Carencro Personal Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people in Carencro and across Lafayette Parish and South Louisiana, with a practice built around workers’ compensation and the car, truck, premises, and wrongful death claims that so often grow out of the same injury. If you are searching for a Carencro personal injury lawyer, the first thing to sort out is which kind of claim you actually have, because the answer changes who pays, how long you have, and where the case is heard.
Carencro sits along the Interstate 49 corridor north of Lafayette, with Evangeline Thruway and Louisiana Highway 182 feeding traffic through town. That mix of commuter traffic, freight moving between Lafayette and Opelousas, and workers heading to industrial, oilfield, and construction jobs means many injuries here have a work connection. A delivery driver rear-ended on the interstate, a worker struck by a contractor’s vehicle, or a laborer hurt on a site run by someone other than his employer may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate injury claim against a negligent outsider.
Those two claims run on different rules and different clocks. Getting them to work together, instead of one undermining the other, is much of the real work in a case like this.
When a Workplace Injury Becomes a Third-Party Injury Claim in Lafayette Parish
Workers’ compensation pays medical care and wage benefits regardless of fault, but it does not pay for pain and suffering, and it generally keeps you from suing your own employer. When someone else caused the injury, the picture opens up. A negligent driver, a property owner with an unsafe premises, a subcontractor who left a hazard, or a manufacturer of defective equipment can be responsible in a separate personal injury action.
The coordination issues are practical. The comp insurer may have a right to be reimbursed from a third-party recovery, so how a settlement is structured and allocated matters. Statements you give in one claim can be used in the other. And a settlement of the injury claim can affect your comp benefits if it is not handled carefully. This is why a firm that lives in the comp system day to day is useful on an injury claim that touches work.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Carencro Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC serves injured people in Carencro, Lafayette, and communities throughout Mississippi and South Louisiana. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, works on a no recovery, no fee basis, offers free consultations, advances the costs of the case, answers its phones 24 hours a day, and serves Spanish-speaking clients in their own language with Hablamos español.
Founding Partner Rob Lunsford 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 in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Attorneys Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team.
Results 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 with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Client reviews repeatedly describe an attorney who fought the insurance company at every step and a team that listened and kept them informed. For someone in Carencro whose injury touches both work and a negligent outsider, that Louisiana injury lawyer experience with the comp side is a real advantage.
Injury Types and Claims We See From the Carencro Area
- Car and Truck Accidents: Collisions on I-49, Evangeline Thruway, and Highway 182 involving commuters, delivery drivers, and commercial trucks. When the victim was driving for work, a comp claim and a claim against the at-fault driver can proceed together.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations from lifting, falls, or vehicle impacts. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, so medical evidence tying the injury to the incident or to years of physical work is central.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears, including cases where an employer or insurer calls the problem an old sports injury.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial, plant, and oil rig injuries, which are common in South Louisiana’s energy economy and frequently involve more than one responsible company.
- Premises Liability: Falls and injuries caused by unsafe conditions on property someone else controls, including job sites run by contractors who are not your employer.
- Fractures: Foot, ankle, hip, and other bone injuries that can require specialists and complex surgical repair, with long recovery and lost-wage periods.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job.
- Wrongful Death: Claims by surviving family members when a fatal accident, at work or on the road, was caused by someone’s negligence.
What to Do After an Injury in Carencro
Get medical care first and tell the provider exactly how the injury happened, including that it happened at work if it did. Records created in the first days carry weight later, and gaps in treatment give insurers an argument. If the injury happened on the job, report it to your employer promptly. Louisiana law requires notice to the employer within 30 days, and a formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the injury, with a possible extension to three years from the last payment if benefits were paid.
For a negligence claim against a third party, Louisiana now gives two years from the day the injury was sustained for injuries on or after July 1, 2024. Injuries before that date remain under the older one-year period. Wrongful death follows the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury, except that a death claim based on medical malpractice stays at one year from death.
Fault matters more than it used to. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery entirely if you are found 51 percent or more at fault, and anything below that reduces your award by your share. That makes early evidence important: photographs of the scene and vehicles, names of witnesses, the police report, and your own medical timeline. Avoid recorded statements to the other side’s insurer and avoid posting about the accident online.
Workers’ compensation disputes in Louisiana are heard by workers’ compensation judges at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the Lafayette district office serves this region. You choose among the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Appeals from a compensation judge’s decision go to the appropriate circuit court of appeal; for Lafayette Parish that is the Third Circuit. A judgment appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within 30 days, and one that does not suspend it within 60. Injury lawsuits proceed in the district court rather than before a compensation judge.
How Comp Benefits and Injury Recoveries Interact
Louisiana compensation includes reasonable and necessary medical treatment, temporary wage replacement, supplemental earnings benefits if you return to work at reduced pay, and additional benefits for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, or death. Supplemental earnings benefits apply when you cannot earn at least 90 percent of your pre-injury wages, and they are capped at 520 weeks, with temporary total disability weeks counting toward that limit. Weekly rates are fixed by the date of the accident and are set annually based on the statewide average weekly wage.
When medical treatment is denied, the clock is short. A utilization review dispute must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and a later challenge to the medical director’s decision must be filed within 45 days of its issuance. Missing those windows can lose an issue that was otherwise winnable, which is a common reason injured workers call a lawyer after, rather than before, a denial.
Frequently Asked Questions About Carencro Injury Claims
Do I need a lawyer for an injury claim in Carencro?
Not every claim needs one, but if benefits were denied, reduced, or cut off, if fault is disputed, or if the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, representation can change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers working for it.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are collected only if there is a recovery. In workers’ compensation, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to sue after a Louisiana accident?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, a negligence claim must generally be brought within two years of the day the injury was sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Because the date of injury controls, confirm which rule applies as soon as possible.
What is the deadline to report a work injury?
Tell your employer within 30 days. A formal Louisiana workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though benefit payments can extend that to three years from the last payment.
Can I have both a workers’ comp claim and a personal injury claim?
Yes, when someone other than your employer contributed to the injury. Examples include a negligent driver hitting your work vehicle or a contractor whose unsafe site caused a fall. The two claims must be coordinated so one does not damage the other.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, you are barred from recovery if found 51 percent or more at fault, and below that your award is reduced by your percentage. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. Jurors in a Louisiana trial must be told about the 51 percent bar.
Will my comp insurer want money back from my injury settlement?
Often it has a reimbursement interest in a third-party recovery. How the settlement is structured and documented affects that interest, and settling the injury claim without addressing comp can jeopardize ongoing benefits.
My family member died in an accident. How long do we have?
Wrongful death and survival actions in Louisiana follow whichever is longer: one year from the death or two years from the day of the injury. A death claim built on medical malpractice is limited to one year from death.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a compensation claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, raise it in your consultation so the firm can review your options.
Does a pre-existing condition end my claim?
No. If your work or the accident caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence answering this argument is a core part of the firm’s work.
Will health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
If the injury is work related, the comp carrier is responsible for reasonable and necessary treatment, and a denial can be challenged on a short deadline. For a non-work injury, your own coverage may pay first, and liability insurance can reimburse costs later through a settlement.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Injured Clients in Carencro and Across Lafayette Parish
The firm represents injured people in Carencro and throughout Lafayette Parish, including Lafayette, Scott, Youngsville, Broussard, and Duson. We also serve clients in neighboring communities such as Opelousas, Breaux Bridge, Abbeville, and Crowley, and across South Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Lake Charles. Whether the injury happened on the job site, on I-49, or in a parking lot, clients from the Acadiana region work with the same team that handles claims across Louisiana, including Shreveport and north Louisiana.
The firm’s reach also extends into Mississippi, where it represents injured workers from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Delta, and north Mississippi. For anyone hurt in or around Carencro, the practical result is a team that understands both the comp system and the injury claim that may sit beside it.
Talk With a Carencro Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a crash, on a job site, or because of someone else’s negligence, a Carencro personal injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, identify every claim available to you, and tell you which deadlines apply. Calls are answered around the clock, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers for you. Call today to talk through your case.
