Houma Amputation Lawyer
Losing a hand, a finger, a foot, or a limb on the job changes what the rest of your working life looks like, and the goal in a claim like this is to secure medical care, prosthetics, and wage benefits that match the permanence of the loss. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Houma amputation lawyer from our team can take on the employer and its insurer while you focus on surgery, rehabilitation, and your family.
Houma sits in the middle of Terrebonne Parish industry: shipyards, fabrication shops, marine and offshore support companies, oilfield service yards, sugar and seafood operations, and the plants and docks that feed the Gulf. Those environments produce the injuries that lead to amputations, including crushed hands in machinery, pinch-point injuries on deck equipment, and severe trauma from heavy lifts. Our attorneys represent workers hurt in Terrebonne Parish and across South Louisiana.
An amputation claim is different from most comp claims because the injury itself is rarely in dispute. The fights come later: how the loss is valued, whether the insurer will pay for a prosthesis that actually fits your job and your life, whether nerve pain and phantom limb symptoms get treated, and what happens when you cannot return to the work you did before.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Houma Amputation Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles injured-worker cases for people in Houma, Terrebonne Parish, and communities throughout South Louisiana and Mississippi. Workers’ compensation is the center of our practice, and our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who see a work injury only when one walks in. We built the firm the other way around. Clients pay nothing up front, consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish.
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 tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team, and together they have helped recover more than $100 million in settlements.
Serious injuries are where that record matters. We obtained $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 struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns to the lower extremities. Clients tell us what they value most: we listen, we answer questions, and we stand up to the insurance company at every step.
What Amputation Claims Cover and Where They Get Fought
- Traumatic Amputations on Industrial Equipment: Presses, saws, conveyors, winches, and rotating machinery at fabrication shops and processing plants can take a finger, hand, or arm in a moment. These cases often raise questions about missing guards and safety failures that may point to a third party beyond your employer.
- Marine and Offshore Support Injuries: Crushing injuries from cables, lines, and heavy loads on vessels, docks, and platforms are common in Gulf-facing work. Which legal system applies can depend on your job and where you were injured, so the details of your employment matter early.
- Crush Injuries That Lead to Surgical Amputation: Not every amputation happens at the scene. A mangled foot, leg, or hand may be saved at first and removed later after infection, vascular damage, or failed reconstruction. Insurers sometimes argue the later surgery is a separate problem, and we tie it back to the work accident with medical evidence.
- Vehicle and Heavy Truck Wrecks on the Job: Drivers and field workers hurt on highways around Houma and across South Louisiana can lose limbs in collisions. Alongside comp benefits, a negligent driver may be liable in a separate personal injury claim.
- Fingers, Hands, and Partial Limb Loss: A fingertip or partial hand loss can end a tradesman’s career just as surely as a larger loss. We push for full value on grip strength, dexterity, and the ability to keep doing skilled work.
- Burns, Electrical Injuries, and Infection-Related Amputations: Industrial burns and electrocutions can destroy tissue so badly that amputation follows. These cases need specialists and long-term care planning from the start.
- Prosthetics, Revisions, and Phantom Pain: Medical benefits are not a one-time event. Prosthetic limbs wear out, residual limbs change, and nerve pain can persist for years, so lifetime medical coverage is a central issue.
What to Do After an Amputation Injury at Work
Your first priority is emergency care and getting the full picture of your injury into the medical record. If a severed part can be preserved, EMS and the hospital will direct that; leave the handling to them. Once you are stable, report the accident to your employer. In Louisiana, notice should go to your employer within 30 days of the accident, and the law bars a compensation proceeding if that notice is missed. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though payments by the insurer can extend that window to three years from the last payment. Do not wait to see how recovery goes before reporting.
Write down how the accident happened while it is fresh: the machine, the task, who was nearby, whether guards or lockout procedures were in place, and who gave you instructions. Photograph the equipment and the scene if someone can do so safely, and ask coworkers who saw it to remember what they saw. Keep every bill, prescription, and work-status note. Be careful with recorded statements to the insurance adjuster; you can give basic facts, but you are not required to speculate or sign anything you do not understand.
Claims in Louisiana are decided by workers’ compensation judges in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which has a district court in Houma. You choose where the case is heard among the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived at the time, or the parish of your employer’s principal place of business. When the insurer denies a treatment request, such as a surgery or a replacement prosthesis, the clock moves fast: a utilization review dispute must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file the next form. A judge’s final ruling can be appealed to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers Terrebonne Parish, and the appeal deadline can be as short as 30 days. Missing any of these windows can cost you benefits, which is why calling us early matters.
If your injury happened in Mississippi, the rules differ. Notice to the employer is due within 30 days, and you generally have two years to file a petition with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Mississippi covers workers from the first day on the job.
Wage Benefits, Permanent Disability, and Returning to Work After Limb Loss
Louisiana pays weekly wage-loss benefits while you are unable to work, subject to a maximum rate that is set by the date of your accident and adjusted periodically. When you can return only at reduced pay, or cannot return to your old job, supplemental earnings benefits can make up two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, as long as you cannot earn 90 percent or more of your old wages. Those benefits run until you are released to full duty, are earning your former wages, or reach the 520-week cap, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that cap.
For someone who has lost a limb, these issues are rarely simple. A welder who loses part of a hand, or a deckhand who loses a foot, may be told by the insurer that a light-duty job exists somewhere. We look at whether that job is real, whether it fits your restrictions, and whether you can actually do it. We also coordinate with your treating surgeon and, when appropriate, vocational experts, so the insurer cannot paper over a permanent change to your earning capacity.
Settlement is another decision point. A lump sum may be offered, but it must account for future prosthetic replacements, surgeries, pain management, and the cost of adapting your home or vehicle. Closing out medical benefits for too little is one of the costliest mistakes in an amputation case, and we evaluate any offer against the long-term picture before you consider it.
Finally, if a defective machine, a negligent contractor, or a careless driver contributed to your injury, you may have a separate claim against that party. Louisiana now gives two years to bring most injury lawsuits for injuries on or after July 1, 2024, and a plaintiff found 51 percent or more at fault can be barred for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026. Our personal injury lawyers make sure the comp claim and the third-party claim work together.
Houma Amputation Claim Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer after losing a limb at work?
Not every comp claim requires one, but an amputation almost always does. The value of the claim, the lifetime medical needs, and the long-term wage consequences are large enough that mistakes are expensive. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests, and you should have someone protecting yours.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Report it right away, and within 30 days at the latest. Louisiana law prohibits a compensation proceeding if notice was not given within that period, with narrow exceptions.
How long do I have to file a Louisiana workers’ comp claim?
A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If the insurer has paid benefits, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment, but do not count on that extension.
Will the insurance company pay for a prosthesis?
Medical benefits include reasonable and necessary treatment, which can cover prosthetic devices, fittings, and replacements. Insurers frequently push back on the cost or type of device. If treatment is denied, the dispute process begins with a form that must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial.
Can an insurer say my amputation came from a pre-existing condition?
They try. If diabetes, vascular disease, or an old injury is part of the picture, the argument is that the work accident did not cause the loss. A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim when the job caused, worsened, or sped up the problem, and strong medical evidence is how we answer it.
What if my amputation happened months after the accident?
This happens when a crush injury fails to heal or infection sets in. The later surgery can still be part of your work injury claim if the medical records connect it to the original accident. Keep every record from the first emergency visit forward.
Can I sue someone besides my employer?
Possibly. Comp generally limits claims against your employer, but equipment manufacturers, contractors, property owners, and negligent drivers may be separately responsible. A third-party claim can include damages that comp does not, such as pain and suffering.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
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 at your consultation so we can review your options.
What if I was partly to blame for the accident?
Workers’ compensation is generally not fault-based, so your own mistake usually does not defeat a comp claim. Fault matters more in a separate third-party lawsuit, where Louisiana’s fault rules can reduce or, at 51 percent or more for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, bar recovery.
What happens if a judge rules against me?
You can appeal. A judgment from a Louisiana workers’ compensation judge can be appealed within 30 days if the appeal suspends the judgment, or 60 days if it does not, and those periods run from the signing of the judgment or the mailing of notice, whichever is later. For Terrebonne Parish, the appeal goes to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.
Do you handle Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Amputation Clients Across Houma and South Louisiana
We represent injured workers throughout Terrebonne Parish, including Houma, Gray, Bayou Cane, Schriever, Chauvin, Montegut, Dulac, Pointe-aux-Chenes, Bourg, Presquille, and Gibson. We also serve workers from neighboring Lafourche Parish, including Thibodaux, Raceland, Lockport, and Galliano, as well as communities along the bayous and out toward the coast where marine, oilfield, and fabrication work is the main employer.
Our reach extends across South Louisiana, from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Lafayette and Lake Charles, and north to Shreveport. We also represent injured workers across Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Wherever the accident happened, the claim starts with the facts of your injury and where you work.
Talk to a Houma Amputation Attorney Today
An amputation is permanent, and so are the decisions made in the first weeks of the claim. A Houma amputation attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review your accident, explain which deadlines apply, and handle the insurer so you do not have to. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us today to talk through what happened and what comes next.
