Lafayette Truck Accident Lawyer
Lafayette drivers know what it feels like when an 18-wheeler fills the mirror on I-10 or I-49, and you also know how fast a normal afternoon can change when one of those trucks is involved in a wreck. If you were hurt in a crash with a commercial truck, the decisions you make in the next few weeks matter more than most people realize. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people and injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Lafayette Parish and the communities around it, and a Lafayette truck accident lawyer from our team can step in before the trucking company’s insurer shapes the story of what happened.
Truck cases are not car cases with a bigger vehicle. A tractor-trailer can involve the driver, the carrier that employs or contracts with the driver, a company that loaded the cargo, a maintenance shop, and a manufacturer, each with its own insurer and its own lawyers. Evidence disappears on a schedule set by the carrier, not by you. And when the person behind the wheel of your own vehicle was working at the time, there is a workers’ compensation claim running alongside the injury claim, and the two have to be handled together.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Lafayette Truck Wreck Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a law firm that helps injured people and injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, from Lafayette and Baton Rouge to the Gulf Coast, Jackson, and the Delta. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Clients pay nothing up front, we advance the costs of the case, consultations are free, and we are paid only if we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish (hablamos español).
That background matters in truck cases because so many truck crashes happen to people who were on the clock: delivery drivers, project managers, truckers, and field workers. The firm secured $385,000 for a project manager who suffered back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and $190,000 for a truck driver who injured his lower back in a wreck while on the job. We have also obtained $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, the kind of spinal injury that so often follows a heavy-vehicle impact.
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. 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. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Clients consistently tell us they felt listened to and that their attorney stayed in the fight with the insurance company at every step.
Types of Truck Crashes and Injuries We Handle in Lafayette
- Rear-End and Underride Collisions: A loaded tractor-trailer needs far more distance to stop than a passenger car, and a stopped driver on I-10 or I-49 or in congestion near the Evangeline Thruway can be struck with little warning. These impacts commonly produce spinal and head injuries.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated lumbar and cervical discs are among the most common injuries from heavy-vehicle impacts. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, so the medical evidence has to separate old wear from new trauma.
- Wrecks Involving Work Vehicles: When the injured person was driving for an employer, such as a delivery route, a service call, or a job-site trip, the crash may support both a workers’ compensation claim and a claim against the at-fault trucking company.
- Oilfield and Industrial Haul Traffic: South Louisiana’s energy and industrial economy puts heavy equipment haulers, water trucks, and vacuum trucks on parish roads and highways alongside ordinary commuters and field crews.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears often come from bracing against the wheel or the dash at impact, and carriers sometimes label them old injuries.
- Fractures and Burns: Hips, ankles, and feet can be crushed in a collision, and fuel or cargo fires can cause serious burn injuries that need specialist care.
- Wrongful Death: When a truck crash takes a family member’s life, Louisiana law gives surviving family members a path to recover, with its own time limits.
What to Do After a Truck Accident Near Lafayette
Get medical care first, and get it documented. Adrenaline hides injuries, and gaps in treatment give the insurer something to argue. Tell every provider how the crash happened and where it hurts, even for symptoms that seem minor.
If you can, photograph the scene, the vehicles, the truck’s markings and company name, license plates, skid marks, and road conditions. Get the names of witnesses. Make sure a police report is filed with the agency that responded, whether that was city police, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, or State Police. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer, and do not sign anything they send you. Their adjusters are trained to find language that limits what they owe.
Act quickly on preservation. Carriers keep driver logs, dispatch records, electronic data from the truck, inspection and maintenance files, and sometimes dash camera footage, and much of it is overwritten or discarded on routine schedules. A lawyer can send a preservation demand early so that evidence is held.
Know the deadlines. For Louisiana injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the general time limit for a personal injury lawsuit is two years from the day the injury was sustained; older injuries remain under the former one-year period. For a wrongful death claim, the period is one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever is longer. Louisiana also now bars recovery when a claimant is found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, and lower fault percentages reduce the award proportionally. That makes how fault is documented in the first days critical.
If you were hurt while working, report the injury to your employer right away, and within 30 days at the latest, or you risk losing workers’ compensation benefits. A formal Louisiana comp claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. Comp disputes in the Lafayette area go to the Office of Workers’ Compensation district court in Lafayette, and a judge’s decision can be appealed to the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers Lafayette Parish. Truck injury lawsuits against third parties proceed in the court system separately, and federal court in Lafayette is an option in some cases involving out-of-state carriers.
How a Truck Crash Injury Claim Differs From a Standard Car Wreck
Federal and state safety rules govern commercial drivers: how many hours they may drive, how trucks must be inspected and maintained, and how cargo must be secured. Violations of those rules are often the clearest proof of fault. A driver who exceeded hours-of-service limits, a carrier that skipped maintenance, or a loader who overloaded a trailer may each share responsibility, and each may have separate insurance coverage that increases what is available to you.
Trucking companies also tend to respond faster and more forcefully than ordinary insurers. Rapid-response teams may reach the scene before you have left the hospital. Our attorneys build the case with medical evidence, witness accounts, and work history, and we are prepared to take a claim to trial when a fair settlement is not offered.
Fault is argued hard in these cases. If the carrier claims you were partly to blame, the percentage assigned to you directly affects what you recover, and under Louisiana’s current rule an assignment of 51 percent or more can eliminate recovery entirely for qualifying claims. On the Mississippi side of our practice, Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, which reduces recovery by your share of fault instead of barring it.
Truck Accident and Work Injury Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer after a truck accident?
If you were hurt seriously, if the trucking company is disputing fault, or if you were working when it happened, a lawyer is worth speaking with early. Consultations are free, and we are paid only if we recover for you.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. We advance the costs of the case and are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. In workers’ compensation matters, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the general period is two years from the day the injury was sustained. Injuries before that date remain under the former one-year period. Because the date of injury controls which rule applies, confirm your deadline quickly.
What if a family member died in a truck crash?
Louisiana allows wrongful death and survival claims. The time limit is one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever is longer. A wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice stays at one year from the date of death.
What if I was partly at fault?
Under Louisiana’s current rule, for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and a lower share reduces the award proportionally. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. Evidence that limits your share of blame is central to the case.
I was driving for work when the truck hit me. Can I claim both comp and injury damages?
Often yes. Workers’ compensation covers medical care and wage benefits regardless of who caused the crash, and a separate claim against the at-fault truck driver or carrier may be available. The two must be coordinated so one does not undermine the other.
Will the trucking company’s insurance pay my medical bills right away?
Usually not. Liability insurers typically do not pay until fault and damages are resolved. If you were working, workers’ compensation should pay reasonable and necessary medical treatment while the injury claim proceeds.
What if the insurer says my back injury 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 recover. Imaging, treating physician opinions, and your work history are how that argument is answered.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim after a work-related truck wreck?
Both Louisiana and Mississippi protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What if the truck was from out of state or the crash happened across the line in Mississippi?
We represent injured people in both states. Where a case is filed depends on where the crash happened and where the defendants can be sued, and Mississippi has its own deadlines, including a general three-year period for most negligence claims and a pure comparative negligence rule.
What if the crash involved a government vehicle?
Claims against a Mississippi county or government agency carry a one-year limit and require notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Government claims in Louisiana have their own notice and timing rules, so report these cases to a lawyer immediately.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Lafayette Truck Accident Clients Across Acadiana and Beyond
Our work starts in Lafayette Parish and extends across Acadiana. From the city of Lafayette itself and the neighborhoods along the Johnston Street and Ambassador Caffery corridors to Scott, Broussard, Youngsville, Carencro, and Duson, we represent people hurt on the highways and parish roads that carry freight through this region. We also serve clients in Milton, Maurice, Abbeville, Rayne, Crowley, New Iberia, St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge, Opelousas, and Eunice, along with the Lafayette Parish communities that sit between them.
Beyond Acadiana, our attorneys help injured workers and crash victims throughout South Louisiana, including Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, as well as Shreveport and north Louisiana. We also represent clients across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi.
Speak With a Lafayette Truck Accident Attorney Today
Evidence in a truck case does not wait, and neither do the deadlines. If you were hurt in a crash with a commercial truck, call us to talk with a Lafayette truck accident attorney about what happened. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. If you were injured on the job, we will also look at your workers’ compensation benefits so every source of recovery is pursued together.
