Pascagoula Forklift & Crane Accident Lawyer
The goal after a forklift or crane accident is simple to state and hard to reach: medical care that is paid for, a paycheck that keeps coming, and a claim that does not get picked apart by an insurer looking for a reason to pay less. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Pascagoula and the rest of Jackson County and the Gulf Coast. If you want a Pascagoula forklift & crane accident lawyer, you want someone who understands how these claims are built and how they get denied.
Heavy equipment injuries are rarely minor. A pallet that shifts off the forks, a forklift that tips on an uneven yard, a crane load that swings or drops, a worker pinned between a machine and a wall: these produce crush injuries, fractures, spinal damage, and burns. The recovery can run long, and the insurer will start asking questions almost immediately.
Pascagoula is an industrial town. Shipbuilding, fabrication, port operations, refinery and plant work, and the yards and warehouses that feed them all depend on forklifts, overhead cranes, and mobile cranes every shift. That is exactly where these accidents happen, and exactly where a layered set of employers, contractors, and equipment owners can make it unclear who is responsible for what.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Heavy Equipment Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation as the center of its practice, not as a sideline. The attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for injured clients. Rob Lunsford, 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 in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson.
The team also includes Andrew Rueff, who has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, along with Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher. That trial depth matters when an insurer will not pay what a crush injury is worth.
Results in serious injury cases tell the story better than adjectives. The firm secured $685,000 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 with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Forklift and crane injuries often land in exactly these categories: back and spine damage, fractures, and burns. Clients describe a team that listens, stays in contact, and fights the insurance company at every step.
The firm works on a no recovery, no fee basis. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language (hablamos español).
Common Forklift and Crane Injury Claims We Handle
- Forklift Tip-Overs and Rollovers: Sharp turns with a raised load, uneven yard surfaces, ramps, and dock edges can flip a forklift. Operators are often crushed by the overhead guard or thrown from the seat, producing leg, hip, and spinal injuries.
- Pedestrian Strikes in Yards and Warehouses: Workers on foot get hit by reversing forklifts in loading areas, shipyard laydown lots, and port storage areas, often with limited sightlines and heavy foot traffic.
- Falling Loads and Pallet Failures: Poorly stacked, unsecured, or overloaded pallets can fall onto operators and bystanders, causing head, neck, shoulder, and fracture injuries.
- Crane Load Drops and Swing Hits: Rigging failures, overloaded lifts, and sudden swings injure workers on the ground and in the load path, a particular concern around shipbuilding and heavy fabrication.
- Caught-Between and Crush Injuries: A worker pinned between a machine and a wall, a trailer, or another piece of equipment can suffer severe orthopedic trauma requiring multiple surgeries.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated lumbar and cervical discs are common after a tip-over or a falling load. Insurers frequently blame degenerative disc disease, and the medical evidence has to answer that argument.
- Burns and Electrical Contact: Cranes and booms that touch energized lines, or equipment accidents that spark fires at plants and industrial sites, can cause catastrophic burn injuries.
- Fractures and Amputations: Feet, ankles, hips, and hands are exposed to wheels, forks, and hoisted loads. These injuries can require specialist surgery and long rehabilitation.
What to Do After a Forklift or Crane Accident in Pascagoula
Get medical care first, and say plainly that the injury happened at work. Gaps in treatment and vague descriptions of how you were hurt give the insurer something to work with later. Follow your doctor’s restrictions and keep every appointment.
Report the injury to your employer right away. In Mississippi, notice must be given within 30 days of the accident, and the same 30-day rule applies in Louisiana. Do it in writing if you can, and keep a copy. Waiting does not just risk the deadline; it invites the argument that the accident did not happen at work.
Filing a claim is a separate step from giving notice. In Mississippi, if no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the date of injury, the right to benefits can be lost unless a claim is filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission within that window. Mississippi comp claims are decided by the Commission, not a court. They are heard first by an Administrative Judge, and a decision can be reviewed by the Full Commission on the existing record. A final award can then be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, which may send the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Mississippi covers workers from the first day of employment, with no waiting period.
In Louisiana a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with an extension possible to three years from the last payment if benefits have been paid. Disputes over denied medical treatment have their own short clocks, including 15 calendar days to file the utilization review form after written notice of the denial. An appeal of a workers’ compensation judge’s final judgment must be filed within 30 days if it is to suspend the judgment, and within 60 days if not.
Preserve what you can. Write down what happened while it is fresh: the equipment involved, who was operating it, what the load was, who saw it, and whether the machine had been reported for problems. Photograph the scene, the equipment, and your injuries. Collect names of coworkers who witnessed it. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before talking to a lawyer, and do not sign anything you have not had reviewed.
Workers’ Comp, Third-Party Claims, and Why Equipment Cases Are Different
Workers’ compensation pays regardless of fault. That is its strength and its limit: it covers medical treatment and wage replacement, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. Mississippi wage-loss benefits for total disability run at roughly two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and for up to 450 weeks. In Louisiana, once you return to work at reduced pay, supplemental earnings benefits can make up part of the difference, for as long as 520 weeks.
Equipment accidents often involve someone other than your employer. A forklift or crane may have been defective, a maintenance contractor may have serviced it badly, a crane rental company may have supplied an unsafe rig, a general contractor may have run an unsafe site, or an outside driver may have caused the collision. In those situations you may have a separate personal injury claim in addition to comp benefits, and that claim is where damages like pain and suffering come in. The firm handles both, and makes sure the comp claim and the injury claim do not work against each other.
Fault rules and deadlines for those outside claims differ from comp. In Mississippi, the general limit for negligence claims is three years, and a plaintiff’s share of fault reduces the recovery rather than barring it. In Louisiana, injuries on or after July 1, 2024 generally carry a two-year limit, and for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. Claims against a county or governmental entity in Mississippi carry a one-year limit and special notice requirements.
Insurers use a familiar playbook on heavy equipment cases. They say the operator was untrained or careless, blame a pre-existing back condition, push you back to work before your doctor clears you, or stop paying without warning. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim if the job caused, worsened, or accelerated it. Answering these arguments takes medical evidence, witness accounts, and a clear record of your work history.
Forklift and Crane Accident Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer after a forklift accident at work?
Not every claim needs one, but if benefits are 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 insurer has adjusters and attorneys working for it. Crush and spine injuries from heavy equipment are the kind of claim where that gap matters most.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in comp cases are also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Report it to your employer right away, and within 30 days at the latest in both Mississippi and Louisiana. Waiting longer can jeopardize the claim, and it gives the insurer room to dispute that the accident happened at work.
How long do I have to file a claim in Mississippi?
Generally two years. If no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the injury, the claim is barred unless you filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission within that period. Because exceptions depend on whether benefits were paid, talk to a lawyer well before the two-year mark.
What benefits can I receive after a crane or forklift injury?
Reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you cannot work, benefits for permanent disability, and in severe cases additional benefits for catastrophic injury or death. In Louisiana, supplemental earnings benefits are available if you return at reduced pay. In Mississippi, total disability benefits are capped by a statutory weekly maximum and run no longer than 450 weeks.
Can I sue my employer for a forklift accident?
Generally no. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer in most cases. But you may have a separate claim against third parties, such as an equipment manufacturer, a maintenance contractor, a crane rental company, or a negligent outside driver.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Fault generally does not defeat a comp claim. For a separate third-party claim in Mississippi, your share of fault reduces your recovery rather than eliminating it. In Louisiana, for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, being found 51 percent or more at fault bars recovery in a tort claim, which makes the fault investigation important.
What if the insurer blames my back problems on old age or degeneration?
That is one of the most common denial tactics in spine injury cases. If your work caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical opinions tying the injury to the accident, and your work history, are what answer it.
Can I be fired for filing a comp claim after an equipment accident?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, raise it in your consultation so your options can be reviewed.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
Work injuries are supposed to be paid by the comp carrier, and health plans often resist covering them. If the carrier denies or delays treatment, your care can stall. A lawyer can push the carrier to authorize treatment, and in Louisiana can pursue the medical dispute process with its 15-day filing deadline.
What if I work in Louisiana but live in Pascagoula?
Which state’s law governs depends on where the injury occurred and the employment relationship. Because the firm handles claims in both states, it can sort out whether Mississippi or Louisiana deadlines and benefit rules apply to you.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Injured Workers Across Pascagoula, Jackson County, and the Gulf Coast
The firm represents workers hurt on the job in Pascagoula and throughout Jackson County, including Gautier, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Escatawpa, Vancleave, and Hurley. Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, clients come from Biloxi, Gulfport, D’Iberville, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, and Waveland, along with communities in neighboring Harrison, George, Greene, and Hancock counties.
Beyond the coast, the firm serves workers in Hattiesburg, Jackson, Madison, Southaven, and the Delta, as well as north Mississippi. Across the state line, it represents injured workers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana. Wherever a forklift or crane injury happens, whether in a shipyard, a port terminal, a plant, a warehouse, or a construction site, the claim can be handled by a team that works these cases in both states.
Talk to a Pascagoula Forklift and Crane Accident Attorney
If a forklift or crane hurt you at work, an insurer is already deciding how little it can pay. A Pascagoula forklift and crane accident attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can take over the calls with the adjuster, build the medical and witness record, and pursue every source of recovery, including claims against outside companies.
Call the firm any time, day or night. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered for you.
