Greenwood Personal Injury Lawyer
A Greenwood personal injury lawyer often ends up handling two claims out of one accident, and the second one is the one people overlook. When someone is hurt while working, the workers’ compensation claim against the employer is only part of the picture if a negligent driver, a contractor, or a property owner also played a role. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation and personal injury law firm representing injured people across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Greenwood, Leflore County, and the surrounding Delta communities.
The Delta economy generates its own kind of injuries. Agricultural equipment, grain handling, cotton and soybean operations, poultry and catfish processing, trucking along the highways that cross the region, and warehouse and distribution work all put people in situations where one bad moment causes a serious back, shoulder, knee, or burn injury. Whether the case belongs in the workers’ compensation system, the civil courts, or both depends on who was responsible and what the injured person was doing when it happened.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Greenwood Injury Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims throughout Mississippi, with Greenwood and the Delta among the communities we serve, and across south Louisiana as well. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and there is no fee unless we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish (hablamos español), which matters in a region where agricultural and processing work employs many Spanish-speaking families.
That focus matters when an injury sits at the line between comp and personal injury. Rob Lunsford, our founding partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both 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 and has argued personal injury and insurance cases before Mississippi’s appellate courts. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Results give a sense of what this experience produces: 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 after being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. The project manager case is the kind of overlap that matters in Greenwood, where a driver on the road can injure someone who is on the clock. Clients consistently describe our team as easy to work with, attentive, and willing to take on the insurance company directly.
Injury Situations We See in and Around Greenwood
- Work Vehicle and Truck Collisions: Delivery drivers, sales reps, and truckers moving through Leflore County are hit by other motorists. You may have a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the at-fault driver, and the two need to be coordinated.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting in warehouses, processing plants, and farm operations leads to lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, and medical evidence connecting the work to the injury is what answers that.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears come from repetitive overhead work, falls from equipment, and twisting on uneven ground. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries.
- Fractures: Falls from trailers, grain bins, ladders, and loading docks, and crush injuries from machinery, can break feet, ankles, hips, and other bones, sometimes requiring specialist surgery.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial settings, equipment fires, and chemical exposure cause severe burns and life-altering harm that call for both comp benefits and a hard look at third parties.
- Premises Liability: A hazard on someone else’s property, such as a contractor’s unsafe site or a poorly maintained business, can support a claim in addition to any comp benefits.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace or road accident takes a life, families may have claims under both the comp system and the civil courts.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job are claims we handle.
What to Do After a Greenwood Injury: Deadlines, Reports, and Evidence
If you were hurt on the job, tell your employer about it right away and in writing if you can. Mississippi requires you to report a work injury within 30 days of the accident. Mississippi’s workers’ compensation system covers you from your first day of employment, with no waiting period, and it does not run through a court at the start. Claims are administered by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and if benefits are not being paid, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a petition with the Commission. Missing the 30-day report is one of the easiest ways to hand an insurer a defense, so do not wait to see whether the pain clears up.
Get medical care quickly, and be specific with every provider about how the injury happened and that it happened at work. Vague histories in a chart become the insurer’s best evidence later. Take photographs of the scene, the equipment, and your injuries, write down the names of coworkers who saw it, and keep copies of anything you sign. Be careful with recorded statements to the insurance adjuster before you have talked to a lawyer; adjusters are trained to find language that supports a denial.
If another person’s negligence caused the injury, the clock for a civil claim is separate. Mississippi generally allows three years for most injury claims, with a discovery rule for latent injuries, but claims against a county or governmental agency carry a one-year limit and require notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. That shorter window catches people off guard, for example after a crash involving a government vehicle or a hazard on public property. Mississippi also follows pure comparative negligence, so being partly at fault reduces your recovery by your share of fault rather than ending your claim. Civil lawsuits are filed in the circuit court for the county where the case belongs, and federal cases in this part of the Delta fall within the Northern District of Mississippi’s Greenville Division.
When Workers’ Comp and a Personal Injury Claim Overlap
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. You generally cannot sue your employer for negligence, but you also do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong. A personal injury claim works the other way: you must show someone else was negligent, and in return you can pursue damages that comp does not pay, including pain and suffering. When a third party such as a negligent motorist, an equipment manufacturer, or an outside contractor contributed to a work injury, you can often pursue both at once.
The two claims affect each other. The comp insurer may have a right to be reimbursed from a third-party recovery, and how a settlement in one claim is structured can change what you net from the other. Settling the injury claim carelessly can jeopardize comp benefits, and the reverse can happen as well. That is why having one firm that handles both kinds of cases matters, so the claims are built to support each other rather than collide.
On the comp side, wage-loss benefits in Mississippi are generally up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and temporary and permanent total disability benefits are limited to 450 weeks. Medical care that is reasonable and necessary is covered as well. If the Commission’s administrative judge rules against you, you can seek review by the full Commission, which reviews the record from the first hearing rather than holding a new trial. A final Commission award can be appealed within 30 days, and those appeals are decided on the record the Commission built, so what gets documented early matters enormously.
Greenwood Injury Claim Questions
Do I need a lawyer for a personal injury claim after an accident in Greenwood?
Not every minor claim requires one, but if you have significant injuries, an insurer is disputing fault, or your benefits have been denied or cut off, a lawyer can make a major difference. The insurance company has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests, and you should have someone protecting yours.
How much does it cost to hire Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe?
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 also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a work injury in Mississippi?
You must report the injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident. Reporting immediately is better, because delay gives the insurer room to argue the injury did not happen at work.
How long do I have to file a workers’ compensation claim in Mississippi?
Generally two years from the date of injury, or from the date of the last compensation payment if benefits were paid. Exceptions exist, so speak with an attorney as soon as you can rather than counting on the full period.
What is the deadline for a personal injury lawsuit in Mississippi?
Most negligence claims must be filed within three years after the cause of action accrues. Claims against a county or governmental agency have a one-year limit and require notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, so a government-related injury needs fast attention.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Mississippi and Louisiana 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 so we can review your options.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
In Mississippi, your recovery in a personal injury case is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are not barred from recovering. Workers’ compensation is no-fault, so your own carelessness generally does not defeat a comp claim.
Can I get both workers’ comp and a personal injury settlement?
Often yes, when someone other than your employer contributed to the injury. The comp insurer may have a right to reimbursement from the third-party recovery, so the claims should be handled together to protect what you actually keep.
The insurance company says my injury is from 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. Insurers raise this argument often, and answering it with strong medical evidence is a core part of what we do.
What happens if a government vehicle or public property caused my injury?
The Mississippi Tort Claims Act applies, which means a one-year limit and a notice requirement that does not apply to ordinary private claims. Because the deadline is much shorter, contact a lawyer promptly if a public entity may be involved.
Will my own health insurance pay for treatment while my claim is pending?
Work injuries are meant to be paid through workers’ compensation, and health insurers often resist covering them. If your comp claim is denied or delayed, tell your providers and call us so we can work on getting authorized treatment moving.
Do you handle cases for Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. 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.
Serving Greenwood and Delta Injury Clients Across Mississippi and Louisiana
We represent injured people in Greenwood and throughout Leflore County, and in nearby Delta communities such as Itta Bena, Schlater, Money, and Morgan City. Our reach extends across the Delta to Indianola, Cleveland, Greenville, Clarksdale, Belzoni, and Yazoo City, and into north Mississippi, including Southaven. We also serve clients in Jackson and Madison, in Hattiesburg, and along the Gulf Coast.
Across the state line, our attorneys handle workers’ compensation and personal injury cases in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and throughout south and north Louisiana. Whether your injury happened in a Delta processing plant, on a highway, or on a job site in another part of either state, we can help you sort out which claims are available.
Talk to a Greenwood Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job or in an accident, you do not have to deal with the insurance company by yourself. A Greenwood injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain whether you have a comp claim, a personal injury claim, or both, and take over the conversations with the insurers. 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.
