Biloxi Amputation Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Biloxi and Harrison County, the Gulf Coast communities around it, and the rest of the state. For clients who have lost a hand, finger, foot, leg, or arm, the firm handles the workers’ compensation claim and, where someone other than the employer caused the injury, the separate injury claim that can sit beside it. A Biloxi amputation lawyer is often needed within days, because the first decisions about reporting, medical care, and recorded statements shape every benefit that follows.
Amputation injuries on the Mississippi Gulf Coast tend to come from a handful of settings: shipyard and fabrication work, casino and hotel construction, seafood processing lines, dock and port operations, and the heavy equipment that moves through storm rebuilding projects. A crushing injury from a press, a hand drawn into a conveyor, a limb lost in a vehicle collision on a work route, or a traumatic injury that surgeons cannot save all lead to the same place: a permanent change in how a person earns a living, and an insurance carrier that now has a very large claim to value.
Amputation claims are different from most workers’ compensation cases because the injury is not in dispute. Insurers rarely argue that a severed limb did not happen at work. The fight is over everything after it: what counts as total versus partial disability, how long wage benefits last, whether prosthetic care is approved at the level a person actually needs, and whether a settlement reflects decades of lost earning capacity or just the next few months of treatment.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for Amputation Injury Claims
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm serving injured workers in Biloxi, across Harrison County and the Gulf Coast, and throughout Mississippi and South Louisiana. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and it works on a no recovery, no fee basis, with free consultations and case costs advanced by the firm. Phones are answered around the clock, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
Rob Lunsford, 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. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and represents injured workers before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
That depth matters in a case where the numbers are large. The firm’s results include a $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $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 are not amputation cases, but they reflect the kind of serious, permanent-impairment claims the firm builds with medical evidence, work history, and testimony rather than accepting the carrier’s first valuation. Clients consistently describe an attorney who stayed with them against the insurance company at every step.
How Amputations Happen at Work and Who May Be Responsible
- Industrial Machinery and Presses: Press brakes, saws, conveyors, and rollers cause crushing and severing injuries in fabrication shops and manufacturing plants. Workers’ compensation covers the injury regardless of fault, but a defective or guardless machine can also support a product liability claim against the manufacturer.
- Shipyard and Marine Work: Gulf Coast yards and vessels involve winches, cables, hatches, and heavy lifts. Depending on the worker’s status and where the injury occurred, federal maritime or longshore rules can replace or sit alongside state comp, so the right forum has to be identified early.
- Construction and Demolition Sites: Falls, trench and equipment accidents, and struck-by incidents can end in traumatic limb loss. When a general contractor or another trade’s negligence contributed, a third-party injury claim may add recovery beyond comp benefits.
- Vehicle Collisions on the Job: Delivery drivers, truckers, and field workers struck on U.S. 90, Interstate 10, or Interstate 110 may lose a limb in a crash caused by another driver. Comp pays regardless of fault, and the at-fault driver’s insurer can be pursued in a separate claim.
- Food Processing and Seafood Lines: Slicers, grinders, and augers cause hand and finger amputations, often tied to missing guards or lockout failures. Prompt photographs of the machine and its safety devices can be decisive.
- Delayed Amputations After Infection or Failed Repair: A crush injury or severe fracture can lead to amputation weeks or months later after infection, vascular failure, or complications. The later surgery still traces back to the work accident, and insurers sometimes try to treat it as a separate problem.
- Burn and Electrical Injuries: High-voltage contact and industrial burns can require amputation of affected limbs, and these cases often involve long hospitalizations and multiple reconstructive surgeries.
What to Do After a Traumatic Amputation Injury
Medical care comes first, and it should be reported as a work injury from the start. Tell the treating providers the injury happened on the job so the records say so. Then notify your employer in writing if you can, or ask a family member to. In Mississippi, notice to the employer is required within 30 days of the accident, and the same 30-day notice rule applies in Louisiana. The worst mistake is assuming a visible, obvious injury makes paperwork unnecessary. Carriers use missed notice and thin records as leverage.
The filing deadlines run longer but still matter. In Mississippi, if no disability benefits have been paid, the right to benefits is barred unless a claim is filed with the Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the injury; once payments begin, the clock generally runs from the date of the last payment. A Petition to Controvert is the filing that opens a contested case. In Louisiana, a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though payment of benefits can extend that period to three years from the last payment. Because exceptions depend on what has actually been paid and when, an early call is safer than calculating it yourself.
Preserve evidence while it still exists. Photograph the machine, the area, and any missing guards before anyone repairs or removes them. Write down who witnessed the accident, keep every discharge paper and bill, and avoid giving a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before speaking with an attorney. If a third party may be responsible, such as an equipment maker, a contractor, or a negligent driver, that claim has its own deadlines and its own evidence, including the machine itself, which can be lost if the employer disposes of it.
In Mississippi, contested comp claims are heard by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not a court. Cases are tried before an Administrative Judge, and a party unhappy with that decision can seek review by the Full Commission, which reviews the record already made rather than holding a new trial. A final Commission award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and that court may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. In Louisiana, claims go before a workers’ compensation judge at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, with appeals to the appropriate circuit court of appeal. Because the appellate record is built at the first hearing, the quality of the evidence at that stage often decides the case.
Wage Benefits, Medical Care, and Prosthetics in an Amputation Claim
Medical benefits in a limb-loss case are not a one-time event. They include emergency surgery, revision surgeries, rehabilitation, pain management, mental health treatment, and prosthetic devices, which need to be fitted, adjusted, and eventually replaced. The fight with insurers often centers on the type of prosthesis. A basic device may be offered when a worker’s job and daily life call for a more functional one, and the carrier’s approval controls what care is actually delivered.
Wage replacement works differently depending on the state. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability benefits are generally two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum and a cap of 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability in cases outside the scheduled injuries is also limited to 450 weeks. In Louisiana, supplemental earnings benefits are available when a worker cannot earn at least 90 percent of pre-injury wages, calculated as two-thirds of the difference between earlier wages and what the worker earns or is able to earn, for a maximum of 520 weeks. Weekly maximums are set by the state and adjusted over time, so they are best confirmed for the date of your accident.
The central question in most amputation cases is how disability is classified and how earning capacity is valued. A worker who loses a dominant hand and cannot return to a trade has a very different future than the carrier’s initial paperwork may suggest. Vocational evidence, treating physician opinions, and a realistic picture of what work remains available are what move a settlement from a short-term number to one that reflects a career. When a third party also caused the injury, a separate claim can include categories that comp does not, such as pain and suffering, and the two recoveries need to be coordinated so that one does not undercut the other.
Questions About Amputation Injury Claims
Is an amputation covered by workers’ compensation?
Yes, when it results from a work accident or a work-related condition. Both Mississippi and Louisiana cover medical treatment, wage replacement, and permanent disability benefits for work injuries, and a limb loss falls squarely within that system.
How long do I have to report the injury?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident in both Mississippi and Louisiana. Reporting immediately, and in writing, is far better than relying on the full period.
How long do I have to file a claim?
In Mississippi, a claim generally must be filed with the Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the injury if no benefits have been paid, or from the last payment if they have. In Louisiana, the general deadline is one year from the accident, extendable to three years from the last payment when benefits were paid. Exceptions turn on the facts, so confirm your dates early.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and it is paid only if it recovers benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
Will workers’ compensation pay for a prosthetic limb?
Reasonable and necessary medical care includes prosthetics, along with fitting, repairs, and replacements over time. Disputes usually arise over the type and quality of the device, which is where medical opinions from your treating providers matter.
Can I sue my employer for an amputation?
Generally, workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your own employer. But if a different company, equipment manufacturer, contractor, or driver contributed to the injury, you may have a separate claim against them in addition to comp benefits.
What if my amputation happened weeks after the original injury?
A later amputation caused by infection, a failed repair, or vascular damage from the original accident remains connected to the work injury. Keep all records linking the surgeries, because insurers sometimes try to treat the later procedure as unrelated.
Does a pre-existing condition like diabetes end my claim?
No. If the work accident caused the injury or worsened an underlying condition, benefits may still be owed. Insurers raise this argument often, and medical evidence tying the amputation to the workplace event is the answer.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Workers’ compensation does not depend on fault, so your own mistake generally does not block comp benefits. In a separate third-party claim, fault does matter. Mississippi reduces recovery by your share of fault, while Louisiana bars recovery if you are found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after the start of 2026, and reduces it proportionally below that.
Can my employer fire me after the injury?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting the injury, tell your attorney during your consultation so your options can be reviewed.
Should I accept a settlement offer from the insurer early on?
Be cautious. Early offers are often made before the full extent of surgeries, prosthetic needs, and long-term earning loss is known. Once a settlement closes, medical and wage rights are typically resolved, so the value should be assessed against your future needs first.
Does the firm handle cases outside Biloxi?
Yes. The firm represents injured workers statewide in Mississippi and Louisiana, from the Gulf Coast to north Mississippi and from New Orleans to north Louisiana.
Serving Biloxi Amputation Injury Clients Across the Gulf Coast and Beyond
The firm represents injured workers in Biloxi and throughout Harrison County, including Gulfport, D’Iberville, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Lizana. Along the coast, clients come from neighboring Jackson County communities such as Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Moss Point, and Gautier, and from Hancock County towns including Bay St. Louis and Waveland. Inland, the firm serves Stone, George, Pearl River, and Greene counties, along with Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt communities nearby.
From there, representation extends across Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, Southaven, and the Delta, as well as north Mississippi. The firm also serves injured workers across Louisiana, from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles to Shreveport and the rest of South and north Louisiana, which matters for workers who live in one state and are hurt on a job in the other.
Talk With a Biloxi Amputation Attorney Today
If you or someone in your family has lost a limb at work, a Biloxi amputation attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which deadlines apply, and start gathering the medical and workplace evidence the claim will rest on. The firm answers calls around the clock, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Call today so the decisions that shape your recovery are made with someone who handles these claims every day.
