Madison Forklift & Crane Accident Lawyer
The goal after a forklift or crane accident is straightforward to state and hard to reach alone: get the surgeries, therapy, and follow-up care approved, keep wage checks coming while you cannot work, and settle the claim for what the injury is truly worth. Madison forklift and crane accident lawyer support from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is built around that goal. The firm represents injured workers in Madison County and across Mississippi and Louisiana, and workers’ compensation is the center of what it does.
Forklift and crane injuries rarely look like ordinary workplace mishaps. A pallet truck pins a leg against a dock. A load swings loose from a rigging point. A boom contacts something it should not. A forklift tips when it turns with a raised load. These events produce crush injuries, fractures, spinal damage, and amputations, and they happen in the warehouses, distribution centers, construction sites, and industrial yards that fill the Madison area along the I-55 and I-220 corridors. The insurance carrier’s first questions tend to be about what you did wrong, not what the equipment did.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC for a Heavy Equipment Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers in Madison, Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Delta, and communities throughout Mississippi, along with clients across Louisiana including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury when one happens to walk in. This firm is built the other way around, with workers’ compensation at the center of its practice. Its attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients.
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 tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, which matters when a third-party equipment claim runs alongside the comp case. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries heavy equipment causes. 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 being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stands up to the insurance company. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, you pay nothing unless benefits or a settlement are recovered, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
Common Forklift and Crane Injury Situations in Madison County Workplaces
- Forklift Tip-Overs and Rollovers: Sharp turns with an elevated load, uneven pavement at loading docks, and overloaded forks can flip a lift truck. Operators are often caught under the overhead guard or thrown from the seat, producing crush injuries, fractures, and head trauma.
- Pedestrian Strikes in Warehouses: Workers on foot are hit by reversing or turning forklifts in distribution centers and stockrooms. Blind corners, poor aisle markings, and missing warning devices frequently play a role.
- Falling Loads and Dropped Pallets: Improperly stacked or secured loads slide from forks or racking and strike workers below. Back, neck, shoulder, and knee injuries are common, and insurers often try to label them degenerative.
- Crane Load Failures: Rigging that gives way, overloaded hoists, and worn slings send suspended loads onto workers. Construction and industrial sites generate these cases, often with serious fractures and spinal injuries.
- Boom Contact and Electrocution: A crane boom touching or arcing from overhead power lines can cause electrical burns and cardiac injuries, sometimes fatal ones.
- Crane Collapses and Outrigger Failures: Soft or unprepared ground, missing mats, and improper setup can topple a crane. Injuries range from crushing trauma to catastrophic spinal damage.
- Caught-In and Pinning Injuries: Hands, arms, and legs are trapped between a moving lift truck and a rack, dock, or wall. These can require surgical repair or amputation.
- Fatal Equipment Accidents: When a worker dies, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits through comp and may also have a wrongful death claim against a negligent outside party.
What to Do After a Forklift or Crane Accident in Madison
Get medical care first, and tell every provider the injury happened at work and how. Imaging and surgical consults after a crush or fall injury should be documented from day one, because gaps in treatment are what carriers use to argue the injury was minor or came from somewhere else.
Report the accident to your employer right away. In Mississippi, notice to the employer is required within 30 days of the injury, and the same 30-day notice rule applies in Louisiana. Do it in writing if you can and keep a copy. Separately, the right to benefits can be lost if no disability benefits have been paid and no claim is filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the injury date. Coverage begins on your first day on the job, with no waiting period.
Preserve what disappears fast. Photograph the equipment, the load, the floor, the rigging, and your injuries. Write down the names of coworkers who saw it happen, the operator, and any supervisor who was present. Note whether the forklift had been reported for problems, whether the operator was certified, and whether the crane had been inspected. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before talking with a lawyer, and do not sign medical releases broader than your actual injury.
Mississippi workers’ compensation claims are not heard in a regular courtroom. They go before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, either at an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge or on review before the Full Commission, which reviews the existing record rather than holding a new trial. A final Commission award can be appealed within 30 days, on the record already made. Claims that cross into Louisiana run through the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration instead.
Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims After Equipment Accidents
Workers’ compensation covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement regardless of who caused the accident. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability pay up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum and a cap of 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability in most cases is also capped at 450 weeks. In Louisiana, supplemental earnings benefits can apply if you return to work at reduced pay, up to a 520-week maximum.
Comp does not pay for pain and suffering, and it does not hold the party who caused the accident responsible. Forklift and crane cases often involve outsiders. An equipment manufacturer may have built a lift truck without adequate tip-over protection. A rental company may have supplied a poorly maintained crane. A general contractor or a separate subcontractor may have set up an unsafe site or a bad lift plan. Those claims are filed in civil court, not before the Commission, and can include pain and suffering and full lost earning capacity. The firm’s personal injury practice handles these claims so that the comp case and the injury case work together rather than against each other.
Deadlines for third-party claims are different from comp deadlines. Mississippi generally allows three years for a negligence claim not covered by a specific limit, and Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, which reduces a recovery by your share of fault rather than barring it. Claims against a county or other governmental entity carry a one-year limit and notice requirements. In Louisiana, injuries on or after July 1, 2024 generally carry a two-year period, and for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing.
Carriers raise a predictable set of defenses in heavy equipment cases: the operator was careless, the worker was not following procedure, the back or knee problem was already there, or the worker can return to lighter duty. Each can be answered with medical evidence, equipment records, training and certification files, and witness accounts, which is how the firm builds these claims.
Questions About Forklift and Crane Accident Claims
Do I need a lawyer after a forklift accident at work?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits are 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. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests. Serious equipment injuries, which often involve surgery and permanent restrictions, are the kind of cases where representation matters most.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are also limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a crane or forklift injury?
Tell your employer right away, and no later than 30 days after the accident in either Mississippi or Louisiana. Waiting risks giving the insurer a reason to deny the claim outright.
What is the deadline to file a claim in Mississippi?
Generally two years from the date of injury, or from the last compensation payment, to file a petition with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If no disability benefits were ever paid and no claim was filed within two years, the right to benefits can be barred.
Can I get benefits if the forklift operator was a coworker who caused the accident?
Yes. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so a coworker’s mistake does not defeat your claim, and neither does your own carelessness in most situations. Fault becomes relevant only if you pursue a separate claim against an outside party.
Can I sue the forklift manufacturer or the crane rental company?
Possibly. Your employer is generally protected from a lawsuit by the comp system, but a manufacturer, equipment lessor, contractor, or property owner who is not your employer can be sued if their negligence or a defective product contributed to your injury. That claim can sit alongside your comp benefits.
What if I was partly at fault, say I was not wearing a seatbelt on the lift truck?
It does not bar your workers’ compensation claim. In a third-party lawsuit in Mississippi, your share of fault reduces your recovery rather than eliminating it. Louisiana has a stricter rule for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026: a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing.
The insurer says my back injury is just degenerative disc disease. Does that end my claim?
No. A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the accident 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 what the firm does.
What if my employer fires me after I file a claim?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting a forklift or crane injury, raise it during your consultation so the firm can review your options.
Can a family member bring a claim if a worker is killed in a crane accident?
Yes. Eligible dependents may receive death benefits through workers’ compensation, and if a third party contributed to the death, a wrongful death lawsuit may also be possible. In Mississippi, wrongful death based on negligence generally has a three-year limit, while intentional torts carry one year. In Louisiana, the period is the longer of one year from death or two years from the injury.
Will my medical treatment be covered while the claim is pending?
If the claim is accepted, the insurer pays reasonable and necessary treatment. If it is denied, the firm works to get the denial reversed so authorized care can continue. In Louisiana, a medical treatment denial can be challenged through the utilization review process, which has short filing windows that the firm tracks closely.
Can I still pursue my claim if I speak primarily Spanish?
Yes. The firm speaks Spanish, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Madison and Surrounding Communities After Workplace Equipment Accidents
Our work for injured workers starts in Madison and extends across Madison County, including Ridgeland, Flora, Canton, Gluckstad, and the communities along the I-55 corridor. We also serve workers throughout the Jackson metro area, including Jackson, Clinton, Brandon, Flowood, Pearl, and Byram, and neighboring Rankin and Hinds counties where distribution centers, manufacturing plants, and construction sites generate heavy equipment claims.
Across Mississippi, the firm represents workers in Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi. In Louisiana, we handle claims from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities throughout south and north Louisiana. Whether the accident happened on a warehouse floor, a refinery yard, a port, or a construction site, the same attention to medical evidence and equipment records applies.
Talk With a Madison Forklift and Crane Accident Attorney Today
If a forklift or crane accident has left you hurt, out of work, and facing an insurance company that is questioning what happened, a Madison forklift and crane accident attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC can take the fight off your shoulders. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you. Call today to talk through your case and find out what you may be entitled to.
