Kosciusko Personal Injury Lawyer
The goal in any injury case is simple to state: get the medical care paid for, replace the paychecks you are missing, and be compensated fairly for what the injury has taken from you. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation claims and personal injury cases for people hurt in Kosciusko, throughout Attala County, and across Mississippi and South Louisiana. If you need a Kosciusko personal injury lawyer, it helps to know first that an injury on a Mississippi roadway, a work site, or someone else’s property can open more than one path to recovery, and that each path runs on its own clock.
Kosciusko sits where the Natchez Trace Parkway and several state highways come together, and a lot of the traffic is working traffic: log trucks, poultry and delivery vehicles, and commuters heading toward Jackson, Starkville, and Tupelo. When a driver on the job is hit by a negligent motorist, the injured person often has a workers’ compensation claim against the employer’s insurer and a separate personal injury claim against the driver who caused the wreck. Handled badly, those two claims can undercut each other. Handled together, they can add up to a far more complete recovery.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Kosciusko Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims in Attala County and the surrounding communities, along with clients throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for its clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, you owe no fee unless there is a recovery, and the phones are answered 24 hours a day. Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call. Hablamos espanol.
The firm’s personal injury work grew from the same place as its comp practice: people hurt on the job and on the road who need someone to coordinate every claim arising from one event. 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 and has argued personal injury and insurance cases before Mississippi’s appellate courts. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Results matter more than adjectives. The firm secured $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 with back injuries after he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. The project manager’s case is the kind of crossover that matters in Kosciusko: a person hurt in a vehicle while working. Clients regularly describe the team as professional, easy to work with, and willing to take the time to listen, and several single out Brad Baskin for standing up to the insurance company at every step.
Injury Situations We See Most in and Around Kosciusko
- Work-Vehicle and Truck Collisions: Delivery drivers, field technicians, and truckers on the state highways and the Natchez Trace corridor can be hurt by negligent drivers. These cases often pair a comp claim with a liability claim against the at-fault motorist.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated lumbar and cervical discs are among the most common serious injuries and the most disputed. Insurers routinely blame degenerative disc disease, so medical evidence tying the injury to the incident carries the case.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears frequently require surgery and long recovery, and employers sometimes try to label them old sports injuries.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and other bones can require specialists and complex repair, with months away from physical work.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Industrial plants, oil and gas operations, and heavy equipment sites produce injuries that change a person’s working life permanently.
- Premises Liability: Falls caused by unsafe conditions on someone else’s property, including a contractor’s unsafe site, can support a claim beyond workers’ compensation.
- Wrongful Death: When a family loses someone to a negligent act, the law allows a claim for the losses that follow, and the filing deadlines differ from those in other injury cases.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Heart and lung disease, hypertension, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job can qualify for benefits.
What to Do After an Injury: The First Weeks and How the Claim Unfolds
Get medical care first and say plainly how you were hurt. Records created in the first days carry weight later, and gaps in treatment are what insurers point to when they argue an injury was minor or came from somewhere else. Follow your doctor’s restrictions even when an employer or adjuster pushes you to come back sooner.
If the injury happened at work, tell your employer right away. In Mississippi, written or verbal notice must reach the employer within 30 days of the accident. Mississippi workers’ compensation covers you from your first day on the job, with no waiting period. To preserve the claim, you generally have two years from the date of injury, or from the last compensation payment, to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, which is the agency that hears these claims rather than a court. Mississippi wage-loss benefits run at up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and for total disability they cannot run longer than 450 weeks.
Cases at the Commission start with an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge. If either side appeals, the Full Commission reviews the record already made rather than holding a new trial. A final award can then be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals are decided on the existing record, which is why building that record carefully at the first hearing matters so much.
If someone other than your employer caused the injury, the clock is different. Most Mississippi negligence claims must be filed within three years of when the claim accrued, though a latent injury can start the clock when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the harm. Claims against a county or other government body carry a one-year limit and require formal notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, so being partly at fault reduces your recovery by your share rather than barring it.
Common mistakes are predictable. People give recorded statements to an adjuster before they understand what is being asked. They post about the injury on social media. They accept a quick offer before the full extent of treatment is known, or they let a deadline pass while waiting to feel better. Talking to a lawyer early costs nothing here, and it keeps those mistakes from becoming permanent.
When a Workers’ Comp Claim and an Injury Lawsuit Overlap
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. It pays medical bills and a portion of lost wages, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. When a third party such as a negligent driver, an equipment maker, or a contractor caused your injury, a separate civil claim can reach damages comp never will. The two recoveries interact, because the comp carrier may have a right to be reimbursed from part of the third-party recovery. Settling one claim without thinking through the other can cost real money. Coordinating both, from the first filing through settlement, is a large part of what a Kosciusko injury attorney should be doing for you.
Questions About Kosciusko Injury Claims
How much does it cost to hire a personal injury lawyer in Kosciusko?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are paid only if there is a recovery. In workers’ compensation cases, attorney fees are limited and approved under state law.
Do I need a lawyer if the insurance company has already made an offer?
An early offer is usually made before the full cost of treatment is known. Once you accept, the claim is generally over. Having an attorney review it before you sign is the safer course.
How long do I have to report a work injury in Mississippi?
Notice to your employer is due within 30 days of the accident. Waiting risks giving the insurer a reason to deny the claim outright.
How long do I have to file a workers’ compensation claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment, filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Exceptions exist when benefits have been paid, so do not assume you have the full time.
What if my injury was partly my fault?
In a Mississippi injury lawsuit, partial fault reduces your recovery by your percentage of responsibility but does not eliminate it. Workers’ compensation is no-fault, so your own carelessness generally does not defeat a comp claim.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Mississippi and Louisiana both protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, raise it in your consultation so the firm can review your options.
Can I bring a lawsuit if I was hurt in a work vehicle by another driver?
Often yes. Comp covers you against your employer’s insurer, and the at-fault driver can be sued separately. The firm’s $385,000 result for a project manager struck in his work vehicle came from this kind of work-related crash.
My employer says my back injury is just degenerative. Is the claim over?
No. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim if your work caused, worsened, or accelerated it. Strong medical evidence answering that argument is central to these cases.
Will my health insurance pay while my claim is pending?
Sometimes, but it may later seek reimbursement, and a comp carrier or a liability recovery can be affected. Tell your attorney about every payer so repayment claims do not catch you off guard at settlement.
What if the property owner is a government entity?
Claims against a county or other governmental body in Mississippi carry a one-year limit and require formal notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, far shorter than the usual three years. Missing it can end the claim.
What if a family member died in a crash or work accident?
Mississippi wrongful death claims based on negligence generally have a three-year limit, while claims based on intentional acts have one year. Noneconomic damages are capped in most wrongful death cases, though the cap does not reach economic losses.
Do you handle Louisiana injuries too?
Yes. The firm represents clients in both states. Louisiana has its own rules, including a one-year workers’ compensation filing period and a two-year deadline for most injury lawsuits from accidents on or after mid-2024.
Serving Injured Clients Across Attala County and Central Mississippi
Our work for Kosciusko clients extends across Attala County, including Ethel, McAdams, Sallis, Williamsville, Zama, and the rural communities between them. We also represent injured people in the neighboring counties, such as Leake, Madison, Holmes, Choctaw, Winston, Carroll, and Montgomery, and in towns including Carthage, Durant, Lexington, Philadelphia, Louisville, and Winona. Further out, the firm serves Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi, and clients in Louisiana from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and north and South Louisiana. Whether the injury came on a construction site, a log truck route, a plant floor, or a rural highway, the same team stands behind the claim.
Talk With a Kosciusko Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt at work or in a crash in or near Kosciusko, the deadlines are already running, and the insurance company is already building its file. A Kosciusko personal injury attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which claims you may have, and tell you what each one requires. Call anytime, day or night. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you.
