Brandon Forklift & Crane Accident Lawyer
A forklift or crane injury rarely comes down to one person’s mistake. The operator, the employer, the equipment owner, the manufacturer, the rental company, and the contractor who ran the site can each play a part, and which of them can be held responsible changes what you can recover. Brandon forklift & crane accident lawyer representation starts with sorting out those layers. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation and related injury claims for hurt workers in Brandon, Rankin County, and across Mississippi and Louisiana.
Material handling equipment produces a specific kind of injury: crushing, pinning, falls from elevated forks or platforms, and being struck by a load that shifts or drops. Brandon sits in the middle of Rankin County’s warehouse, distribution, and construction corridor east of Jackson, and workers there run forklifts in stockrooms and loading docks and work around cranes on commercial and industrial build sites. When one of those machines hurts someone, the claim usually has two tracks, a no-fault comp claim against the employer’s carrier and, sometimes, a separate injury claim against a party that is not the employer.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Brandon Equipment Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm representing injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including Brandon and the rest of Rankin County. Workers’ compensation is the center of the firm’s practice, and its attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and you owe nothing unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
The people behind that record matter on a serious equipment case. 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 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which counts when a third-party claim against a manufacturer or contractor has to be built for a courtroom. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team.
Results from the firm’s work include a $685,000 settlement 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 struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Back, shoulder, and crush-type injuries are the kind forklift and crane accidents tend to produce, and clients repeatedly describe the team as responsive and thorough in their reviews.
How Forklift and Crane Injuries Actually Happen
- Forklift tip-overs: Sharp turns with a raised load, uneven surfaces, or overloaded forks can roll the truck. Operators are often crushed by the overhead guard or thrown from the seat, producing pelvic, leg, and spinal injuries.
- Pedestrian strikes: Workers on foot get pinned between a forklift and a rack, dock edge, or trailer. Blind corners in warehouse aisles and backing without a spotter are frequent causes.
- Falling loads and dropped pallets: Poorly stacked or improperly secured pallets can fall from forks or racks onto workers below, causing head, neck, and shoulder injuries.
- Dock and trailer accidents: A forklift driving off a loading dock, or a trailer that shifts or pulls away during loading, can cause falls and crush injuries.
- Crane load failures: Rigging that fails, a load that swings, or a boom that tips can strike or crush workers on a construction or industrial site. These tend to produce fractures, spinal damage, and catastrophic injury.
- Crane contact with power lines: Booms that touch or arc to energized lines cause burns and electrocution, a hazard on outdoor construction and industrial sites.
- Raised platform falls: Workers lifted on forks, or on makeshift platforms attached to them, can fall from height when the platform shifts or the mast moves.
- Maintenance and inspection failures: Brakes, hydraulics, mast chains, and load-limit indicators that were not serviced can turn routine work into a mechanical failure injury.
What to Do After a Forklift or Crane Accident
Get medical care first, and tell every provider the injury happened at work and how. Mississippi requires that you report the injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident, and Louisiana sets the same 30-day notice window. Do it in writing and keep a copy, even if a supervisor already knows. Missing the notice window gives the insurer an argument it would not otherwise have.
The filing deadline is separate from notice. In Mississippi, if no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the injury, the claim is barred unless a petition has been filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission in that time; the worker generally files a Petition to Controvert with the Commission. In Louisiana, a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though payments made by the insurer can extend that period. Because Mississippi covers you from your first day on the job, a recent hire is not excluded.
Preserve what the employer and insurer may not. Photograph the machine, the load, the floor or ground conditions, and your injuries. Write down the names of the operator, coworkers, and anyone who saw it. Note the equipment make and model and any unit number, and whether you were certified or trained on it. Ask whether an incident report was written and request a copy. Do not give a recorded statement to the adjuster before you have spoken with a lawyer, and do not sign broad medical releases that open your entire history.
If your claim is contested in Mississippi, it goes before an Administrative Judge at the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, with review available by the Full Commission on the record made at the hearing. An appeal of a final Commission award goes to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which may assign the case to the Court of Appeals, and the appeal must be filed within 30 days. In Louisiana, disputes go to a workers’ compensation judge at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and a judgment can be appealed to the court of appeal, within 30 days if the appeal suspends the judgment or 60 days if it does not.
Comp Benefits and the Claim Against Someone Else
Workers’ compensation pays medical treatment and replaces part of your wages without requiring you to prove anyone was at fault. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability benefits are two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum and a cap of 450 weeks. Louisiana pays reasonable and necessary medical care and wage replacement, plus supplemental earnings benefits if you come back at reduced pay, which can run until you return to full duty at pre-injury wages or reach the 520-week maximum.
The trade-off is that comp generally keeps you from suing your own employer for the accident. It does not stop you from pursuing others. A forklift with a defective mast or a failed braking system can support a product liability claim against the manufacturer. A crane rented from an equipment company that skipped maintenance, or a general contractor or subcontractor who controlled the site, may be liable in a separate injury claim. Those claims can recover pain and suffering and the full measure of lost earning capacity, which comp does not pay.
Fault is argued differently in each state. Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence, so your recovery is reduced by your share of fault but not barred. Louisiana applies a stricter rule to 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. Louisiana’s period to sue for most injury claims is two years from the injury for incidents on or after July 1, 2024; Mississippi’s general period for negligence claims is three years. Claims against a government entity in Mississippi carry a one-year limit and a notice requirement. Because the comp deadline and the injury-claim deadline run on different clocks, they should be tracked together.
Insurers contest these cases in predictable ways. They say the worker was untrained or violated a safety rule, blame a pre-existing back or shoulder condition, or argue the injury did not happen the way it was reported. Comp is a no-fault system, so a safety violation by the worker generally does not defeat the claim, and a pre-existing condition does not end it if work caused, worsened, or accelerated the problem. Strong medical records and witness accounts answer both arguments.
Questions About Forklift and Crane Accident Claims
Do I need a lawyer after a forklift or crane accident?
Not every claim requires one, but if your benefits were denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer makes a real difference. Equipment accidents also raise the possibility of a third-party claim that is easy to miss without one.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the case costs, and fees are paid only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
How soon must I report the injury?
Report it to your employer right away, and within 30 days at the latest in both Mississippi and Louisiana. Put it in writing and keep a copy.
How long do I have to file a comp claim?
In Mississippi, generally two years from the injury or the last compensation payment. In Louisiana, generally one year from the accident, extended in some cases when payments have been made. Speak with a lawyer early so exceptions are not lost.
Can I sue my employer over a forklift accident?
Generally no. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer for a covered work injury. You may, however, have a claim against someone else, such as the equipment manufacturer or a contractor.
What if the forklift operator was a coworker?
A coworker’s negligence still falls under workers’ compensation, which does not depend on fault. You collect comp benefits regardless of who was driving.
Does it matter if I was not certified to operate the forklift?
It may matter to the employer’s safety record, but comp is a no-fault system, so lack of certification does not by itself defeat your claim. It can even point toward employer failures if you were assigned to run equipment without training.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting an injury, raise it in your consultation.
What if the insurance company says my back injury was already there?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the accident caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits, and medical evidence is how that gets shown.
Will my health insurance pay while my claim is pending?
Treatment for a work injury is supposed to be paid by the comp carrier, and health insurers often refuse work-related care. If the carrier denies treatment, that denial can be challenged. In Louisiana, a medical treatment denial must be disputed on a form filed within 15 calendar days of receiving notice, so that deadline should not be allowed to pass.
What happens if my family member died in a crane or forklift accident?
Death benefits may be available through workers’ compensation, and a wrongful death claim may exist against a non-employer party. Louisiana allows one year from death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer, while Mississippi generally allows three years for negligence-based wrongful death claims.
Does the firm handle cases outside Brandon?
Yes. The firm represents injured workers statewide in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Serving Brandon Workers and Rankin County Communities
The firm represents injured workers in Brandon and throughout Rankin County, including Pearl, Flowood, Richland, Pelahatchie, Florence, Puckett, and Star. From there we serve the greater Jackson area, including Jackson, Madison, Ridgeland, Clinton, Byram, Terry, and Raymond, and neighboring Hinds, Madison, and Scott counties. Across the state, we work with clients on the Gulf Coast, in Hattiesburg, Southaven, north Mississippi, and the Delta. In Louisiana, our reach includes New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities across south and north Louisiana. Wherever the equipment accident happened, the same comp and third-party questions apply.
Talk to a Brandon Forklift and Crane Injury Attorney
If a forklift or crane hurt you at work, a Brandon forklift and crane injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review your comp claim, look for responsible third parties, and make sure the deadlines on both tracks are met. Call to schedule a free consultation. You pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you, and our phones are answered 24 hours a day.
