Hattiesburg Burn Injury Lawyer
Getting the surgeries, skin grafts, therapy, and wage checks that a serious burn demands usually comes down to whether the insurance carrier accepts that the injury is work-related and keeps paying for it. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, and a Hattiesburg burn injury lawyer from our team handles claims for workers in Forrest County, Lamar County, and the surrounding Pine Belt who were burned on the job.
Burns are unlike most workplace injuries because the damage keeps unfolding. The first weeks may be spent in a burn unit or on wound care, but the months that follow bring debridement, grafting, contracture release, scar management, nerve pain, and often psychological trauma from the event itself. A carrier that pays for the emergency room may start questioning the third reconstructive procedure, or push a worker back toward duty while grafted skin still cannot tolerate heat, friction, or sun. Those later fights, not the accident itself, are where many burn claims are won or lost.
Our firm has focused on workers’ compensation for years and has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, including a $221,000 settlement for a land-based oil rig worker who suffered severe burns to the lower extremities. We know what burn cases need: medical proof that follows the injury over time, an honest accounting of what the worker can no longer do, and a plan for any claim against someone other than the employer.
How Burn Injury Claims Typically Unfold in Mississippi
A burn claim usually begins in an emergency room or burn center, where the diagnosis, depth of the burn, and percentage of body surface affected get documented. Those early records matter enormously later, so it helps that the history written down on day one clearly says the injury happened at work and describes how. Within thirty days of the accident, the worker must give the employer notice of the injury. Giving notice in writing, and keeping a copy, avoids arguments later about what the employer knew and when.
After notice, the employer or its carrier files its own paperwork and decides whether to accept the claim. When a carrier accepts, it begins paying medical bills and, once the worker is off work long enough, wage benefits. When it denies, or simply stops responding, the worker files a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. That filing generally must happen within two years of the date of injury, or within two years of the last compensation payment if the carrier paid anything. Mississippi workers’ comp is a Commission process rather than a courtroom lawsuit; contested cases are heard by an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing, and a party unhappy with the result can ask the Full Commission to review the record made before that judge. The Full Commission review is not a new trial, which is why building the evidentiary record at the first hearing is so important.
From there, a final Commission award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within thirty days, and that court may send the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appellate courts look only at the record already made, so nothing new can be added once the hearing is over. Many burn cases settle long before that point, usually after the worker reaches maximum medical improvement and a physician has assigned an impairment rating that reflects the scarring, loss of motion, and functional limits.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Burn Injury Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers across Mississippi, including Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Lamar County, the Gulf Coast, Jackson, Madison, Southaven, and the Delta, as well as South Louisiana and communities throughout that state. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury only when one happens to arrive. Workers’ compensation is the center of our practice. Our attorneys bring over 75 combined years of experience, and our clients pay nothing up front: consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish with clients who prefer it.
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. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect that focus. 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 when his work vehicle was struck. For burn claims specifically, the $221,000 settlement for an oil rig worker with severe lower-extremity burns shows we know how these injuries are valued when the burn is serious. Clients who have reviewed our work describe responsive communication and an attorney who stood up to the insurance company at every step.
Where Workplace Burns Happen and What Each Type Involves
- Thermal burns from fires and flash events: Industrial fires, welding and cutting accidents, and flash fires in plants and on job sites can cause deep burns that need grafting. Carriers sometimes argue the worker ignored safety procedures, but Mississippi’s system does not turn on fault for the injured employee.
- Chemical burns: Workers handling caustic cleaners, acids, solvents, and treatment chemicals in manufacturing, sanitation, and processing settings can suffer burns that keep progressing after exposure. Documenting the exact substance and the safety data sheet early helps the treating physicians and strengthens the claim.
- Electrical burns: Linemen, electricians, and construction crews who contact energized equipment may have visible burns plus hidden damage to muscle, nerves, and the heart. These injuries often look smaller on the surface than they are, and carriers tend to underestimate them.
- Scalds and steam burns: Kitchen staff, food processing workers, and plant operators near boilers and pressurized lines are exposed to scalding liquids and steam. Even a burn that seems modest can leave scarring over joints that limits motion and grip.
- Oil field and rig burns: Workers in oil and gas operations face fire, hot fluids, and equipment hazards. We have recovered a $221,000 settlement for a land-based rig worker with severe burns to the lower extremities.
- Firefighter and first responder injuries: Burns in the line of duty, along with job-related heart and lung disease, hearing loss, and cancer, are claims our firm regularly handles for firefighters and other first responders.
- Radiant heat and friction burns: Roofing, paving, and metalwork can produce burns from hot surfaces and materials, and these injuries are frequently treated lightly by employers even when they require follow-up care.
What to Do After a Serious Burn at Work
Get medical care first and make sure every provider hears that the injury happened at work. Report it to your supervisor right away, and in all events within thirty days in both Mississippi and Louisiana, preferably in writing. Photograph the burns at the start and throughout healing, since scarring changes over time and early images are some of the strongest evidence of how severe the original injury was. Keep the names of coworkers who saw the incident, and if the cause involved equipment or chemicals, note what it was and who maintained or supplied it.
Be careful about recorded statements to the insurance adjuster, and do not sign medical releases broader than your injury. Adjusters can use loose phrasing or unrelated medical history against you later. Keep every pay stub, work schedule, and medical bill, and keep a simple log of the work you cannot do and the activities that cause pain. If your authorized physician releases you before the burn site can tolerate your job duties, say so clearly to the doctor and to us rather than quietly returning and risking reinjury.
If your employer or its insurer denies the claim, stops paying, or cuts off treatment, the filing clock matters. In Mississippi you generally have two years to file a Petition to Controvert, and if a hearing is scheduled the Commission process moves on its own timetable. For a Hattiesburg worker, the case would be heard in the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission system rather than in a county circuit court, and any later appeal of a final award goes through the Mississippi Supreme Court. If a third party such as a contractor, equipment maker, or negligent driver contributed to the burn, a separate injury claim may exist alongside your comp case, and those claims follow different deadlines. Talking to a Hattiesburg workers’ compensation attorney early helps keep both tracks aligned.
Wage Benefits, Medical Care, and Permanent Scarring
Mississippi covers workers from their first day of employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. Medical treatment related to the burn should be paid, including surgery, wound care, therapy, medications, and reconstructive procedures. Wage replacement is generally up to two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and temporary and permanent total disability benefits are capped at 450 weeks. For permanent partial disability in other cases, payments also cannot extend past 450 weeks.
Burn cases raise questions that a back strain does not. Disfigurement and scarring, loss of motion across joints, heat intolerance, sensitivity to sunlight, and chronic nerve pain can all affect what jobs a worker can realistically hold. A burned hand may end a career in the trades even when the worker can technically grip a tool. We work with the treating physicians’ records, functional restrictions, and the worker’s job history to show what the injury has actually taken away, rather than letting a carrier reduce it to a single impairment number. The psychological aftermath, including anxiety and posttraumatic stress tied to the event, should be raised with providers so it enters the medical record.
Questions Burn Injury Clients Ask Us
Do I need a lawyer for a workplace burn claim?
Not every claim needs one, but a serious burn almost always involves long-term treatment, disputes over who pays, and questions about permanent impairment. If benefits are denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if you will be out of work for an extended time, having an attorney changes how the carrier handles the file.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How soon must I report a burn injury at work?
Report it right away. Under Mississippi law you must give the employer notice within thirty days of the accident, and Louisiana uses the same thirty-day notice period. Late notice is one of the easiest reasons for a carrier to contest a claim.
How long do I have to file a Mississippi workers’ compensation claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, or two years from the last compensation payment if the carrier paid benefits. Exceptions can apply, so speaking with an attorney early is the safer course.
What if I was burned in Louisiana but live in Hattiesburg?
Workers sometimes cross state lines for jobs, including work on rigs, plants, and construction projects in South Louisiana. Louisiana generally requires a formal claim within one year of the accident, with notice to the employer within thirty days, and the worker can choose among several parishes for hearings. We handle claims in both states, which helps when the job straddles them.
Will the insurance company say my burn was my own fault?
Workers’ compensation is not a fault-based system for the injured employee, so carelessness on your part generally does not defeat the claim. Carriers may still try to argue the accident did not happen at work or that a different cause explains the injury, which is why early documentation matters.
Can I get benefits for scarring and disfigurement?
Scarring and loss of function are part of how permanent disability is evaluated. The weight they carry depends on the burn’s location, your physician’s ratings and restrictions, and how the injury affects your ability to work. Photographs over time and detailed medical notes help establish this.
What if a coworker, contractor, or equipment maker caused my burn?
You may have a personal injury claim against that third party in addition to your comp benefits. Comp does not generally allow a suit against your own employer, but outside companies can be held responsible. Those claims run on different deadlines, and the two cases need to be coordinated.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
Work injuries are normally the comp carrier’s responsibility, so group health plans often resist paying. If the carrier denies the claim, treatment can stall. We work to get authorized care moving, and we can discuss options for interim treatment during your consultation.
What happens if the insurer wants me back at work before my burns heal?
Do not return on the adjuster’s say-so. Return-to-work decisions should come from your authorized treating physician, and the restrictions should be in writing. If a carrier cuts off benefits while you still cannot safely do your job, that is exactly the type of dispute we take to the Commission.
Can my employer fire me for filing a burn claim?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, tell us during your consultation so we can review your options.
Serving Burn Injury Clients Across Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt
Our team represents burned workers throughout Hattiesburg and Forrest County, including the neighborhoods around the University of Southern Mississippi, downtown Hattiesburg, and the Petal area just across the river. We serve workers in Lamar County communities such as Purvis and Sumrall, and neighboring areas including Laurel, Columbia, Wiggins, Collins, and Poplarville. Hattiesburg’s mix of hospitals, manufacturing, construction, and timber and trucking work, along with the military training presence nearby, generates the kinds of jobs where burns happen.
Beyond the Pine Belt, we represent injured workers throughout Mississippi, from the Gulf Coast and Jackson to Madison, Southaven, north Mississippi, and the Delta. We also handle claims across South Louisiana and the rest of that state, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, for workers burned on rigs, in plants, and on industrial job sites.
Speak With a Hattiesburg Burn Injury Attorney Today
A burn injury changes how you work, how you heal, and how you plan for the next few years, and the insurance company is already building its position. A Hattiesburg burn injury attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain your deadlines, and take the carrier’s arguments on directly. Consultations are free, our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us today to talk through your case.
