Hammond Personal Injury Lawyer
A collision on I-12 or I-55, a fall at a job site near the Tangipahoa Parish line, a delivery truck that clips your work vehicle: injuries in and around Hammond often arrive with two possible sources of compensation at once. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a law firm that represents injured people across Mississippi and Louisiana, with workers’ compensation at the center of its practice and personal injury, car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death claims alongside it. For anyone searching for a Hammond personal injury lawyer, that pairing matters more than it might seem.
Hammond sits at a crossroads of interstate traffic, rail, a university campus, distribution centers, and the industrial and oilfield economy of South Louisiana. A large share of people hurt here are hurt while working or while driving for work. When that happens, the workers’ compensation claim and the injury claim against a negligent third party run on different tracks, with different deadlines, different rules on fault, and different ways of being damaged by a careless early statement. Handling them together, rather than separately, is where a lot of the value lies.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Hammond Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, including Tangipahoa Parish, Hammond, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. Most attorneys who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who handle a work injury only when one happens to come through the door. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and clients owe no fee unless there is a recovery. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
The track record is concrete. Results include $685,000 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 he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. The last two illustrate exactly the kind of cases where a work injury and an outside party’s negligence overlap.
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 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 state appellate courts. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Client reviews consistently describe an easy, professional team that listened carefully and stood up to the insurance company at every step.
Injury Claims That Come Out of Hammond Roads, Job Sites, and Properties
- Car and Truck Accidents: Interstate traffic through the Hammond area mixes commuters, university traffic, and heavy freight. Rear-end crashes, lane-change collisions, and wrecks involving tractor-trailers often involve a commercial carrier and its insurer, which investigate quickly and defensively.
- Work-Vehicle Crashes: When a delivery driver, field supervisor, or project manager is hit by another motorist while on the clock, the injured worker may have a comp claim against the employer’s insurer and a separate injury claim against the at-fault driver. The two have to be coordinated.
- Premises Liability: Falls from unsafe scaffolding, poorly maintained walkways, or negligent contractor sites can create claims against a property owner or a contractor who is not your employer.
- Industrial and Oilfield Injuries: Burns, crush injuries, and pipe-handling injuries on industrial sites are often compensable under workers’ compensation and may also involve equipment makers or other contractors.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are among the most common serious injuries after crashes and physical-labor accidents, and insurers frequently blame degenerative disc disease.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears can mean surgery and months away from work, and insurers sometimes call them old sports injuries.
- Fractures and Catastrophic Injuries: Broken hips, ankles, and feet may need specialists and complex repair, and catastrophic injuries carry long-term care and permanent disability questions.
- Wrongful Death: When a fatal crash or workplace accident takes a family member, Louisiana law gives survivors a defined window to bring a claim, and the rules on timing have recently changed.
What to Do After an Injury in the Hammond Area
Get medical care first, and describe the injury accurately to every provider, including how it happened and whether it happened at work. Medical records become the backbone of both a comp claim and an injury claim, and gaps in treatment are among the first things an insurer points to. If the injury happened on the job, report it to your employer right away. Louisiana requires notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, and missing that notice can sink a workers’ compensation proceeding. Put the report in writing if you can.
If a crash was involved, a police report from the responding agency, photographs of the vehicles and scene, and the names of witnesses are worth gathering before memories fade. Be careful with recorded statements. An adjuster for the other driver’s insurer is building a file, and a casual remark about feeling “fine” at the scene tends to resurface later. You are generally not required to give the other side’s insurer a recorded statement, and it is reasonable to speak with a lawyer first.
Deadlines differ by claim type. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s general injury lawsuit period is two years from the day the injury is sustained; earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. A formal workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though the period can run longer when comp payments have been made. If a death occurred, a wrongful death claim runs one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer, except that a wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice stays limited to one year from the death. Hammond is in Louisiana, but many Hammond-area workers also commute to jobs in Mississippi; Mississippi workers’ compensation requires notice within 30 days and a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years, and its general injury period is three years.
If your comp claim is denied or treatment is refused, the clock gets short. A dispute over a denied medical treatment request must be filed with the Office of Workers’ Compensation within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 days to rule. A judgment by a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the court of appeal; an appeal must be filed within 30 days if it will suspend the judgment, or within 60 days if it will not, and Louisiana’s First Circuit hears appeals from the parishes in this region, including Tangipahoa. These windows are why early contact with a lawyer is practical advice rather than a slogan.
How Comp and Injury Claims Interact
A person hurt at work by someone other than the employer can generally pursue both. Workers’ compensation pays medical treatment and wage benefits regardless of who was at fault, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. A claim against a negligent driver, contractor, or property owner can reach damages comp does not cover. The two need to be sequenced carefully: a settlement of one can affect the other, and the comp insurer may have reimbursement rights from a third-party recovery. Signing a release or accepting a quick offer on one claim without understanding the effect on the other is one of the more costly mistakes in these cases.
Fault rules also matter. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery by a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault, and lesser fault reduces the award proportionally. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. That change makes the early evidence, such as photographs, vehicle data, and witness accounts, more important than it used to be. Workers’ compensation, by contrast, does not turn on fault, which is another reason to keep the two claims straight.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hammond Injury Claims
Do I need a lawyer after a car accident in Hammond?
Not every minor fender bender needs one, but if you have injuries, missed work, a commercial vehicle involved, or an insurer disputing fault, a lawyer can change the outcome. The other side’s insurer has adjusters and attorneys working for it. Free consultations make it easy to find out where you stand.
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 matters, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to file an injury lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the general period is two years from the day the injury is sustained. Earlier injuries stay under the old one-year period. Special rules apply to wrongful death and to claims against government bodies, so do not assume the general number fits your case.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Under Louisiana’s rules for claims arising on or after January 1, 2026, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you are found 51 percent or more at fault. For earlier claims, pure comparative fault applies. Fault percentages are often negotiated, so how the evidence is presented matters.
Can I get workers’ comp and also sue someone else?
Often yes, when someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a negligent driver or a contractor on a shared site. The comp insurer may be entitled to reimbursement from your third-party recovery, so the two claims should be handled together.
I was hurt in a work vehicle by another driver. Which claim comes first?
Both can start immediately. Report the injury to your employer within 30 days, get treatment, and preserve crash evidence for the injury claim. Comp benefits can begin while the claim against the driver develops, which helps cover medical bills and lost wages in the meantime.
Will my health insurance pay while my claim is pending?
If the injury is work-related, the comp insurer is generally responsible for reasonable and necessary treatment, and a health insurer may push back on paying. For non-work crashes, health or medical payments coverage may advance bills, though the insurer may later seek reimbursement from a settlement. Tell your lawyer about every payer so reimbursement claims are handled correctly.
What if my claim is blamed on a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the accident or your work caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, benefits may still be available. Answering that argument with strong medical evidence is a regular part of the firm’s work.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ comp claim?
Louisiana and Mississippi both 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 so the circumstances can be reviewed.
My family member died in a crash or at work. How long do we have?
In Louisiana, a wrongful death claim runs one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever is longer, with a one-year limit when the claim rests on medical malpractice. Death benefits may also be available through workers’ compensation if the death was work-related.
Do you handle cases for Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, 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 From Hammond and Across Tangipahoa Parish
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe represents clients in Hammond and throughout Tangipahoa Parish, including the communities along the I-55 and I-12 corridors. From there the firm’s work extends across the neighboring parishes of South Louisiana, including Livingston, St. Tammany, Washington, and Ascension, and into Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, and the rest of the state up to Shreveport in the north. Across the state line, the firm serves clients in Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and communities across north Mississippi. Whether the crash happened near home or on a job site hours away, the same team handles the comp and injury claims together.
Talk With a Hammond Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a crash, on a job site, or on someone else’s property, speaking with a Hammond personal injury attorney early protects both your benefits and your claim. Consultations are free, you pay nothing unless the firm recovers for you, and phones are answered around the clock. Call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe to talk through what happened and what deadlines apply to you.
