Houma Offshore Oil Rig Injury Lawyer
A fall on a platform deck, a crushed hand on a drilling floor, or a burn from a pressurized line leaves a Terrebonne Parish worker facing a harder question than most: which body of law governs this injury, and who is actually responsible for paying? Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, including Houma, the rest of Terrebonne Parish, and the bayou communities that supply the Gulf’s oil and gas industry, and a Houma offshore oil rig injury lawyer at our firm starts by answering that question before anything else.
That first question matters because offshore injuries do not fit one legal box. Depending on where you were standing, what vessel or platform you worked on, and who signed your paycheck, your claim may fall under Louisiana workers’ compensation, a federal maritime remedy, or a federal statute covering workers on the outer continental shelf. Employers and insurers know this, and they sometimes use the uncertainty to delay payment or to argue that the claim belongs somewhere else. Getting the framework right early often decides how much medical care and wage replacement an injured worker ultimately receives.
Houma sits at the center of this industry. Crews rotate out of the area to platforms and rigs in the Gulf, and the shore bases, fabrication yards, and supply operations nearby generate their own injuries. Hitches of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days mean that an injury often happens far from a hospital, is first treated by a medic, and is documented by supervisors whose reports may not tell the full story. Preserving that record and getting you in front of your own physician is part of what we do from the first call.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for an Offshore Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, and the firm serves Houma and the surrounding Terrebonne Parish communities along with Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and South Louisiana generally. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off early, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for its clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call.
Several of the firm’s results involve the same kinds of injuries and workplaces that define offshore and industrial work. We secured $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns to the lower extremities, and $195,000 for a derrickhand with complex left shoulder injuries from pulling large pipes. In the back-injury cases that dominate heavy-labor claims, the firm obtained $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury. We also recovered $385,000 for a project manager who suffered back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, a reminder that some work injuries involve a third party as well as the employer.
Rob Lunsford, 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, experience that matters when an offshore claim also involves a negligent third party. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Clients consistently describe a team that listened, communicated clearly, and pushed back against the insurance company at every stage.
Injuries and Claim Types We See from Rig and Platform Work
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Fires, flash events, and contact with hot fluids or pressurized equipment cause some of the most severe injuries in the industry, often requiring skin grafts, extended burn-unit care, and long-term wound management. These claims carry large medical needs and lasting wage consequences.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting pipe, handling heavy tools, and working in awkward positions on a moving or crowded deck cause lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Insurers frequently point to degenerative disc disease, so medical evidence tying the injury to the work is central.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears are common among derrickhands, roughnecks, and deck crew who pull, climb, and kneel on steel surfaces. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and we answer that with imaging and treating-physician testimony.
- Fractures and Crush Injuries: Dropped loads, pinch points, and falls from height break feet, ankles, hips, and hands, and may require specialist surgeons and repeated procedures before a worker can return to any kind of duty.
- Occupational Illness and Exposure: Chemical exposure, inhalation of fumes, and hearing loss from years around heavy machinery can develop gradually rather than from one event, which affects how notice and filing deadlines are analyzed.
- Third-Party Liability Claims: A contractor whose negligence caused a fall, a vendor whose equipment failed, or a driver who struck a work vehicle can be separately liable, giving you a personal injury claim alongside your compensation benefits.
- Wrongful Death: When a worker is killed offshore or at a shore-based facility, surviving family members may have claims for benefits and for damages against responsible parties.
What to Do After an Offshore or Rig Injury Near Houma
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can, and never let more than 30 days pass. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding unless the employer receives notice within thirty days of the injury, and Mississippi applies the same 30-day reporting rule for workers whose claims arise there. Ask for a copy of any incident report, and write down the names of everyone who saw what happened. Offshore, supervisors, medics, and crewmates may be on a different rotation by the time anyone asks them questions, so their names and contact details are worth capturing early.
Get medical treatment and be accurate about how the injury happened and every part of your body that hurts. Gaps and vague descriptions in early records are what insurers use later to argue that a condition was pre-existing or unrelated. If the company sends you to its own doctor, you can still tell us about it, and we can discuss whether you are entitled to choose your own physician. Do not sign a statement, a release, or a return-to-work form until someone on your side has looked at it. Photographs of the scene, the equipment, and your injuries, along with your pay records and hitch schedule, belong in a folder you keep for your attorney.
Filing deadlines run on a separate clock from reporting deadlines. In Louisiana, a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of the accident, though the period can extend to three years from the last compensation payment when benefits have been paid. Hearings in Louisiana are held before a workers’ compensation judge at the Office of Workers’ Compensation, which operates a district court in Houma, and the law lets the worker choose among the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where the worker lived at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. If your employer or insurer refuses medical treatment, you have only 15 calendar days after receiving the written denial to file a utilization review dispute with the OWC, after which the medical director has 30 days to decide. A mistake on a short deadline like that can cost you months of care.
Appeals have their own deadlines too. A final judgment from a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the Louisiana court of appeal, and Terrebonne Parish cases go to the First Circuit. An appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within thirty days, and one that does not must be filed within sixty. Because the rules turn on the type of appeal and when notice was issued, this is not a place to guess.
Which Law Applies When the Injury Happens Offshore
The firm’s core work is state workers’ compensation, and for many Houma-area workers that is the right framework. A worker employed by a company that operates on land, on a fixed platform, or in a shore-based role generally falls under the Louisiana system, which pays reasonable and necessary medical treatment, weekly wage replacement while you cannot work, and supplemental earnings benefits if you return at lower pay. Supplemental earnings benefits are available when you cannot earn at least 90 percent of your pre-injury wages, and they are calculated as 66 and two-thirds percent of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. They continue until you are released to full duty, return to pre-injury earnings, or reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that limit.
Weekly benefit amounts are set by statute and adjusted each year based on the statewide average weekly wage, and the rate that applies to you is fixed by the date of your accident rather than changing later. That makes the accident date important well beyond filing deadlines.
Some offshore workers, particularly those working aboard vessels or in certain marine roles, may be pursuing remedies outside the state system entirely, and a claim for negligence against a third party follows its own limitation period. For delictual actions arising from injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana applies a two-year period that runs from the day the injury was sustained, while earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Fault also matters more than it used to: for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lower percentages reduce the award proportionally. Because a single incident can involve a compensation claim, a third-party negligence claim, and a federal remedy at once, sorting out which apply and in what order is often the most valuable thing a lawyer can do early.
Questions Offshore Workers Ask Us
Do I need a lawyer for an offshore oil rig injury?
Not every claim requires one, but if your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests, and offshore claims often raise questions about which law applies that are difficult to answer alone.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
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 limited and approved under state law.
How soon must I report an injury I suffered offshore?
Tell your employer immediately and no later than 30 days after the accident. Louisiana will not maintain a compensation proceeding without notice to the employer within thirty days, and Mississippi applies the same 30-day requirement.
How long do I have to file a formal claim in Louisiana?
A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of the accident. If compensation payments have been made, the deadline can extend to three years from the last payment, but relying on that exception without legal advice is risky.
Can the insurance company choose my doctor?
Medical treatment disputes are common, and Louisiana provides a process for challenging a denial of care. If treatment is refused, you have 15 calendar days from receiving written notice to file a dispute with the OWC, so bring any denial letter to us right away.
What if the company says my back injury was already there?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence connecting the physical demands of rig work to your symptoms is how we answer that argument.
What if my injury happened on a vessel instead of a platform?
Workers aboard vessels may have different remedies than workers on fixed platforms or on land, and the line between the two depends on the facts of your job. We review your duties, your employer, and where you were working to identify which claims are available before any deadlines are missed.
Can I also sue someone other than my employer?
Yes, when a contractor, equipment supplier, or other outside party caused the injury. A third-party claim exists alongside compensation benefits, and we coordinate the two so one does not undermine the other. For Louisiana injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the general negligence period is two years from the day the injury occurred.
Will my weekly benefit cover what I was earning offshore?
Not usually. Compensation pays a percentage of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory maximum that is set by accident date and adjusted annually, so high offshore earnings are not replaced dollar for dollar. Supplemental earnings benefits can help when you return to lighter or lower-paid work.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Both Louisiana and Mississippi protect workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a compensation 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 a family member was killed in a rig accident?
Survivors may have claims for death benefits and for damages against responsible third parties. In Louisiana, wrongful death and survival actions follow the longer of one year from the death or two years from the date of injury, so the clock can run quickly and should be confirmed with an attorney promptly.
Can I still get help if I do not speak English well?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Offshore and Industrial Workers Across Terrebonne Parish and Beyond
We begin with Houma and the rest of Terrebonne Parish, including the communities along the bayous that supply crews and services to the Gulf. From there, our attorneys represent injured workers in neighboring Lafourche Parish and across South Louisiana, in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, as well as New Orleans and the communities around it. Workers who live in one parish and travel to another for a hitch are common in this industry, and Louisiana’s venue rules let you choose where to bring your claim, so where you live and where you were hurt do not have to match.
Our reach continues north to Shreveport and across the state. Many offshore and oilfield workers also live in or are hired out of Mississippi, and we represent injured workers throughout that state as well, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, along with north Mississippi. Whether your injury happened offshore, at a shore base, or on a job site hundreds of miles from the coast, the same team can handle your compensation claim and any related injury claim.
Talk with a Houma Offshore Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt on a rig, a platform, or a supply job and the insurer is questioning what happened, delaying treatment, or pressing you to return before your doctor clears you, speak with a Houma offshore injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us to talk through what happened, which deadlines apply to you, and what your claim may be worth.
We help injured workers. That is the center of our practice, and it is why we can tell you quickly whether your situation belongs in the state compensation system, in a third-party claim, or in both. Reach out today so the evidence is preserved and the clock is working for you.
