Louisiana Shipyard Worker Injury Lawyer
A shipyard worker hurt on the job in Louisiana may not fall under the state workers’ compensation system at all. Depending on where the injury happened and what the worker was doing, the claim can belong to the federal Longshore system, the Jones Act, or ordinary state comp, and picking the wrong one can cost real money and real time. Louisiana shipyard worker injury lawyer is a search term that sounds simple, but the first question is always which body of law governs the case. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, and that sorting-out work is where a shipyard claim starts.
Shipyards put workers in close contact with steel, welding arcs, heavy rigging, confined hull spaces, and wet staging. Welders, fitters, pipefitters, crane operators, riggers, painters, and sandblasters all face different hazards, and the injuries tend to be serious: crushed hands, falls from scaffolding, burns, hearing loss, and back and shoulder damage from years of overhead and awkward-position work. Claims also draw more than one potentially liable party, including vessel owners, subcontractors, and equipment makers, which changes what compensation may be available.
Which Law Covers Your Shipyard Injury: State Comp, Longshore, or the Jones Act
This is the decision that shapes everything else. Louisiana workers’ compensation covers most employees, including medical care, wage replacement, and supplemental earnings benefits when a worker returns at lower pay. But shipyard and maritime work can pull a claim into federal systems with different benefits, different forums, and different rules. A worker who builds or repairs vessels on or near navigable water may fall under a federal program rather than the state one, while a crew member who works aboard a vessel in navigation may have rights that look more like a negligence claim than a comp claim.
The classification turns on facts: where exactly you were hurt, what your job duties were, who employed you, and whether you spent your time on a vessel or in a fabrication area. Two workers at the same yard can land in different systems. We look at the employment records, the job assignment, and the location of the accident before anyone commits to a filing, because an incorrect choice can create timing problems later. If your situation points toward a federal maritime claim or a claim against a third party, we evaluate that alongside any state comp rights.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Louisiana Shipyard Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, with clients in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and across South Louisiana. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and we handle every case on a no recovery, no fee basis, with free consultations, case costs advanced by the firm, and phones answered around the clock. Hablamos español.
The team includes Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, who has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers; Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers; and attorneys Andrew Rueff, Keaton Belk, Erin Heimlicher, and Jared Martin. The firm was also ranked by Best Law Firms for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson.
Several of our results involve the kinds of injuries shipyards produce. A $221,000 settlement went to a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns, $195,000 to a derrickhand with complex shoulder injuries from pulling large pipe, $135,000 to a diesel mechanic with a SLAP tear, and $600,000 to a construction worker with a complex back injury. Those are heavy-industry injuries argued against insurers who blame age, wear, or an earlier problem, and that same argument is the one shipyard carriers make.
Common Shipyard Injuries and How Each Gets Contested
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting plate, working bent inside a hull, and hauling equipment up staging cause disc herniations in the lumbar and cervical spine. Insurers routinely point to degenerative disc disease, so the medical evidence has to show how the work caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Overhead welding, grinding, and climbing lead to rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears. Carriers often call these old sports injuries, which makes the timeline of symptoms and the job demands central.
- Burns: Welding, cutting torches, hot work near fuel or coatings, and electrical contact produce serious burns that can require grafting, long recovery, and lasting scarring or loss of function.
- Fractures and Crush Injuries: Dropped loads, shifting steel, and pinch points break feet, ankles, hips, and hands, often requiring specialists and complex surgical repair.
- Falls from Height: Scaffolds, hull exteriors, dock edges, and ladders create falls that cause multiple injuries at once, and they often involve a contractor or equipment owner besides the employer.
- Hearing Loss and Respiratory Illness: Years of grinding, chipping, blasting, and fume exposure can cause occupational conditions that develop slowly, which raises questions about when the claim clock began.
- Catastrophic and Fatal Injuries: Major trauma and deaths on industrial sites bring supplemental and permanent disability benefits, death benefits for families, and sometimes wrongful death claims against third parties.
What to Do in the Days After a Shipyard Injury
Report the injury to your employer right away, and in any event within 30 days. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding if notice is not given within that window. Do it in writing if you can, and keep a copy. Get medical care and tell every provider the injury happened at work and exactly how, because early records become the foundation of the claim and carriers read them closely for any gap or inconsistency.
Preserve what you can: names of coworkers who saw the accident, photos of the area and equipment, your job assignment records, and the names of any contractors working nearby. Shipyards often involve multiple employers on one site, and identifying them early matters for any third-party claim. Do not sign statements or releases from the insurer before you understand what they do.
The filing clock is separate from the reporting clock. A formal Louisiana workers’ compensation claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, and that period can stretch to three years from the last payment if benefits were being paid. You choose among the parish where the injury happened, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Disputes over medical treatment have their own short deadline: a request for review of a denied treatment must be filed within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 days to rule. Missing that window is one of the most common ways workers lose ground, so call us the day a treatment request is refused.
If a workers’ compensation judge rules against you, the judgment can be appealed to the proper Louisiana court of appeal, and the deadline is short: 30 days for an appeal that suspends the judgment and 60 days for one that does not. Parish determines which circuit hears it, such as the Fourth Circuit for Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard, or the Fifth Circuit for Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist.
Third-Party Claims and the Limits of Comp Benefits
Comp benefits cover medical care and a portion of lost wages, but they do not pay for pain, suffering, or full wage loss. When someone other than your employer contributed to the injury, such as a vessel owner, a different contractor on the site, or a manufacturer of defective equipment, a separate injury claim may be available. In Louisiana, ordinary injury claims for injuries on or after July 1, 2024 generally carry a two-year prescriptive period, while earlier injuries remain under the older one-year period. Louisiana also now bars recovery for a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, and fault below that line reduces the award proportionally, so how fault is allocated on a crowded work site matters a great deal.
Our personal injury lawyers make sure the comp claim and the injury claim work together. Settling one without considering the other can affect reimbursement rights and the value of the whole case, which is why the two are handled in coordination from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shipyard Injury Claims in Louisiana
Do I need a lawyer for a shipyard injury claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer can make a major difference. Shipyard cases add the extra question of which legal system applies, which is a reason to get advice early.
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. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How soon must I report a shipyard injury?
Tell your employer immediately and no later than 30 days after the injury. Louisiana law does not allow a compensation proceeding to go forward without timely notice, so do not wait to see whether the pain improves.
How long do I have to file a Louisiana workers’ compensation claim?
Generally one year from the date of the accident. If compensation payments were made, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment. Because exceptions depend on facts, speak with an attorney as soon as you can.
What if the shipyard says my injury is covered by a federal program instead?
That can be true for some maritime workers, and it can also be a way to avoid state obligations. The answer depends on where you worked and what you did. We review the facts and make sure you are pursuing the correct system rather than accepting the employer’s label.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana and Mississippi both protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What if I had a prior back or shoulder problem?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering that argument with strong medical evidence is a core part of our work.
What happens if the insurer refuses a surgery my doctor recommends?
You have 15 calendar days from written notice of the denial to file a dispute with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the medical director then has 30 days to decide. If the decision goes against you, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to take the next step. These windows are short and strictly counted.
Will I keep receiving wages if I can only do lighter work at lower pay?
Possibly. Louisiana supplemental earnings benefits can apply when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of your pre-injury wages, and they are based on two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. They are capped at a maximum number of weeks, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that cap.
Can I sue someone besides my employer after a shipyard accident?
Often, yes. Contractors, vessel owners, and equipment manufacturers can be separate defendants. Receiving comp does not necessarily prevent a third-party claim, though the comp insurer may have reimbursement rights, which is why coordinating the two matters.
What if my coworker or I was partly at fault?
Workers’ compensation generally does not turn on fault, so your own mistake does not usually defeat a comp claim. In a third-party injury suit, fault is weighed, and for newer causes of action Louisiana bars recovery at 51 percent fault or more, so allocating blame carefully is important.
Do you represent Spanish-speaking workers?
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.
Representing Shipyard and Industrial Workers Across Louisiana
We represent injured workers wherever Louisiana’s yards, docks, and industrial corridors operate. That includes New Orleans and the surrounding Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parish communities, along with Harahan, Metairie, and Gretna. Westward and along the river, we serve workers in Baton Rouge, Houma, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and we take cases from the wider South Louisiana region as well as north Louisiana communities including Shreveport and Monroe.
Our team also represents injured workers across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, so a worker who lives in one state and works in the other can get help from a single firm. Whatever part of the state your yard sits in, the first call is free.
Talk to a Louisiana Shipyard Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt in a shipyard and are unsure which system covers you, or the insurer is already questioning your claim, speak with a Louisiana shipyard injury attorney before you give a recorded statement or sign anything. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC and let us sort out the claim while you focus on getting well.
