Louisiana Construction Site Accident Lawyer
A construction worker hurt on a Louisiana job site almost never has just one claim. The workers’ compensation system pays medical care and a portion of lost wages no matter who caused the accident, but a general contractor, an equipment owner, a subcontractor on a neighboring crew, or a negligent driver pulling into the site may also be legally responsible for what happened. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims across Louisiana and Mississippi, and our work on a Louisiana construction site accident lawyer matter starts with separating those tracks so that one claim does not undercut the other.
Construction injuries tend to be severe and physical: herniated lumbar and cervical discs from lifting and falls, torn rotator cuffs and SLAP tears from overhead work, fractured ankles, feet, and hips from scaffolding and ladder drops, and burns on industrial and plant sites. Insurers know that many of these workers have years of heavy labor behind them, so the first response to a back or shoulder claim is often that the problem is degenerative or an old injury. A claim that is documented correctly in the first weeks, with the right medical records and a clear account of how the accident happened, is far harder to dismiss.
The sections below explain how comp and third-party claims fit together on a Louisiana job site, which deadlines control, what to do in the days after an accident, and how disputes are resolved when an insurer pushes back.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Construction Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that also handles personal injury, car and truck accident, premises liability, and wrongful death cases for injured people in Louisiana and Mississippi. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants. 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 Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call.
The people handling your case matter. 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. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which matters when a third-party negligence claim against a contractor or equipment owner will not settle at a fair number. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results are relevant to this kind of work. We obtained $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, and $385,000 for a project manager who suffered back injuries when his work vehicle was struck. We also secured $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns, and $135,000 for a diesel mechanic with a SLAP tear. Clients describe the same things in their reviews: attorneys who listen, who take the time to understand their situation, and who stay in the fight with the insurance company at every step.
Common Construction Site Injuries and Claims We Handle
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the most frequent serious injuries on construction sites, caused by heavy lifting, falls from scaffolds, and being struck by materials. Insurers routinely blame degenerative disc disease, so we build the medical record to show how years of physical work or a single incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often come from overhead work, awkward lifts, and slips on uneven ground. When an employer calls the injury an old sports problem, the answer lies in imaging, treating-physician opinions, and a clear timeline of the accident.
- Fractures: Falls from ladders, scaffolding, and roofs commonly break feet, ankles, hips, and wrists, and can require specialists and complex surgical repair. These claims often carry long recovery periods and questions about whether the worker can return to the same trade.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plants, refineries, and industrial job sites produce serious burns, crush injuries, and electrocutions. Catastrophic injuries can trigger permanent disability benefits and, where a third party is at fault, a separate injury claim.
- Struck-By and Vehicle Incidents: Workers are hit by moving equipment, falling objects, and passing traffic in work zones. When a negligent outside driver or a contractor not employed by your employer is involved, a personal injury claim can sit alongside comp.
- Occupational Illness and Repetitive Injury: Hearing loss, respiratory conditions, and cumulative trauma to the back, hands, and knees develop over time rather than in a single accident, and they raise their own questions about when the condition was discovered and reported.
- Fatal Job Site Accidents: When a worker is killed, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits through comp and may also have a wrongful death claim against a negligent third party.
How Comp and Third-Party Claims Work Together on a Louisiana Job Site
Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry workers’ compensation coverage, even for a single employee. That coverage pays all reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement while you cannot work. If you return to work but earn less because of the injury, supplemental earnings benefits can make up part of the difference. Specifically, when you cannot earn at least 90 percent of your pre-injury wages, supplemental earnings benefits equal two-thirds of the gap between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. Those benefits can continue until you are released to full duty, return to your pre-injury wages, or reach the 520-week maximum, with any temporary total disability weeks counting toward that 520. The weekly rate is capped, and the cap is set by the date of your accident and does not change later.
Comp is a no-fault system, and in exchange it generally prevents you from suing your own employer for negligence. It does not prevent you from pursuing someone else. On a modern construction site, many different companies work side by side: the general contractor, specialty subcontractors, equipment lessors, material suppliers, and property owners. If an employee of another company drops a load on you, a defective lift fails, or an unsafe site condition created by a contractor causes a fall, that party can be sued for negligence, and the recovery can include pain and suffering and the full extent of lost earning capacity, which comp does not pay.
The two claims interact, and handling them carelessly costs money. The comp insurer typically holds a reimbursement interest in any third-party recovery, and settling one claim without protecting the other can reduce what you keep or even jeopardize future benefits. Our personal injury lawyers and workers’ compensation attorneys work from the same file so the strategy for each claim is coordinated from the start.
Fault also matters in the injury claim. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery by a plaintiff found 51 percent or more at fault, and a lower share of fault reduces the award proportionally. Defendants in construction cases routinely argue that the worker ignored safety rules or misused equipment, so evidence of site conditions, training, and what the other companies were doing is central to keeping your share of fault low.
What to Do After a Construction Site Accident in Louisiana
Get medical care first, and tell every provider that the injury happened at work and how. Records that describe a vague “pain” without a mechanism are what insurers use later to argue the injury came from somewhere else. Report the accident to your supervisor or employer right away, in writing if you can. Louisiana requires notice to the employer within 30 days of the accident, and a late report gives the insurer an easy reason to question your claim. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though if the insurer has paid benefits the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment. Do not assume that being paid something protects you indefinitely; speak with an attorney early.
Preserve what the job site will not preserve for you. Photograph the area, the equipment, any missing guardrails or fall protection, and your injuries. Write down the names of coworkers and anyone from other companies who saw the accident, and keep a copy of the incident report if one was prepared. Be careful with recorded statements to the insurance adjuster before you understand the claim, and do not sign medical releases broader than necessary or return to work against your doctor’s restrictions because someone on site says light duty is available.
If the carrier denies your claim or refuses a treatment your doctor recommends, the deadlines are short. A dispute over denied or modified medical treatment goes through the utilization review process: you have 15 calendar days from receiving the written denial to file LWC Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the OWC medical director then has 30 calendar days to issue a decision. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. Other disputes are heard by a workers’ compensation judge in one of the OWC district courts, and you choose the venue: the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. The judge’s decision is final unless appealed to the appropriate Louisiana court of appeal, and an appeal must be filed within 30 days if it suspends the judgment or 60 days if it does not, with the clock running from the day after the judgment is signed or notice is mailed, whichever is later. A party can then ask the Louisiana Supreme Court for review by applying for a writ within 30 days of notice of the judgment.
For a third-party injury claim, Louisiana’s liberative prescription for most injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024 is two years from the day the injury was sustained. If a worker dies, a wrongful death claim runs one year from the date of death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer. These periods run on their own clocks, separate from comp, so the safest course is to treat the earliest deadline as the one that controls and call early.
Frequently Asked Questions About Louisiana Construction Accident Claims
Can I get workers’ compensation if the accident was my own fault?
Generally yes. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so carelessness on your part does not by itself defeat a claim for medical care and wage benefits. The main exceptions involve intentional conduct and certain situations your attorney can evaluate. Fault becomes more important in a separate third-party injury claim.
Can I sue the general contractor or another company on the site?
Often yes, if that company is not your employer and its negligence contributed to the accident. Workers’ comp is the exclusive remedy against your own employer in most situations, but it does not shield other contractors, equipment owners, or property owners from a negligence claim.
How long do I have to report a construction injury in Louisiana?
Notice to your employer is required within 30 days of the accident. Waiting does not help your case, and an early written report is far better than relying on what a foreman remembers.
How long do I have to file a claim?
A formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with a possible extension to three years from the last payment if benefits have been paid. Do not rely on the extension without checking your specific facts.
What if the insurer says my back injury is just degenerative disc disease?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering this argument with imaging, treating-physician opinions, and your work history is a core part of the case.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What happens if the comp insurer denies my surgery or physical therapy?
You can dispute the denial through utilization review by filing LWC Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of the written denial. The OWC medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. Missing that 15-day window can cost you the treatment, so move quickly.
Will a third-party settlement affect my comp benefits?
It can. The comp insurer usually has a right to be reimbursed from a third-party recovery, and settling without addressing that interest can affect your future medical and wage benefits. Coordinating both claims before settling either is important.
What if I was partly to blame in my injury lawsuit against a contractor?
For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery if you are found 51 percent or more at fault, and a lower percentage reduces your award proportionally. Earlier causes of action remain under pure comparative fault. Evidence of site conditions and others’ conduct is used to keep your share low.
My injury happened on a job site where I was a subcontractor or day laborer. Am I still covered?
Often, but the answer depends on who was actually your employer and who carried coverage. Contractors and subcontractors can sometimes be responsible for comp coverage of workers on their projects. We sort out the employment relationship early because it determines which insurer is responsible.
Do I have to pay anything up front to hire a lawyer?
No. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the 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.
If my family member was killed on a construction site, what can we claim?
Surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits through workers’ compensation and may also have a wrongful death claim against a negligent third party. Wrongful death claims in Louisiana run one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer.
Serving Construction Injury Clients Across Louisiana and Mississippi
Louisiana construction work is spread across the state, and so are the injuries that come with it. We represent workers hurt in New Orleans and the surrounding Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parish job sites, and across the south shore into St. Tammany and Tangipahoa. Further west and south, we handle claims from Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, where industrial and petrochemical construction employs thousands, and from Houma and the Terrebonne and Lafourche communities that support offshore and marine work. In north Louisiana, we serve workers from Shreveport, Bossier City, Monroe, and Alexandria, and the smaller towns and project sites between them.
The firm also serves injured workers across Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, and the surrounding metro communities, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta. Many construction workers cross state lines for projects, and a worker hurt in one state may live in another, so the right claim and the right forum depend on the specific facts. Whether the accident happened on a new commercial build, a plant turnaround, a highway project, or a residential site, we can evaluate where the claim belongs and how to pursue it.
Speak With a Louisiana Construction Accident Attorney Today
If you were hurt on a construction site, you do not have to sort out comp benefits, third-party liability, and insurance deadlines on your own while you recover. A Louisiana construction accident attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review your accident, identify every claim available to you, and deal with the insurers on your behalf. 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.
