Hattiesburg Construction Worker Injury Lawyer
On a construction site, the person who caused your injury is often not your employer, and that single fact decides whether you have one claim or two. A Hattiesburg construction worker injury lawyer has to look past the paycheck to the general contractor, the equipment owner, the subcontractor on the next scaffold, and the driver who hit your work truck. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Hattiesburg and the surrounding Forrest and Lamar County communities, and it handles the personal injury claims that grow out of job site accidents as well.
Hattiesburg’s building trades stay busy, with commercial work around the university and medical corridors, industrial projects, residential growth in Lamar County, and road and utility crews working throughout the Pine Belt. That work produces falls, struck-by incidents, crush injuries, burns, and the slow-building back and shoulder damage that comes from years of heavy labor. Mississippi’s workers’ compensation system covers most of these injuries regardless of fault, but the benefits are limited, the insurer will look for reasons to cut them, and the deadlines are strict.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Hattiesburg Construction Injury Claim
Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury only when one walks in. This firm is built the other way around.
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, who has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, brings courtroom depth when a claim cannot be resolved by negotiation. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team serving clients across Mississippi and Louisiana.
The results most relevant to construction work include a $600,000 settlement for a construction worker with a complex back injury, a $385,000 settlement for a project manager injured when he was struck in his work vehicle, and a $221,000 settlement for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stays in the fight with the insurance company at every stage. The firm works on a no recovery, no fee basis, advances case costs, offers free consultations, answers phones around the clock, and speaks Spanish with clients who prefer it, which matters on job sites where many crews are bilingual.
Injuries and Claim Types Common on Pine Belt Job Sites
- Falls from scaffolds, roofs, and ladders: Falls from height produce fractures of the hips, ankles, wrists, and spine, often requiring surgery and months away from work. These claims frequently raise a second question about whether a subcontractor or equipment supplier created the hazard.
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the most common serious construction injuries. Insurers routinely blame degenerative disc disease, so the claim depends on medical evidence showing that the work caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and knee tears: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears come from lifting, pulling, climbing, and kneeling. Employers sometimes call them old sports injuries, which is a defense that has to be answered with treating-physician testimony.
- Struck-by and caught-between accidents: Falling materials, swinging loads, and moving equipment cause crush injuries and amputations. These accidents often involve a company other than your employer, which can open a separate injury claim.
- Burns and electrical injuries: Industrial and utility work exposes crews to flash fires, hot materials, and energized lines. Severe burns frequently qualify as catastrophic injuries with long-term medical and wage consequences.
- Vehicle accidents on work duty: Project managers, foremen, and crews who drive between sites or haul equipment can be hurt by negligent drivers, creating both a comp claim and a claim against the at-fault driver.
- Repetitive-use and occupational conditions: Hearing loss, chronic joint damage, and breathing problems develop over years of exposure and are compensable when the job caused or aggravated them.
What to Do After a Construction Injury in Hattiesburg
Get medical care first, and tell every provider the injury happened at work so the records connect your condition to the job. Then report the injury to your employer. Mississippi requires notice within 30 days of the accident, but waiting even a few days hands the insurer an argument that the injury happened somewhere else. Give notice in writing if you can, and keep a copy. Coverage begins on your first day of employment, so a new hire is protected the same as a veteran.
The filing deadline is separate from the reporting deadline. If no disability benefits have been paid, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and the two-year clock can also run from the date of the last compensation payment. Do not treat the employer’s promise to take care of you as a substitute for a filed claim. Mississippi comp claims are decided by the Commission, not a court. They are heard first by an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing, and either side can seek review by the Full Commission, which examines the record made at the first hearing rather than starting over with a new trial.
If the Commission rules against you, a final award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days of filing and notice to the parties, and the Supreme Court may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals rest on the record already made, which is why the evidence built at the first hearing matters so much.
Gather what you can while it is fresh: photographs of the scene and the equipment, names of coworkers who saw the accident, the identity of every company working on the site, your pay records, and a log of symptoms and missed work. Be careful with recorded statements to the adjuster, and do not return to work before your doctor releases you. Finally, ask whether someone other than your employer contributed to the accident. A third-party claim in Mississippi is generally subject to a three-year limit for negligence, and a premises or equipment claim can be worth far more than comp alone.
How Mississippi Comp Benefits Work for Construction Workers
Mississippi comp pays reasonable and necessary medical treatment and replaces part of your lost wages. For temporary or permanent total disability, the weekly benefit is two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and payments cannot run longer than 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability benefits are also capped at 450 weeks. Because the maximum is adjusted over time and the benefit is tied to your wages, accurate wage records matter, especially for workers who earn overtime, per diem, or irregular hours.
Construction cases tend to turn on two disputes: whether you can return to the same work, and how much permanent impairment the injury left. An insurer’s doctor may release you to light duty that your employer cannot actually offer, or assign a low impairment rating to shrink the settlement. Challenging those opinions with treating-physician evidence and vocational information is where a focused workers’ compensation attorney earns the fee, which in comp cases is limited and approved under state law.
Workers who are paid through staffing agencies or classified as independent contractors face another fight. Misclassification is common in the trades, and an employer that labels a laborer a contractor to avoid coverage can still be held responsible when the actual working relationship shows employee status. Mississippi employers with five or more employees must carry coverage, and the firm routinely investigates who the real employer was.
Hattiesburg Construction Injury Questions Answered
How long do I have to report a construction injury in Mississippi?
You must report the injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Report it immediately in practice, because delay invites the insurer to question whether the injury happened on the job.
How long do I have to file a workers’ compensation claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If benefits were never paid and no claim was filed within that window, the right to benefits can be barred.
Do I qualify if I was only on the job a few days?
Yes. Mississippi coverage starts on the first day of employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement, provided your employer is covered by the system.
What does comp pay while I cannot work?
Wage-loss benefits are two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory weekly maximum, for total disability that cannot exceed 450 weeks. Medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary is covered in addition.
Can I sue my employer for a construction injury?
Generally no, because workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your own employer. You can, however, pursue a separate claim against outside parties whose negligence contributed, such as another contractor, an equipment owner, or a negligent driver.
What if the general contractor or another subcontractor caused my fall?
That is a third-party claim, and it can include damages comp does not pay. Identifying every company on the site and who controlled the hazard is a core early step, and evidence disappears quickly once a site changes.
The insurer says my back problem is degenerative. Is my claim over?
No. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim if work caused, worsened, or accelerated it. Years of heavy labor or a specific incident can be enough, and the answer comes through medical opinion evidence from your treating physicians.
Can my employer fire me 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, raise it in your consultation so the circumstances can be reviewed.
My injury happened while I was partly at fault. Does that hurt my comp claim?
Comp is a no-fault system, so your own carelessness generally does not defeat benefits. In a separate third-party lawsuit, Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence, which reduces your recovery by your share of fault rather than barring it.
Will I have to pay a lawyer up front?
No. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
I was hurt on a project in Louisiana but live in Hattiesburg. Which state’s law applies?
It depends on where you were hired, where the work was based, and where the injury occurred. Louisiana generally requires a formal claim within one year of the accident, which is shorter than Mississippi, so raise this immediately. The firm handles claims in both states.
Do I need a lawyer if the insurer is paying my benefits?
Not always, but benefits are often paid until the moment you need surgery, a second opinion, or a permanent rating. A consultation costs nothing, and it is better to have a plan before a denial or a cutoff arrives.
Representing Injured Construction Workers Across Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt
The firm represents construction workers throughout Hattiesburg and Forrest County, including the neighborhoods around the university, the medical district, and the commercial corridors that keep new projects underway. It also serves workers in neighboring Lamar County communities such as Oak Grove, along with Petal, Purvis, Sumrall, Brooklyn, and Eatonville, and crews working in Laurel, Columbia, Picayune, and the wider Pine Belt. Many Hattiesburg-area tradespeople travel for work, so the firm also represents injured workers from the Gulf Coast to Jackson, Madison, Southaven, and the Delta, and across Mississippi and South Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, as well as north Mississippi and north Louisiana. If you were hurt on a job site anywhere in the region, the same team is available to you.
Talk With a Hattiesburg Construction Injury Attorney
If you were hurt on a construction job, the insurer already has adjusters and lawyers working to limit what it pays. A Hattiesburg construction injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review your accident, your medical records, and every company involved, and tell you whether you have a comp claim, a third-party claim, or both. The phones are answered 24 hours a day, the consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you. Call today and get a plan before the deadlines start working against you.
