the worker or driver contributed to the accident. Building a record from witness accounts, scene evidence, and records of the employer’s safety practices is how those arguments get answered.
Common Questions About Mississippi Wrongful Death Claims
How long do we have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Mississippi?
For deaths caused by negligence, Mississippi generally allows three years. For intentional wrongs, the period is one year. Medical malpractice claims have a two-year period, and claims against a county or government agency must be brought within one year after notice is given under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.
Can we receive workers’ compensation death benefits and also file a wrongful death lawsuit?
Often, yes, when someone other than the employer is responsible for the death. The comp claim runs through the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission and the lawsuit runs in civil court. The two need to be coordinated so that one does not undermine the other.
What if the employer was the one who caused the accident?
In most cases, workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against an employer, which means the family pursues death benefits rather than a negligence lawsuit against the employer itself. Lawsuits are typically directed at third parties such as contractors, equipment makers, or other drivers.
Who is allowed to file a wrongful death claim?
The statute designates certain close relatives, such as a surviving spouse, children, and parents, and the claim is brought for the benefit of those entitled to recover. An attorney can review the family structure and determine who is properly positioned to bring the case.
Is there a limit on what a family can recover?
Noneconomic damages are capped at $1,000,000 in most wrongful death cases and $500,000 in medical malpractice cases. Economic losses such as lost earnings and funeral costs are not subject to that cap.
What happens if our loved one was partly at fault?
Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence, so the award is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the person who died. Recovery is not barred, even if that person was mostly responsible.
What does it cost to hire the firm for a death case?
Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover for the family. There is no fee unless there is a recovery.
Does the workers’ compensation notice deadline still matter after a death?
Yes. The employer must be notified within 30 days of the accident, and a claim with the Commission generally must be filed within two years. Families grieving a loss sometimes miss this window, so it is worth acting early, and exceptions can apply when benefits were already paid.
My family member died years after a workplace exposure. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. For latent injuries and diseases, Mississippi’s general limitations statute does not begin running until the harm is discovered or should reasonably have been discovered. That is common in occupational disease and first responder cases, and an attorney should review the medical timeline.
Do we have to go to trial?
Many wrongful death cases resolve through settlement, but some cannot. Having attorneys who have tried cases to verdict, as Andrew Rueff has, changes how insurers evaluate the risk of refusing a fair offer.
What if the at-fault driver or company is based in another state?
The case may be filed in Mississippi state court or in federal court depending on the parties and where the death occurred. Identifying the right forum early avoids delays and procedural fights later.
Does a wrongful death claim differ from a survival claim?
Yes. A wrongful death claim compensates the family for its own losses after the death, while a survival claim addresses the harm the person suffered before dying. Both can be part of the same case in appropriate circumstances.
Serving Wrongful Death Clients Across Mississippi
We represent families throughout Hinds County, including Jackson, Byram, Clinton, Terry, and Raymond, and neighboring Madison County communities such as Madison and Ridgeland, along with Rankin County. Our work reaches the Gulf Coast communities of Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula, south to Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt, and across the Delta toward Greenville and Cleveland. In north Mississippi we serve families in Southaven, Olive Branch, Oxford, and Tupelo, and we represent clients in Meridian, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Columbus as well. Whether the accident happened on a rural highway, a coastal industrial site, or a Delta farm road, the same attention goes into the claim.
Because many of our clients also hold workers’ compensation claims, we regularly see how a fatal accident on the job connects to a broader civil case, and we handle both for families in every corner of the state, as well as in Louisiana when the accident happened there.
Speak With a Mississippi Wrongful Death Attorney Today
A death in the family brings decisions that cannot wait, and the shortest filing deadline may be closer than you think. A Mississippi wrongful death attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, identify every party who may be responsible, and explain how a civil case and any workers’ compensation death claim fit together. Consultations are free, our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you pay no fee unless we recover for your family. Call us to talk through your situation.
