Covington Personal Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people in Covington and across the surrounding communities of Mississippi and South Louisiana, with workers’ compensation at the center of its practice and personal injury representation alongside it. For a Covington personal injury lawyer search to lead somewhere useful, it helps to know that Covington is both the name of a Louisiana city, seat of St. Tammany Parish on the north shore, and the name of a Mississippi county in the Pine Belt. The deadlines, fault rules, and courts differ sharply between the two, and the difference can decide whether a claim survives.
The injuries that bring people to us often start at work. A delivery driver is hit by a distracted motorist on the way to a drop-off. A contractor’s unsafe site causes a fall that sends a subcontractor’s employee to the hospital. A project manager is struck in his work vehicle. In each case, workers’ compensation pays medical care and wage benefits from your employer’s insurer, while a separate injury claim against the negligent outsider can recover losses that comp never touches. The two claims interact, and handling one without regard to the other can cost you money.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Covington Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a law firm serving injured workers and accident victims throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including St. Tammany Parish, the Louisiana north shore, and Covington County, Mississippi. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for its clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and there is no fee unless we recover for you. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients are served in their own language (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. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which matters when a third-party case cannot be settled on fair terms.
The results reflect the kind of injuries we see: 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. Past results do not guarantee any particular outcome, but they show the firm’s familiarity with serious orthopedic and burn injuries, and with how work-vehicle crashes straddle comp and injury law. Clients describe a team that listens, communicates, and fights the insurance company at every step.
Injury Situations We Handle for Covington Clients
- Work-Vehicle and Truck Crashes: Delivery drivers, truckers, and employees running errands in company vehicles are hurt by negligent motorists. Comp covers the injury regardless of fault, and the at-fault driver’s insurer can be pursued separately for pain, suffering, and losses comp does not pay.
- Third-Party Job Site Accidents: When a contractor other than your employer creates an unsafe site, a fall or struck-by injury can support a negligence claim on top of your comp benefits.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are among the most common and most litigated injuries. Insurers blame degenerative disc disease, so the medical evidence has to show how the work or the crash caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often need surgery, and employers sometimes label them old sports injuries.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial plants, rigs, and construction sites produce burns and crush injuries requiring specialists, long recoveries, and careful valuation of future care.
- Premises Liability: Unsafe property conditions, such as poor lighting, broken stairs, or unmarked hazards, can injure workers and visitors alike, with claims against the property owner.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace or traffic incident takes a life, family members may have both death benefits under comp and a wrongful death action against a negligent third party.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Heart and lung disease, hypertension, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job are claims we regularly pursue.
What to Do After an Injury Near Covington
Get medical care first and tell the provider how the injury happened, because early records become the backbone of the claim. Then report the injury to your employer. In both Mississippi and Louisiana you must give notice within 30 days of the accident, and the sooner and the more clearly in writing, the better. Missing that window is one of the easiest ways to lose a comp claim.
The filing deadlines diverge by state. In Louisiana, a formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the injury, though that can stretch to three years from the last payment if comp benefits have been paid. A Louisiana injury suit against a negligent third party now has a two-year period for injuries on or after July 1, 2024; earlier injuries remain under the old one-year period. In Mississippi, you generally have two years to file a petition with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and a general negligence claim is usually subject to a three-year limit, shorter against a county or government agency, where the Tort Claims Act imposes a one-year limit and a notice requirement. Wrongful death in Louisiana runs one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer.
Fault rules also differ and affect how you handle statements. Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence, so your recovery is reduced by your share of fault but not eliminated. Louisiana now bars recovery entirely for a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, so an offhand admission to an adjuster can carry real weight. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer or accept a quick offer before you understand your injuries. Photograph the scene, keep your damaged gear, collect witness names, and save every medical bill and pay stub.
Where the claim is heard depends on the state. In Louisiana, workers’ compensation disputes go to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which operates a district court in Covington, and appeals go to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers St. Tammany Parish. The worker chooses the venue from the parish of injury, residence, or the employer’s principal place of business. In Mississippi, comp claims go before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, first to an Administrative Judge, then to the Full Commission on the record, and then to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which may assign the case to the Court of Appeals. Federal cases in this region go to the Eastern District of Louisiana or the Southern District of Mississippi.
How a Comp Claim and an Injury Claim Work Together
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. It pays reasonable and necessary medical care and a share of lost wages, generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a statutory maximum, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. A claim against a negligent outsider, such as the driver who hit your work truck, can. The catch is that the comp insurer usually holds a right to be repaid from your third-party recovery, and settling one claim carelessly can jeopardize the other. Sequencing, lien negotiation, and settlement approval all need to be coordinated.
Louisiana adds supplemental earnings benefits when you return to work at reduced pay. These equal two-thirds of the gap between your pre-injury wages and what you can earn, and they are available when you cannot earn 90 percent of your old wages, up to a 520-week maximum that counts temporary total disability weeks. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability benefits cannot run beyond 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability in non-scheduled cases carries the same ceiling. These caps are why valuing a settlement correctly, with future medical needs and lost earning capacity in view, matters so much.
When the insurer denies treatment, the clock is tight. In Louisiana, a dispute over a utilization review denial must be filed on the state form within 15 calendar days of written notice, and after the medical director rules, a further 45-day deadline applies to seek a hearing. A judgment from a workers’ compensation judge must be appealed within 30 days to suspend it, or 60 days if it does not suspend it. In Mississippi, a final Commission award must be appealed within 30 days. These are short windows, and we calendar them from the first day.
Covington Personal Injury Questions Answered
Do I have a workers’ comp claim, a personal injury claim, or both?
If you were hurt while working, you likely have a comp claim against your employer’s insurer regardless of fault. If someone other than your employer or coworkers caused the injury, you may also have a personal injury claim. Many on-the-job crashes and site accidents support both.
How much does it cost to hire Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe?
Nothing up front. 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 comp cases are also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a work injury?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana require notice to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Report it right away and put it in writing.
What is the deadline to file a workers’ comp claim?
In Louisiana, generally one year from the injury, extended to three years from the last payment if benefits were paid. In Mississippi, generally two years from the injury or last payment to file with the Commission. Exceptions exist, so confirm your deadline with an attorney quickly.
How long do I have to sue a negligent driver in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the period is two years from the day the injury is sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
In Mississippi, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. In Louisiana, 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. Fault in a work injury does not defeat comp benefits.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Both states protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What if the insurer says my injury is a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits may still be owed. Strong medical evidence answering that argument is a core part of our work.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?
Comp is supposed to pay for work-related treatment, so health insurers often resist covering it. If comp denies care, speak with us before treating on your own so the bills and the dispute are handled in a way that protects your claim.
My injury happened on a county or government project. Is the deadline different?
Possibly. In Mississippi, claims against a county or governmental agency carry a one-year limit and a notice requirement under the Tort Claims Act. Call us promptly so the right notice goes out in time.
Do I need a lawyer for a minor injury?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or you will miss significant work, representation can change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests.
Do you handle wrongful death cases?
Yes. We represent families after fatal workplace and traffic incidents. In Louisiana, the deadline is one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer, and a death arising from medical malpractice remains limited to one year.
Serving Covington and the North Shore, and Injured Workers Across Both States
Our work for Covington clients starts in St. Tammany Parish, including Covington, Mandeville, Abita Springs, Madisonville, Folsom, Lacombe, Slidell, and Pearl River, and extends to Bogalusa and the other communities of Washington Parish. In Mississippi, we serve Covington County and the Pine Belt communities around it, including Collins, Hattiesburg, and the surrounding Lamar and Forrest County areas, along with Jackson, Madison, the Gulf Coast, Southaven, and the Delta.
Across South Louisiana, the firm also represents clients in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and in north Louisiana, including Shreveport. Whether the injury happened at a plant, on a job site, on the interstate, or on someone else’s property, we handle both the comp claim and any injury claim against a responsible outsider.
Talk With a Covington Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt at work or in a crash and are weighing a comp claim, an injury claim, or both, a Covington personal injury attorney from our team can review what happened and tell you where you stand. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Call us today to talk through your case.
