Houma Truck Accident Lawyer
If a commercial truck has put you in the hospital or taken someone from your family, the choices you make in the next few weeks will shape what the case can become. Whom you talk to, what you sign, and how quickly you act all matter in a Houma truck crash. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation and personal injury firm that represents injured people across Terrebonne Parish, the rest of South Louisiana, and Mississippi, and a Houma truck accident lawyer from our team can step in before the trucking company’s adjusters set the story.
Houma sits in the middle of working Louisiana. Oilfield service trucks, supply haulers, sugar cane and seafood trucks, and tractor-trailers moving freight along the Gulf coast corridor all share its roads with commuters. A person hit in that traffic is very often hit while working, whether they were driving a company truck, making a delivery, or traveling between job sites. That means two separate claims can arise from a single crash: workers’ compensation against the employer’s insurer, and a liability claim against the trucking company or driver who caused it. Coordinating both is the heart of what our firm does.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Houma Truck Crash Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims throughout Houma, Terrebonne Parish, and communities across South Louisiana and Mississippi. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients, we advance the costs of every case, and we are paid only if we recover for you. Consultations are free, our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Hablamos español.
That background matters in truck cases because so many of them overlap with a job. Our results include a $385,000 settlement for a project manager who suffered back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and a $190,000 settlement for a truck driver who injured his lower back in a wreck while on the job. We have also secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, the kind of spinal claims that follow heavy-vehicle impacts. Our personal injury lawyers make sure a comp claim and an injury claim work together instead of against each other.
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, which matters when a trucking insurer will not offer a fair number. Clients consistently describe a firm that listens, answers questions, and stays in the fight with the insurance company.
Kinds of Truck Crashes We See Around Houma
- Oilfield and Supply Truck Collisions: Houma’s role as a hub for offshore and land-based energy work puts heavy service trucks, flatbeds, and crew vehicles on parish roads at all hours. These crashes often involve a worker on the clock, which brings workers’ compensation into the picture alongside a claim against the at-fault driver.
- Tractor-Trailer Crashes on Major Routes: Freight moving through the Houma area on the highways connecting the city to New Orleans, Morgan City, and Thibodaux means high-speed impacts with passenger cars. Fatigue, speeding, and unsecured loads are frequent causes.
- Delivery and Box Truck Wrecks: Local delivery vehicles stopping, backing, and turning in commercial areas cause side-impact and rear-end crashes. Drivers who are themselves hurt may face both a comp claim and a claim against another party.
- Work Vehicle Strikes: A project manager, inspector, or technician driving a company vehicle between job sites who is hit by a truck has overlapping rights. We have handled this exact pattern in a case that settled for $385,000.
- Wrongful Death from Trucking Crashes: When a family loses someone in a collision with a commercial vehicle, strict deadlines apply and surviving relatives have claims that deserve careful handling.
- Spine, Shoulder, and Knee Injuries: Heavy-vehicle impacts commonly cause lumbar and cervical disc herniations, torn rotator cuffs, and meniscus tears. Insurers often respond by blaming degenerative changes or an old injury, and we answer with medical evidence.
- Burn and Catastrophic Injuries: Fuel, chemical, and industrial loads can turn a crash into a fire or exposure event, producing injuries that need specialists and long-term care.
What to Do After a Truck Wreck in Terrebonne Parish
Get medical care first, and tell every provider that the crash is the reason you are there. Gaps in treatment and vague descriptions of how you were hurt are the first things an insurer will use to argue your injury came from somewhere else. Report the crash to law enforcement so an official report exists, and photograph the vehicles, the road, skid marks, and your injuries if it is safe. Collect names and contact information for witnesses, and note the truck’s company name, the DOT number on the door, and the driver’s identity. Trucking companies and their insurers often send investigators within hours, so asking that the truck, its data recorder, and the driver’s logs be preserved is an early step a lawyer can take for you.
If you were working when the crash happened, report the injury to your employer promptly. Both Louisiana and Mississippi require notice within 30 days, and a Louisiana workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. A claim for the other driver’s or the trucking company’s negligence is a separate matter. In Louisiana, a delictual action for injuries on or after July 1, 2024 carries a two-year period running from the day the injury is sustained, while earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. If someone died, a wrongful death claim runs the longer of one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained.
Be careful with the other side’s insurer. Do not give a recorded statement, do not accept a quick check, and do not sign releases before you understand what they give up. Adjusters ask friendly questions designed to narrow your claim, and an offhand comment that you were “fine” at the scene can follow you for years. If your workers’ compensation benefits are denied or your treatment is refused, Louisiana sets short windows: a request to resolve a medical treatment denial must be filed within 15 calendar days of written notice, and a workers’ compensation judge’s final judgment can be appealed to the court of appeal within 30 days. Houma has its own district workers’ compensation court, and the worker chooses among the parish where the injury happened, the parish where they lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Terrebonne Parish falls within the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, and federal cases arising here are heard in the Eastern District of Louisiana, which holds court in Houma and New Orleans.
How Fault Shapes a Louisiana Truck Accident Claim
Louisiana’s fault rules changed in a way every crash victim should understand. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and a lesser share of fault reduces the award proportionally. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. Because trucking defendants know this rule, they often try to shift blame onto the injured person, pointing to lane position, speed, or a late brake. Jurors in a trial must be told that a plaintiff at 51 percent or more takes nothing, which gives the defense real leverage. Evidence that fixes responsibility on the driver or company, such as logbooks, inspection and maintenance records, and the truck’s electronic data, becomes central.
Claims against a trucking company can reach beyond the driver. Employers may answer for the conduct of the people they put behind the wheel, and companies that skip maintenance, push drivers past safe hours, or load trucks improperly can carry their own share of fault. Identifying every responsible party early matters because it affects the insurance coverage available to pay for surgery, lost income, and long-term care.
Workers’ Compensation When the Truck Crash Happened on the Job
If you were hurt in the course of your work, Louisiana workers’ compensation pays reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage benefits regardless of who caused the crash. If you can return to work only at reduced pay, supplemental earnings benefits may apply, calculated as two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of what you made before. Those benefits can continue until you are released to full duty, you return to your pre-injury wages, or you reach the 520-week maximum, with temporary total disability weeks counting toward that limit. Weekly benefit limits are set annually, are fixed by the date of the accident, and are not adjusted later.
Workers’ compensation does not replace your right to pursue the at-fault trucking company. Comp covers medical bills and part of your lost wages, while a liability claim can address pain, suffering, and losses comp does not. The two interact, and the comp insurer may have a reimbursement interest in any third-party recovery, so how each is settled affects the other. That is why our attorneys handle both together.
Houma Truck Accident Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer after a truck accident in Houma?
If your injuries are more than minor, if fault is disputed, or if the trucking company’s insurer is already calling you, yes. Commercial carriers have adjusters and attorneys working to limit what they pay, and a lawyer evens that out.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
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 for you. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to file a claim after a truck crash in Louisiana?
For a negligence claim against the truck driver or company arising from an injury on or after July 1, 2024, the period is two years from the day the injury was sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the prior one-year period. A workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with notice to your employer within 30 days.
What if the truck driver was working for a company and I was working too?
You may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the at-fault driver and trucking company. The two should be coordinated so that settling one does not undermine the other.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, you cannot recover if you are found 51 percent or more at fault, and below that your award is reduced by your percentage. Earlier claims remain under pure comparative fault. Because the line matters so much, do not guess at your own share of blame when speaking to an adjuster.
Can I recover if my family member died in a truck crash?
Surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim, which must be brought within the longer of one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained. Survival actions follow the same rule under recent changes to the law.
Should I give the trucking company’s insurer a recorded statement?
Generally not before speaking with a lawyer. Statements are used to find inconsistencies or to attribute your injuries to something else, and you are under no obligation to help the other side build its defense.
What if the insurer says my injury is just an old condition?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the crash caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering this argument with strong medical evidence is a core part of our work.
Will my health insurance pay for treatment while my case is pending?
Often yes, though it depends on your policy and whether the injury was work-related. If it was, workers’ compensation is generally responsible for treatment, and a health insurer may seek reimbursement from any recovery. Keep every bill and explanation of benefits.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim after a work-related truck crash?
Louisiana and Mississippi both protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, tell us at your consultation so we can review your options.
What if my workers’ compensation treatment gets denied?
You have a short window to challenge it. In Louisiana, the dispute form must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and a further 45 days run from the date of the medical director’s decision to take the next step. Missing these dates can cost you the chance to contest the denial.
Serving Truck Accident Clients Across Houma and Terrebonne Parish
We represent injured people throughout Houma and Terrebonne Parish, from the neighborhoods in and around the city to nearby bayou communities including Gray, Bayou Cane, Schriever, Montegut, Chauvin, Dulac, and Gibson. We also serve clients in neighboring Lafourche Parish, including Thibodaux, Raceland, Lockport, and Golden Meadow, and in nearby St. Mary Parish and the Morgan City area. Across South Louisiana, our team handles cases from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette to Lake Charles, and we serve Shreveport and north Louisiana as well. In Mississippi, we represent clients from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Whether your crash happened on a Houma-area highway or on a worksite road across the state line, our truck accident and workers’ compensation lawyers can help.
Talk to a Houma Truck Accident Attorney Today
The sooner a Houma truck accident attorney is involved, the sooner evidence is preserved and the insurers learn you have someone protecting your interests. Call us any hour, since our phones are answered 24 hours a day. Consultations are free, we advance the costs, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Tell us what happened, and we will explain what your claims look like and what to do next.
