Alexandria Personal Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people in Alexandria and across Rapides Parish, along with communities throughout central and South Louisiana and Mississippi, handling workers’ compensation claims, car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death cases. For anyone searching for an Alexandria personal injury lawyer, the first thing worth knowing is that the clock on a Louisiana injury claim is shorter than most people expect, and that a crash on the job can create two separate claims with separate rules.
Alexandria sits at the crossroads of Interstate 49 and U.S. 71, 165, and 167, and the traffic that moves through it is heavy with log trucks, delivery vehicles, and commercial freight running between north and south Louisiana. Add the sawmills, hospitals, schools, and distribution work that employ people across Rapides Parish, and you have a steady source of collisions, falls, and industrial injuries. When a driver hits someone who was working at the time, the injured person may be entitled to workers’ compensation from the employer’s insurer and a separate injury claim against the driver who caused the wreck.
That overlap is where mistakes get made. Compensation benefits come with a lien, the at-fault driver’s insurer will want a quick recorded statement, and a settlement signed in the wrong order can damage the other claim. Getting the sequence right early matters more than almost any other decision in the case.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for an Alexandria Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a Louisiana and Mississippi firm built around injured workers, and that focus is what separates it from firms that take a work injury only when one happens to walk in. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and it represents people statewide in Louisiana, including Alexandria and the rest of Rapides Parish, as well as throughout Mississippi. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, clients pay nothing unless there is a recovery, and the phones are answered 24 hours a day. Hablamos español.
The team is led by Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, who has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe are Partners recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson.
Results show how the firm handles serious injuries. Clients have recovered $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 injured when he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. The project manager case is the same fact pattern that comes up on Alexandria roads, a worker hit by another driver, and it is the kind of case where the workers’ compensation claim and the injury claim have to be built to work together. Clients describe a team that listens, communicates, and stays with them through the insurance fight.
Common Injury Claims We Handle for Alexandria and Rapides Parish Residents
- Car and Truck Accidents: Collisions along I-49, MacArthur Drive, and the U.S. 71 and 165 corridors often involve commercial trucks and delivery vans, which means multiple insurance policies and, sometimes, a trucking company as a defendant.
- Workers’ Compensation Injuries: Back, neck, and spine injuries, torn rotator cuffs, knee tears, fractures, and burns from industrial and construction work are the core of the firm’s practice, including claims where the insurer blames a pre-existing condition.
- Work Vehicle Crashes with a Third Party: When a negligent driver hits someone on the clock, the worker may recover comp benefits and also pursue the driver, and the two claims have to be coordinated.
- Premises Liability: Falls in stores, parking lots, apartment complexes, and job sites caused by wet floors, broken stairs, poor lighting, or unsafe contractor conditions.
- Wrongful Death: Families who lose someone in a crash or workplace incident may bring a claim for the death and, in some cases, a survival claim for what the person endured before dying.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plant, rig, and industrial accidents that cause burns, amputations, or permanent disability and require long-term medical planning.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Heart and lung disease, hypertension, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the work of first responders.
What to Do After an Injury in Alexandria
Start with medical care, and tell every provider exactly how the injury happened and what hurts, even if it seems minor. Gaps in treatment and vague first reports are the details insurers use later to argue that the injury was not serious or not related to the accident. If the injury happened at work, report it to your employer right away and in writing. Louisiana requires notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, and the 30-day notice rule is one of the easiest ways for a valid claim to be weakened.
For the injury claim itself, collect what disappears fast: photos of the scene, vehicles, and your injuries, the names and numbers of witnesses, the other driver’s insurance information, and the police report. In Alexandria, crash reports are typically taken by the Alexandria Police Department inside city limits, or by the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office or Louisiana State Police elsewhere, so ask the responding officer which agency to contact for your report. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer before you have talked to a lawyer, and do not sign a medical release that gives the insurer open access to your entire history.
Deadlines are where Louisiana law is most unforgiving. For most injuries that happen on or after July 1, 2024, a personal injury lawsuit must be filed within two years of the day the injury was sustained; injuries before that date remain under the older one-year period. A formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though that can stretch to three years from the last compensation payment if benefits were paid. Wrongful death claims follow a one-year-from-death or two-years-from-injury rule, whichever is longer. If your comp claim is denied, disputes over denied medical treatment have their own tight windows, including 15 calendar days to file a utilization review dispute after written notice of the denial.
Workers’ compensation cases in this part of the state are heard by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which has a district court in Alexandria, and the worker generally chooses among the parish where the injury happened, the parish where the worker lived, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Appeals from a workers’ compensation judge go to the appropriate circuit court of appeal, and Rapides Parish falls within the Louisiana Third Circuit. Personal injury lawsuits are filed in state district court or, where the parties and claims qualify, the federal Western District of Louisiana, which holds court in Alexandria.
How Fault Affects What You Can Recover in Louisiana
Louisiana changed its comparative fault rule for claims arising on or after January 1, 2026. Under the current rule, a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and a person found less than 51 percent at fault has the award reduced by their share of fault. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault, where recovery is reduced but never barred. That change makes fault a central battleground. Insurers now have a strong incentive to push blame onto the injured person, whether by claiming a worker was speeding in a company truck, a pedestrian was not in the crosswalk, or a shopper ignored a hazard, and juries must be told that a plaintiff at 51 percent or more takes nothing.
This is why early evidence matters so much. Surveillance video from a store or intersection, dashcam footage from a truck, and the truck driver’s logs and company records can all be overwritten or discarded if no one asks for them. A lawyer can send preservation letters quickly, and that single step often decides who gets the benefit of the doubt on fault.
Frequently Asked Questions About Alexandria Injury Claims
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the period is two years from the day the injury or damage was sustained. Injuries before that date fall under the older one-year period. Missing the deadline usually ends the claim permanently, so it is worth confirming your exact date with a lawyer early.
Can I file both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury claim?
Often, yes. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a negligent driver or an outside contractor, you may receive comp benefits and also pursue that third party. The two claims interact, particularly through the comp insurer’s reimbursement interest, so they should be handled together.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are paid only if there is a recovery. In workers’ compensation cases, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
For claims arising on or after January 1, 2026, you can still recover if your share of fault is below 51 percent, though your award is reduced by your percentage. At 51 percent or more, recovery is barred. For earlier claims, fault reduces recovery without barring it.
Do I have to report a work injury even if it seems small?
Yes. Report it promptly and in writing, and within 30 days at the latest. Injuries that seem minor, especially back and neck problems, can worsen over days or weeks, and a late report gives the insurer an argument that the injury did not happen at work.
The insurance company says my injury is from an old condition. Is my claim over?
No. If your job or the accident caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Insurers raise this argument constantly with disc herniations and shoulder and knee tears, and strong medical evidence is how it gets answered.
What if a family member died in a crash or on the job?
Louisiana allows a wrongful death claim, and a survival claim for the person’s suffering before death. Both now follow the rule of one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer, but a death based on medical malpractice is limited to one year from the date of death.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
It may, but it can seek reimbursement from a settlement. If the injury happened at work, the workers’ compensation insurer should be paying for reasonable and necessary treatment, and billing your health plan instead can create complications. Ask a lawyer how to handle bills in your situation before treatment piles up.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller injury claim?
It depends on the injury and the insurer’s response. If treatment is ongoing, the other side is disputing fault, or benefits have been denied, delayed, or cut off, a lawyer often changes the outcome. Because consultations are free and fees are paid only on recovery, talking to one costs nothing.
What happens if my comp claim is denied?
You can challenge it before a workers’ compensation judge. Treatment denials have a 15 calendar day window to file a dispute with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and later steps have their own deadlines. A final judgment can be appealed to the court of appeal, generally within 30 days if the appeal is to suspend the judgment.
Does the firm speak Spanish?
Yes. Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Alexandria Injury Clients Across Rapides Parish and Central Louisiana
Our work for Alexandria clients begins with the city itself and the communities around it, including Pineville directly across the Red River, as well as Ball, Woodworth, Boyce, Lecompte, Glenmora, and Deville in Rapides Parish. We also represent injured people in neighboring areas such as Colfax and Pollock in Grant Parish, Marksville and Bunkie in Avoyelles Parish, and Natchitoches, Winnfield, and Jena to the north and west. Farther out, the firm serves clients in Lafayette, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and New Orleans, as well as throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana.
The firm’s reach does not stop at the state line. Because many central Louisiana workers commute, drive routes, or take assignments across state borders, we also represent injured people in Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Whether the injury happened on a job site, a highway, or someone else’s property, the same team handles both the compensation claim and any related injury claim.
Talk With an Alexandria Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a crash, a fall, or an accident at work, an Alexandria injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which deadlines apply to you, and tell you whether you have a workers’ compensation claim, a personal injury claim, or both. Calls are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Call today so the evidence is preserved and your deadlines are protected while you focus on getting well.
