North Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers across north Mississippi, from the Delta and the hill country to the Tennessee line, with a practice built around workers’ compensation. Whether you were hurt at a Southaven distribution center, a furniture plant in the Tupelo area, a poultry line, a logging operation, or a job site along the I-55 and I-22 corridors, the firm handles the claim against your employer and its insurer. Our North Mississippi workers’ compensation lawyer team takes denied, delayed, and cut-off claims before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
North Mississippi’s economy runs on warehouses, manufacturing, trucking, agriculture, healthcare, and construction. Those jobs produce the injuries we see most: herniated discs, rotator cuff tears, knee and ankle fractures, crush injuries, and repetitive-stress damage that builds over years. They also produce the insurer arguments that go with them, such as “degenerative,” “pre-existing,” and “not reported on time.”
The first clock starts the day you are hurt. Mississippi law expects you to tell your employer within 30 days, and a missed deadline is one of the easiest ways for a carrier to avoid a legitimate claim.
What a North Mississippi Workers’ Comp Attorney Does on a Claim
An attorney’s work on a comp file is mostly done before anyone sees a hearing room. We gather the medical records and push your treating doctor for a clear causation opinion, because the insurer’s case often turns on a single sentence in a chart. We take statements from coworkers who saw the incident or know how your body held up before it. We check the adjuster’s average weekly wage calculation, since a low figure quietly shrinks every check you receive.
We also fight over treatment. Carriers steer injured workers to doctors they select, delay surgical approvals, and send people to independent medical examinations that tend to read like defense briefs. We challenge those reports and press for the care your own physician recommends.
When a claim is contested, we file the petition with the Commission, prepare you to testify, and try the case before an Administrative Judge. If the ruling goes the wrong way, we take it to the Full Commission, and from there to the appellate courts.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a North Mississippi Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm serving injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including the Delta, Southaven, and communities across north Mississippi. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Hablamos español.
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 kind of injuries north Mississippi workers suffer. We secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury. We recovered $385,000 for a project manager injured when another vehicle struck his work vehicle, and $221,000 for an oil rig worker with severe burns. Past results do not guarantee any outcome, but they show we take serious spine, joint, and burn cases through to resolution.
Clients consistently describe a team that listens, answers questions, and stands up to the insurance company at every stage.
Common Injuries and Claim Types We Handle for North Mississippi Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting, loading, and driving injuries in warehouses, plants, and trucking lead to lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Carriers commonly blame degenerative disc disease, so we document how years of physical work or one incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears are routine on assembly lines, in construction, and in repetitive overhead work. Employers often call them old sports injuries, and we answer with medical evidence tied to the job.
- Fractures: Falls from ladders and loading docks, forklift incidents, and crush injuries break feet, ankles, hips, and other bones, often requiring specialists and multiple surgeries.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial plants, oil field work, and electrical hazards cause severe burns and life-altering trauma that call for long-term medical and wage benefits.
- Truck Driver and Delivery Injuries: Regional haulers and delivery drivers working the interstates and highways through north Mississippi are hurt in wrecks and loading accidents. A third party may also be liable alongside the comp claim.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job can be compensable, though these claims draw heavy insurer resistance.
- Healthcare Worker Injuries: Nurses and aides hurt lifting or moving patients face back and shoulder injuries, and sometimes disputes over whether the injury came from a single event or cumulative strain.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace accident takes a life, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits and may have additional claims against third parties.
What to Do After a Work Injury in North Mississippi
Get medical care first. Then report the injury to your employer, in writing if you can, and keep a copy. Mississippi’s 30-day notice window is a hard line the insurer will use if you cross it, so do not wait to see whether the pain improves.
Coverage in Mississippi begins on your first day of employment, with no waiting period, and employers with five or more employees must carry it. Do not let a supervisor talk you into treating the injury on your own health insurance or calling it something other than a work injury.
Tell every doctor exactly how and where you were hurt. Vague histories become the insurer’s best evidence later. Write down the date, the witnesses, the task you were doing, and any earlier problems with the same body part, because those will come up. Follow your doctor’s restrictions even if your supervisor wants you back on the floor.
Your deadline to file a formal petition with the Commission is generally two years from the date of injury or from the last compensation payment. If no benefits were ever paid and you did not file within the two years, the claim is barred. A carrier that pays for a while and then stops does not always preserve your rights, which is why we want to hear from workers the moment checks slow down or a denial letter arrives.
The Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not a civil court, handles these disputes. Cases are heard at an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge or, on review, before the Full Commission, which sits in Jackson. The Full Commission reviews the record made before the judge rather than hearing the case fresh, so the evidence developed at the first hearing matters enormously. A party who loses at the Commission can appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and that court often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Avoid giving recorded statements to the adjuster without advice, and be careful on social media. Surveillance of injured workers is common.
How Mississippi Wage Benefits Work and Where Claims Go Wrong
When a work injury keeps you from earning, Mississippi pays disability benefits at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that the state adjusts. Temporary total disability and permanent total disability both run up to 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability in non-scheduled cases is also capped at 450 weeks. The wage figure feeding that formula is the adjuster’s number, and it is wrong more often than workers expect, especially for people with overtime, second jobs, or seasonal hours.
Medical benefits cover reasonable and necessary treatment. The fights are usually over which doctor, which procedure, and whether you have reached maximum medical improvement. A carrier that pushes you back to work before your physician clears you, or stops paying without notice, is creating a dispute we can take to the Commission.
Some work injuries also involve someone other than your employer, such as a negligent driver or a contractor with an unsafe site. A separate personal injury claim may be available and must be coordinated with the comp claim so the two do not undercut each other.
Mississippi also protects workers from being fired for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us.
Questions North Mississippi Workers Ask About Comp Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim in north Mississippi?
Not every claim needs 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 changes the playing field. The insurer has adjusters and defense counsel 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 case costs, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Do it right away if 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. If no benefits were paid and you filed nothing within two years, the right to benefits is lost. Speak with an attorney promptly, because exceptions depend on the facts.
What if my employer says the injury is a pre-existing condition?
That argument does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits may still be owed. Strong medical opinions from your treating doctors are the answer, and building them is a core part of our work.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
No. Mississippi protects workers from retaliation for filing. If you were terminated or disciplined after reporting an injury, raise it at your consultation so we can review your options.
Can I choose my own doctor?
Mississippi workers generally have more say than carriers admit, but the rules on changing physicians are technical, and insurers often steer you toward their preferred providers. Talk to us before switching doctors or agreeing to an independent medical exam.
The adjuster says I am back to full duty on paper but I still can’t do my job. What now?
A release by a company-selected doctor is not the last word. If your own physician disagrees, or if your restrictions prevent you from doing the work, we can contest the termination of benefits before the Commission.
What if my injury developed slowly from repetitive work, with no single accident?
Cumulative injuries from lifting, gripping, or repetitive motion can be compensable. These claims depend heavily on medical causation evidence and work-history detail, and the 30-day reporting clock is measured from when you knew or should have known the condition was work-related, so do not sit on it.
Can I also sue someone if a third party caused my accident at work?
Often yes. Workers’ comp generally prevents suing your employer, but a negligent driver, equipment manufacturer, or outside contractor can face a separate injury claim. We handle both so the claims support one another.
What happens if I lose at the Administrative Judge level?
You can ask the Full Commission to review the record. It is not a new trial, so the evidence already submitted drives the outcome. From there, a final award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days.
Does the firm help Spanish-speaking workers?
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 North Mississippi and the Delta
Our workers’ compensation attorneys represent clients throughout north Mississippi. That includes Southaven and the DeSoto County communities of Olive Branch and Horn Lake, and the Memphis-area workforce that commutes across the state line. We serve workers in Oxford, Holly Springs, Batesville, Senatobia, and Corinth, and in Tupelo, Saltillo, New Albany, Pontotoc, and Ripley across the hill country.
Further south and west, we help injured workers in Greenwood, Greenville, Clarksdale, Cleveland, and Indianola throughout the Delta, as well as Starkville, Columbus, and the Golden Triangle. The firm’s reach extends statewide, including Madison, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and the Gulf Coast, and into Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Shreveport. Wherever the injury happened, the claim goes before the same Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and we handle it from start to finish.
Talk to a North Mississippi Workers’ Comp Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job, the insurance company already has people working on your claim. Call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC, speak with a North Mississippi workers’ comp attorney at no charge, and find out where your claim stands. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. We help injured workers. That is what we do.
