Hattiesburg Car Accident Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people in Hattiesburg, in Forrest and Lamar counties, and across Mississippi and South Louisiana, with workers’ compensation at the center of its practice and personal injury representation for car and truck accident victims. If you need a Hattiesburg car accident lawyer, the first thing worth knowing is whether the crash happened while you were working, because that changes which benefits you can claim and who you can claim them from.
Hattiesburg is a hub for trucking, delivery, healthcare, and university traffic, and many people on its roads are on the clock when a collision happens. A delivery driver rear-ended on a commercial corridor, a nurse hit on the way to a shift change, and a crew member struck while driving a company truck to a job site all have two separate paths: a workers’ compensation claim against the employer’s insurer, and an injury claim against the driver who caused the wreck. Handled separately by different lawyers, those claims can collide. Handled together, they reinforce each other.
The sections below cover how fault works in Mississippi, how the deadlines run, what to do in the days after a crash, and how an on-the-job collision differs from an ordinary one.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Hattiesburg Crash Claim
The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. That focus matters after a work-related crash, because insurers on both sides of the claim will try to use one against the other, and a lawyer who understands the comp system can keep the two from undermining each other.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, 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 is the kind of courtroom experience that gives settlement negotiations real weight.
The results reflect vehicle-related injuries directly. The firm secured a $385,000 settlement for a project manager who suffered back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and $190,000 for a truck driver who hurt his lower back in a wreck while on the job. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stands up to the insurance company. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, you pay no fee unless there is a recovery, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
Kinds of Crashes and Injuries We See From Hattiesburg Roads
- Work-vehicle collisions: A driver on a delivery route, sales call, or job-site run is hit by another motorist. Workers’ compensation pays medical care and wage benefits regardless of fault, and the at-fault driver’s insurer may owe additional damages.
- Commercial truck crashes: Freight moving through the Hattiesburg area puts passenger vehicles alongside tractor-trailers. Truck wrecks bring heavier injuries, multiple insurers, and company records that need to be preserved early.
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Disc herniations and cervical injuries are common after rear-end and side-impact collisions. Insurers often point to degenerative changes, so the medical record needs to connect the injury to the crash.
- Shoulder and knee injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, meniscus tears, and similar injuries follow bracing against the wheel or striking the dashboard. These often need surgery and months of recovery.
- Fractures: Feet, ankles, hips, and other bones are broken when the passenger compartment is crushed or the vehicle rolls, and repair can require specialists.
- Burns and catastrophic injuries: Fires after impact and severe trauma can end a career. These claims depend on long-term medical and earnings projections.
- Wrongful death: When a crash takes a life, the family may have claims against the responsible driver in addition to death benefits if the victim was working.
- Government-vehicle crashes: A collision with a county or agency vehicle falls under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, which carries a one-year limit and a notice requirement.
What to Do After a Crash in Hattiesburg
Get medical care first, and tell every provider the crash caused your symptoms. Delays and gaps in treatment are what insurers use to argue the injury came from somewhere else. Call the police so a report is made by the responding agency, whether that is the Hattiesburg Police Department, the Forrest County or Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, or the Highway Patrol, and get the report number. Photograph the vehicles, the road, the signals, and your injuries before anything is moved or repaired. Collect names and insurance information, and get contact details for witnesses before they leave.
If you were working when the crash happened, report the injury to your employer promptly. Under Mississippi’s workers’ compensation law, notice must go to the employer within 30 days of the accident. Coverage begins on your first day of employment, with no waiting period. The claim itself is heard by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not a court, and you generally have two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment to file a petition to controvert. If your injury occurred in Louisiana while working there, the notice period is also 30 days, but a formal claim generally must be filed within one year.
Be careful with the other driver’s insurance adjuster. A recorded statement given before you understand your injuries can be used to shrink the claim, and quick settlement offers rarely account for surgery or lost earning capacity. Do not post about the crash online, and do not sign medical releases broader than necessary. Contact an attorney before you give a statement.
If a lawsuit becomes necessary, a Hattiesburg car accident case is filed in the state courts of the county where the crash happened or the defendant lives, in Forrest County or Lamar County depending on the facts. Federal court sits in Hattiesburg for the Eastern Division of the Southern District of Mississippi, which covers Forrest, Lamar, Jones, Wayne, Perry, and several nearby counties, though most car accident cases stay in state court.
Deadlines and Fault Rules for Mississippi Car Accident Claims
Mississippi gives most negligence claims, including car accident injury claims, three years from the date the claim arose. That period is not a target. Evidence disappears, witnesses move, vehicles are repaired or sold, and commercial carriers overwrite electronic data. Claims against a county or governmental agency are different: they carry a one-year limit and require formal notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. If the crash killed someone, the three-year period applies to wrongful death based on negligence, while intentional wrongs carry one year.
Fault in Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence. If a jury finds you partly responsible, your recovery is reduced by your share of the fault, but you are not barred from recovering. A person found 30 percent at fault can still collect 70 percent of the damages. This is why insurers work so hard to assign blame, and why the details of the crash scene, speed, lane position, and phone use matter. Mississippi also caps noneconomic damages in certain claims, including most wrongful death cases, though the caps do not limit economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages.
When the Crash Was Part of Your Job
An on-the-job crash is the situation where having a workers’ compensation firm matters most. Comp benefits cover reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement without regard to who caused the wreck. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability benefits are paid at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory weekly maximum and not beyond 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability in other cases is likewise limited to 450 weeks. The maximum is adjusted periodically.
The comp claim does not replace a claim against the driver who hit you. Because comp does not compensate for pain, suffering, or the full measure of lost earning capacity, a third-party claim can recover more. The two have to be coordinated, since the comp carrier may have a right to be reimbursed from the third-party recovery, and a careless settlement of one can damage the other. Our personal injury lawyers and workers’ compensation attorneys work from the same file so both claims move in step.
Hattiesburg Car Accident Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer after a car accident in Hattiesburg?
Not every fender-bender calls for one, but if you were hurt, if fault is disputed, or if the crash happened while you were working, a lawyer is worth consulting. The insurance company has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests. Consultations are free.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. The firm advances the costs of your case and is paid only if it recovers benefits or a settlement for you.
How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Mississippi?
Generally three years from the date the claim arose. If a county or other governmental body is responsible, the limit is one year and notice is required first.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, but it is not eliminated, even if you were mostly responsible.
Is a car accident during work covered by workers’ compensation?
Often yes, if you were performing job duties, such as driving to a delivery or a job site. Comp pays regardless of fault. You must notify your employer within 30 days of the accident.
Can I file both a workers’ compensation claim and an injury claim?
Yes, when someone other than your employer caused the crash. The comp claim pays medical and wage benefits, and the injury claim against the at-fault driver can recover damages comp does not cover.
What if the other driver has no insurance or too little?
Your own policy may include uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. If you were working, workers’ compensation benefits remain available regardless of the other driver’s coverage.
Will my health insurance pay while my claim is pending?
If the crash was work-related, the comp insurer is responsible for authorized medical treatment, and health insurers often refuse to pay for it. For non-work crashes, your health plan may pay and seek reimbursement from any settlement.
What if the insurance company says my back problem was already there?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the crash caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to compensation. Medical evidence tying the change to the collision is the key.
What if the truck that hit me belonged to a company?
The driver, the trucking company, and sometimes a broker or maintenance contractor may share responsibility. Employer records, driver logs, and vehicle data should be requested early, before they are lost.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim after a work crash?
Mississippi and Louisiana both protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting the injury, tell us so we can review your options.
Do you handle crashes outside Hattiesburg?
Yes. The firm represents injured people throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and South Louisiana.
Serving Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt Region
We represent crash victims throughout Hattiesburg and the surrounding communities of Forrest County and neighboring Lamar County, including Petal, Oak Grove, Lumberton, Sumrall, and Purvis. Across the Pine Belt, we also serve clients from Laurel, Collins, Columbia, Wiggins, Picayune, and Poplarville, and travelers whose crashes happen on the highways that run through the region.
Our work extends across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Southaven, and the Delta, and into Louisiana from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. Whether you were hurt in a work truck, a delivery vehicle, or your own car, we can look at both the injury claim and any workers’ compensation claim that comes with it.
Talk With a Hattiesburg Car Accident Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a crash, speak with a Hattiesburg car accident attorney before you give a statement to an insurer or sign anything. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Call to talk through what happened, whether it was work-related, and which deadlines apply to you.
