Olive Branch Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
The goal in a work injury claim is simple to state and hard to reach: authorized medical treatment that keeps moving, and a weekly check that keeps arriving while you heal. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, and for anyone looking for an Olive Branch workers’ compensation lawyer, that means help with claims arising in Olive Branch and throughout DeSoto County and north Mississippi.
Olive Branch sits in the middle of one of the busiest freight corridors in the South. Warehouses, distribution centers, trucking terminals, and construction sites fill the area around the Memphis line, and the work that happens there is physical, repetitive, and fast. Injuries follow: ruptured discs from lifting, shoulders torn by overhead work, knees wrecked on concrete floors, crushed hands, and falls from docks and trailers.
The insurance carrier will not wait for you to get your bearings. Adjusters often start building a denial within days, pointing to your age, your prior back pain, or a gap in how quickly you reported. What you do in the first weeks shapes the rest of the case.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for Your Olive Branch Work Injury Claim
Our firm represents injured workers in DeSoto County, Hernando, Southaven, Horn Lake, and communities across north Mississippi, along with the rest of the state and south Louisiana. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury only when one walks in. We run the other way: workers’ compensation is the center of our practice, our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience, and we have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call.
The results speak to the kinds of injuries Olive Branch 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 his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Those outcomes came from building medical proof and answering the carrier’s arguments directly.
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 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. Clients consistently describe responsiveness and a team that fought the insurance company for them.
Injuries and Claims We Handle for Olive Branch Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the signature injury of warehouse and freight work. When the carrier blames degenerative disc disease, we show how years of lifting or a single incident caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears come from overhead stocking, forklift and pallet work, and long hours on concrete. Employers often call these old sports injuries, and we meet that argument with medical records and work history.
- Truck Driver and Delivery Injuries: Drivers hauling through the Interstate 22 and Interstate 269 corridors and local delivery workers are hurt in wrecks, loading accidents, and falls from trailers. A wreck caused by another driver can also support a separate injury claim.
- Construction and Industrial Injuries: Fractures of the feet, ankles, and hips, along with crush injuries, often require specialists and complex surgical repair, and they can end a worker’s ability to return to the same trade.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plant, industrial, and oil field accidents can cause severe burns and permanent impairment, which changes both the medical care and the type of disability benefits at stake.
- Nurses and Healthcare Workers: Patient lifting and long shifts produce back and shoulder injuries in hospitals, clinics, and care facilities serving the DeSoto County area.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and job-related cancer can all support claims.
- Denied, Delayed, and Terminated Benefits: Claims denied outright, checks that stop without warning, and workers pushed back to duty before a doctor clears them all call for a formal fight before the Commission.
What to Do After a Work Injury in DeSoto County
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can. Mississippi law gives you 30 days from the accident, but waiting even a week gives the carrier a talking point. Keep a copy of what you submit, and note the date, the time, and who received it.
Get medical attention and tell the provider that the injury happened at work. Describe every body part that hurts, not only the worst one, because gaps in early records are later used against you. Follow your doctor’s restrictions and do not exceed them to prove toughness; working outside your restrictions hurts both your recovery and your claim.
Know the filing deadline. In Mississippi, you generally have two years from the date of injury, or from the last compensation payment, to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If no disability benefits have been paid and you do not file within that window, the right to benefits can be lost. Mississippi covers workers from the first day on the job, with no waiting period.
Mississippi workers’ comp claims are not decided in a county courthouse. A losing party can seek review by the Full Commission, which examines the record made before the judge rather than holding a new trial. A final award can then be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and review is limited to the record already made. That is why building the evidence early matters so much.
Avoid the common mistakes: giving a recorded statement to the adjuster without preparation, signing medical releases that open your entire history, skipping appointments, posting about your activities on social media, and accepting a quick settlement before you know your permanent restrictions. Call us before you do any of those things.
How Mississippi Pays Injured Workers
Medical care for a compensable injury should be paid by the carrier, including surgery, therapy, and prescriptions. Wage-loss benefits for temporary or permanent total disability are generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that is adjusted over time, and total disability benefits cannot run longer than 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability in the ordinary case is also capped at 450 weeks.
The fight is usually over how much of your impairment is work-related and how much earning capacity you have lost. A doctor’s rating, your age, your education, and your ability to find comparable work all matter. We gather the medical opinions and vocational evidence that support the number the law entitles you to.
Some Olive Branch workers also cross the state line, since Memphis is minutes away. If your job or injury touched Louisiana, or if you were hurt working for an employer with operations there, different deadlines and rules may apply. In Louisiana, a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, and notice to the employer is due within 30 days. We handle claims in both states.
Olive Branch Workers’ Comp FAQ
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim in Olive Branch?
Not every claim needs one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer can change the outcome. The carrier has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests.
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 for you. 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 in Mississippi. Do it in writing and right away, because delay invites a denial.
How long do I have to file a claim with the Commission?
Generally two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert. If no benefits were paid and nothing was filed in that period, the claim can be barred.
Is my employer required to carry workers’ comp?
Mississippi employers with five or more employees must provide coverage, and coverage applies from the worker’s first day.
Can I be fired 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, tell us so we can review your options.
What if the insurer says my back problem is pre-existing?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits may still be owed. Strong medical evidence is the answer to this argument.
Who decides my case if the insurer denies it?
An Administrative Judge at the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission hears the evidence. The Full Commission can review that decision on the existing record, and the Mississippi Supreme Court sits above it on appeal.
Can I choose my own doctor?
Treatment disputes are common, and the carrier will often steer you to its preferred providers. Talk to us before you accept a doctor’s release or a return-to-work note you disagree with.
What if a forklift operator from another company or a negligent driver hurt me?
You may have a third-party injury claim in addition to comp. Those claims can recover damages that comp does not pay, and we coordinate both so they do not undercut each other. Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence, so your own share of fault reduces a recovery rather than barring it.
Will comp cover me while I cannot work?
Wage-loss benefits replace a portion of your wages while you are medically unable to work, but they are not your full paycheck. Missed payments are a common problem, and we press the carrier to restart them.
Do you represent Spanish-speaking workers?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and clients can work with our team in Spanish from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Olive Branch Workers’ Compensation Clients Across DeSoto County and North Mississippi
We represent injured workers in Olive Branch and throughout DeSoto County, including Hernando, Southaven, Horn Lake, Walls, Nesbit, and Lake Cormorant. We also serve workers in neighboring Marshall, Tate, Tunica, and Panola counties, and in communities such as Holly Springs, Senatobia, Tunica, and Batesville, as well as the wider north Mississippi region and the Delta.
Across Mississippi, our attorneys represent clients in Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, and on the Gulf Coast. In Louisiana, we handle claims in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and across south and north Louisiana. Wherever the injury happened, the claim moves through the same system, and we know how to work it.
Talk to an Olive Branch Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job, do not wait for the insurance company to decide what your claim is worth. A call to an Olive Branch workers’ compensation attorney at our firm costs nothing, and we will review what happened, explain your deadlines, and tell you what the carrier is likely to argue. We answer the phones 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us now and let us start building your claim.
