Baton Rouge Construction Worker Injury Lawyer
A fall from scaffolding, a crushed hand on a pipe job, or a back that gave out under a load on a Louisiana jobsite can leave a construction worker without a paycheck and facing an adjuster who suddenly has questions. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across East Baton Rouge Parish, the surrounding parishes, and the rest of Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Baton Rouge construction worker injury lawyer from our team can take the insurer off your back while you heal.
Construction injuries are rarely small. The work is physical, the sites are crowded with subcontractors, and the claims that follow are often contested: the carrier says you were not hurt at work, blames degenerative changes in your spine, or pushes you back to the job before your doctor agrees.
Baton Rouge adds its own pressure. Industrial plant turnarounds along the river, highway and bridge work, commercial builds, and residential growth in the parishes around the city keep crews busy. That volume means injuries, and it also means a lot of workers who are employed through staffing outfits, subcontractors, or companies whose insurance is not obvious at first.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Baton Rouge Construction Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, including Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish. Workers’ compensation is the center of our practice, not a side file. Our attorneys bring more than 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 clients. We work on a no recovery, no fee basis, consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and our phones are answered 24 hours a day. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
The people behind that work matter on a construction claim. Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, Partners, 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. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Results show what that experience looks like on heavy-labor claims: $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $385,000 for a project manager injured when his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Every case turns on its own medical evidence and wage history, but those outcomes reflect the kind of record we build. Clients tell us the same thing in their reviews: we listened, we answered the phone, and we fought the insurance company at each step.
Construction Injuries We See and How Insurers Fight Them
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are common among carpenters, laborers, and equipment operators. When the carrier points to degenerative disc disease, we use medical records and work history to show how years of lifting or one incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often follow overhead work, falls, and awkward lifts. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and the answer is the medical timeline.
- Fractures: Feet, ankles, hips, and other bones broken in falls from ladders, roofs, and scaffolds can require specialists and complex surgical repair, with long recoveries and uncertain return-to-work dates.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial sites and plant work around the Baton Rouge area carry fire, chemical, and electrical hazards that cause severe burns and life-altering harm.
- Struck-By and Caught-In Accidents: Falling materials, moving equipment, and vehicles on a jobsite cause crush injuries and head trauma. These accidents often involve more than one company on site.
- Repetitive Strain and Occupational Conditions: Not every injury is a single event. Hearing loss, chronic joint damage, and breathing problems can develop from the work itself and still qualify.
- Third-Party Injuries: A negligent driver who hits a work truck, or a contractor whose unsafe site causes a fall, may create a personal injury claim in addition to comp benefits.
What to Do After a Construction Injury in Baton Rouge
Get medical care first, and tell the provider the injury happened at work so it is recorded that way. Then report the injury to your employer. In Louisiana, notice should go to the employer within 30 days of the accident, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury. If workers’ compensation payments have been made, that deadline can extend to three years from the last payment, but do not count on that. Report right away and put it in writing if you can.
Write down what happened while it is fresh: the date, the location on the site, what task you were doing, who saw it, and which supervisor you told. Keep every medical record, work restriction note, and pay stub. Take photographs of the area and your injury. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before you have spoken with a lawyer, and do not sign anything you have not read.
Louisiana workers’ compensation disputes are handled by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which runs district workers’ compensation courts, including one in Baton Rouge. Under Louisiana law, you choose where the hearing is held from three options: the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where you lived at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Cases decided in the Baton Rouge district are appealed to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.
If the carrier denies a medical treatment your doctor recommends, the clock is short. A dispute over that denial must be filed on LWC Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, Form 1008 must be filed within 45 days of the date the decision was issued. After a final judgment by a workers’ compensation judge, an appeal generally goes to the court of appeal within 30 days. Missing these windows can cost you treatment you needed, which is why people call us as soon as a denial letter arrives.
One common mistake is returning to full duty because a supervisor is pressuring you, then reinjuring yourself with no record that you were not cleared. Another is letting a gap in treatment open up. Insurers use gaps to argue the injury was not serious or not work-related. Follow your doctor’s instructions and keep your appointments.
Wage Benefits When You Cannot Work Construction
Louisiana workers’ compensation pays reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement while you cannot work. Weekly compensation is set as a percentage of your wages, subject to a maximum and minimum that are adjusted each year and fixed by the date of your accident. Because the limits depend on when you were hurt, an experienced lawyer checks the correct rate for your accident date instead of trusting the carrier’s number.
If you can return to work but earn less, supplemental earnings benefits may apply. When you cannot earn 90 percent or more of your pre-injury wages, those benefits are 66 2/3 percent of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn. They continue until you are released to full duty, you are earning your old wages again, or you reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that 520. Construction workers feel this rule most, because a worker who can no longer climb, lift, or stand all day may only qualify for lighter, lower-paying work.
Questions Baton Rouge Construction Workers Ask
Do I need a lawyer for a construction injury claim in Baton Rouge?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or your injury will keep you off the job for a long time, a lawyer can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests.
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 for you. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a work injury in Louisiana?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding without that notice, so report immediately.
What is the deadline to file a formal claim?
A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury. If compensation payments have been made, the deadline can extend to three years from the last payment. An attorney can tell you which rule applies to your situation.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Louisiana and Mississippi both protect workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation.
The insurer says my injury is just a pre-existing condition. Is my claim over?
No. If your job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering that argument with strong medical evidence is a core part of our work.
What if I was hurt by a subcontractor or someone who is not my employer?
You may have a separate personal injury claim against that outside party in addition to workers’ compensation. Louisiana’s fault rules apply to those claims: for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces the award proportionally. The comp claim does not depend on fault.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit against a negligent third party?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s period for most injury lawsuits is two years from the day the injury is sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Because the two claims run on different clocks, do not wait on the comp claim before speaking with a lawyer.
My employer is a staffing agency or a small subcontractor. Does that change anything?
It can change who the insurer is and who is responsible, but it does not remove your right to benefits. Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry coverage, even for one employee. Sorting out which company and carrier is responsible is something we do early.
Can I still get treatment if the insurer refuses an MRI or surgery?
Possibly. A treatment denial can be challenged through the medical dispute process, starting with LWC Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial. Do not let that deadline slip.
What happens if a worker dies in a construction accident?
Death benefits are available under workers’ compensation, and family members may also have a wrongful death claim against a negligent outside party. In Louisiana, wrongful death claims follow a one-year-from-death or two-years-from-injury rule, whichever is longer. Call us promptly so the right claims are preserved.
Do you handle cases outside Baton Rouge?
Yes. We represent injured workers statewide in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Serving Construction Workers Across Baton Rouge and Surrounding Parishes
We represent injured construction workers throughout East Baton Rouge Parish, from the downtown and Mid City areas through the Garden District, Southdowns, and the Perkins Road corridor, and out toward Shenandoah, Inniswold, and the communities along Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard. We also serve workers in Zachary, Baker, and Central, and in neighboring parishes including Ascension, Livingston, Iberville, West Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee, and East and West Feliciana, with workers from Gonzales, Prairieville, Denham Springs, and Port Allen included.
Our work reaches across South Louisiana, including New Orleans, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and north to Shreveport, along with the rest of the state. In Mississippi, we represent injured workers in Jackson, Madison, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta. Wherever the injury happened and wherever you live, we can talk through your claim.
Talk With a Baton Rouge Construction Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt on a jobsite and the insurance company is denying, delaying, or questioning your claim, call us. A Baton Rouge construction injury attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain the deadlines that apply to you, and take over the dealings with your employer and its insurer. Consultations are free, our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call today or send us your case details.
