Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A Louisiana workers’ compensation claim is not decided by a jury, and it is not a lawsuit against your employer. It moves through a separate administrative system with its own judges, its own deadlines, and its own rules about what gets paid and for how long. Louisiana workers’ compensation lawyer representation at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC means handling that system every day: the firm represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, and workers’ compensation is the center of its practice.
The system can look simple from the outside. Report the injury, get treatment, collect a check. In practice, insurers deny that an accident happened at work, blame a back or shoulder problem on age or an old sports injury, send workers back before a doctor clears them, or stop wage payments with little warning. Each of those moves has a response, but the responses come with short filing windows that are easy to miss.
What Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Actually Pays For
Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry compensation coverage, even if the business has a single employee. When a work accident or occupational illness is covered, the benefits fall into a few categories.
Medical care comes first. That means all reasonable and necessary treatment for the work injury, including consultations, surgery, physical therapy, and prescriptions. Wage replacement comes next. If you cannot work at all while recovering, temporary total disability benefits replace part of your income. If you can work again but earn less because of your restrictions, supplemental earnings benefits make up part of the gap. Permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits apply when the injury leaves lasting limits, and additional benefits exist for catastrophic injury and for death.
Weekly compensation is capped by a maximum and minimum rate that Louisiana resets each year based on the statewide average weekly wage. The rate that applies to you is fixed by the date of your accident and is not adjusted later, so two workers injured in different years can receive different maximums for similar injuries.
Supplemental earnings benefits deserve a closer look because they are often miscalculated. They apply when a worker cannot earn at least 90 percent of the pre-injury wage, and they equal two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. They can continue until you are released to full duty, you return to your pre-injury wages, or you reach the 520-week maximum. Weeks of temporary total disability count toward that 520.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Louisiana Comp Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm serving injured workers across South Louisiana and Mississippi, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who see a work injury only when one walks in. This firm was built the other way around.
Founding Partner Rob Lunsford 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 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries Louisiana workers actually suffer: $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 in a work-vehicle collision, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients describe a team that listens, answers questions, and fights with the insurance company at every step.
The firm advances case costs, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law. Phones are answered around the clock, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
Injuries and Claim Types the Firm Handles in Louisiana
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are among the most disputed claims because insurers point to degenerative disc disease. Years of lifting, driving, or standing can cause or worsen the condition, and medical evidence is what answers the argument.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often draw the response that the damage is an old sports injury. Imaging, treating-physician opinions, and work history connect the tear to the job.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and other bones can require specialists and complex surgical repair, with long stretches away from work and fights over how much impairment remains.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Oil rigs, refineries, plants, and industrial sites along the Gulf produce severe burns and other life-altering injuries that qualify for the highest tiers of benefits.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job require careful proof of the link between the work and the condition.
- Driving and Delivery Injuries: Truck drivers, delivery drivers, and workers struck in work vehicles may have a comp claim and a separate injury claim against the at-fault driver.
- Denied and Terminated Benefits: Claims rejected outright, treatment refused, or wage checks stopped without warning can be challenged before a workers’ compensation judge.
- Wrongful Death: When a work injury or illness is fatal, dependents may be entitled to death benefits, and a third party may also bear responsibility.
What to Do After a Louisiana Work Injury
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding unless the employer receives notice within 30 days of the injury, and delay only gives the insurer room to question what happened. Say plainly what hurt, how it happened, and where.
Get medical care and tell every provider the injury happened at work. Follow the restrictions your doctor sets, and keep copies of work notes, prescriptions, and bills. Do not give a recorded statement to the adjuster before you understand your position, and do not sign anything you have not read.
The filing deadline is separate from the notice deadline. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If compensation payments have been made, that window can stretch to one year from the last wage benefit payment, or three years from the last payment of supplemental earnings or medical benefits, but relying on that exception is risky. File early.
Claims are heard by workers’ compensation judges in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which operates district courts in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Covington, Harahan, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, and Shreveport. You choose the venue: the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived at the time, or the parish of your employer’s principal place of business.
Treatment denials follow their own fast track. If the insurer refuses a recommended treatment through utilization review, you have 15 calendar days from the written denial to file Form 1009 with the OWC, and the OWC medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. After that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. The clock runs from issuance, not from the day the letter reaches you. Missing these windows can end your ability to contest the denial.
Appeals, Third-Party Claims, and Fault
A workers’ compensation judge’s decision is final unless appealed. An appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within 30 days, and one that does not suspend it within 60 days, counted from the day after the judgment was signed or the day after notice was mailed, whichever is later. The appeal goes to the circuit court of appeal for the area where the case was heard. Cases from Baton Rouge, for example, go to the First Circuit, while New Orleans cases go to the Fourth Circuit. A party can then ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review by applying for a writ within 30 days of notice of the judgment.
Comp is a no-fault system, so your own carelessness does not defeat a claim. That changes if someone other than your employer caused the injury. A negligent driver who hits your work truck or a contractor with an unsafe site may owe you damages in addition to comp benefits. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s tort deadline is two years from the day the injury was sustained. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing in a negligence case, and lower percentages reduce the award proportionally. These rules apply to the third-party claim, not the comp claim, and the two need to be coordinated so one does not undercut the other.
Questions About Louisiana Workers’ Compensation
Do I need a lawyer for a Louisiana workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one. But if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer can change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and you pay a fee only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report the injury?
Tell your employer immediately. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding unless notice is given within 30 days of the injury.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Generally one year from the accident. If compensation payments were made, the deadline may run to one year from the last wage benefit payment, or three years from the last payment of supplemental earnings or medical benefits. Do not count on the longer period.
Can my employer fire me for filing?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell your attorney during the consultation so the facts can be reviewed.
What if the insurer says my injury is pre-existing?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits may still be owed. Strong medical evidence from your treating physician is the usual answer.
What if the insurer refuses the surgery or treatment my doctor recommends?
You can dispute it through the utilization review process. The deadline to file Form 1009 is 15 calendar days after you receive written notice of the denial, so contact a lawyer right away.
How long do supplemental earnings benefits last?
They continue until you are released to full duty, you return to pre-injury wages, or you reach the 520-week maximum. Weeks of temporary total disability count toward that limit, so the clock may already be running.
Can I choose where my case is heard?
Yes. You may file in the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish where your employer has its principal place of business. The choice can affect travel and scheduling.
Can I bring a personal injury claim and a comp claim at the same time?
If someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a negligent driver or a contractor, you may have both. The tort claim has its own deadline, currently two years for injuries after July 1, 2024, and settling one claim can affect the other, so they should be handled together.
Will I be paid while the claim is pending?
If the insurer accepts the claim, wage benefits and medical care should begin. If it denies the claim, you may go without payment until a judge rules, which is why prompt filing and a clear medical record matter.
Does the firm help Spanish-speaking workers?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Representing Injured Workers Across South Louisiana and Mississippi
The firm represents injured workers across Louisiana, from New Orleans and the surrounding South Louisiana communities to Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and into north Louisiana. Clients include refinery and plant workers along the river parishes, oil field and offshore support crews, port and warehouse employees, truck and delivery drivers, nurses, construction trades, and firefighters. Wherever the injury happened in the state, the claim can be filed in one of the OWC district courts and handled by the same team.
The firm also serves workers across Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, and north Mississippi. Workers who live in one state and are hurt in the other, or whose jobs cross state lines, can get advice on which state’s rules apply.
Talk With a Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job, the deadlines are already running and the insurer is already building its file. A Louisiana workers’ compensation attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain what benefits apply to your injury, and take over the dealings with your employer and its insurer. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, the consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you. Call today and tell the team what happened.
