Mississippi Car Accident Lawyer
Whether the wreck happened on I-55 outside Jackson, on Highway 49 near Hattiesburg, or on a Gulf Coast stretch of I-10, the decisions you make in the first few weeks shape everything that follows. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people across Mississippi and South Louisiana, handling car and truck accident claims alongside the workers’ compensation cases that have been the center of the firm’s practice for years. Hinds County and the Jackson metro are a natural starting point, and the firm’s reach runs from Madison and Rankin to the Delta, the Gulf Coast, and north Mississippi.
A Mississippi car accident lawyer handles a different kind of claim than a workers’ compensation lawyer, and people mix the two up. A crash caused by another driver is a negligence claim against that driver and their insurer. There is no commission and no fixed benefit schedule. You prove fault, you prove damages, and you negotiate or try the case. The exception is when you were working at the time, such as driving a work truck or making a delivery. Then you may have both a comp claim and a negligence claim, and the two have to be handled together.
Mississippi’s rules also reward people who act early. The fault system, the filing deadline, and the way insurers value claims all work against someone who waits and talks to an adjuster without guidance.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Mississippi Car Accident Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a Mississippi and Louisiana firm built around injured people. The firm represents people hurt in car and truck accidents, premises liability cases, and wrongful death claims, and clients pay nothing unless the firm recovers for them. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and phones are answered around the clock. Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
That background matters in a car wreck case because so many crashes involve people on the job. A project manager struck in his work vehicle recovered a $385,000 settlement through the firm, and a truck driver who hurt his lower back in an on-the-job wreck recovered $190,000. Back, neck, shoulder, and knee injuries are the firm’s daily work, and its results include $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury. Insurers that try to blame a herniated disc on age or old injuries get the same medical-evidence response here that they get in comp cases.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, 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 state appellate courts. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. Clients describe the same things in their reviews: attorneys who listen, who stay in contact, and who push back hard on the insurance company.
Types of Mississippi Crash Claims We Handle
- Passenger Vehicle Collisions: Rear-end crashes on I-55 and I-20 through the Jackson metro, left-turn collisions on busy Madison and Rankin County corridors, and intersection wrecks anywhere in the state. Fault disputes are common, and Mississippi’s comparative negligence rule means the other driver’s insurer will look for any way to assign you a share.
- Commercial Truck Crashes: Interstate freight, logging trucks on rural highways, and delivery vehicles create heavy-impact wrecks with multiple liable parties, including the driver, the carrier, and sometimes a maintenance or loading contractor.
- Work-Related Wrecks: Drivers hit while making deliveries, sales staff and project managers struck in company vehicles, and oil field and construction crews on the road between sites. These can support both a workers’ compensation claim and a claim against the at-fault driver.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Disc herniations and cervical injuries are the most common serious injuries from crashes, and insurers routinely point to degenerative changes to shrink the claim.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, meniscus tears, and ligament injuries from bracing against the wheel or striking the dash, often requiring surgery and months of therapy.
- Fractures and Catastrophic Injuries: Broken hips, ankles, and feet needing specialist repair, along with burns and injuries that permanently change a person’s ability to work.
- Wrongful Death: Fatal crashes where surviving family members need to hold the at-fault driver accountable and recover for the loss.
- Crashes Involving Government Vehicles: Claims against counties or agencies run on a much shorter clock and require formal notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.
What to Do After a Crash in Mississippi and Who Decides Your Claim
Get medical care first, even if you feel mostly fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap between the crash and your first appointment is the first thing an adjuster will point to. Call the police so a report is made, photograph the vehicles, the road, and any visible injuries, and collect names and numbers from witnesses. Keep your own statements short. Give the other driver’s insurer nothing recorded until you have talked to a lawyer, because those recordings are used to fix your account in place before the medical picture is clear.
The deadlines depend on who you are suing. Most Mississippi negligence claims, including car accident injury claims, must be filed within three years under the general statute of limitations. Claims against a county or governmental agency have a one-year limit and require formal notice, which catches people who assume the standard period applies to a county road crew’s truck or a city vehicle. Wrongful death based on negligence generally carries three years as well, with a shorter period for intentional acts.
If you were working when the crash happened, a separate clock is running. You must report a work injury to your employer within 30 days, and a claim with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission generally must be filed within two years. Missing the 30-day report can damage a comp claim even when the car accident claim is strong, so tell your employer right away and let your attorney sort out how the two claims fit together.
Where a suit is filed depends on the facts. Many Mississippi crash cases are heard in the circuit court of the county where the wreck happened or where the defendant lives. Hinds County Circuit Court, which sits in Jackson and Raymond, is one example. Cases with out-of-state defendants or large commercial carriers can end up in federal court. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi hears cases in Jackson, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, and Natchez, and the Northern District sits in Oxford, Aberdeen, and Greenville. Most claims settle before trial, but a case built as though it will be tried tends to settle for more.
How Fault Is Divided and Why Insurers Push the Blame Back on You
Mississippi uses pure comparative negligence. If a jury finds you partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are not shut out of recovering. A driver found 20 percent responsible still collects 80 percent of the damages. That is more forgiving than the rule in neighboring Louisiana, where a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. For clients hurt on the Louisiana side of the line, the firm applies Louisiana’s rule to crashes there.
The practical effect in Mississippi is that insurers fight over percentages. They argue you were speeding, distracted, or following too closely, because every point they assign to you comes straight off the check. Evidence collected early, including the crash report, photographs, vehicle damage patterns, and witness accounts, is what holds those percentages down.
Damages in a crash case generally include medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Mississippi caps noneconomic damages in certain categories of claims, such as medical malpractice and most wrongful death cases, but economic damages are not capped under those provisions. If you were hurt at work in the same crash, wage benefits through workers’ compensation run separately and are paid at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory maximum and for no more than 450 weeks in many categories.
Mississippi Car Accident Questions Answered
How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Mississippi?
Most negligence claims, including injuries from a car wreck, must be filed within three years of the date the claim arose. Claims against a county or other governmental body have only one year and require advance notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
You can still recover. Mississippi reduces your award by your share of fault rather than barring it. If a jury assigns you 30 percent, your damages are cut by 30 percent. That is why insurers work so hard to move the percentage.
Do I need a lawyer for a minor accident?
Not always. If no one was hurt and the damage is a simple repair, you may be able to handle it through insurance. Once you have ongoing pain, missed work, or a doctor mentioning imaging or surgery, a lawyer is worth speaking with, because early settlement offers rarely account for what the injury will cost later.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are paid only if there is a recovery.
Should I give the other driver’s insurance company a recorded statement?
You are not required to, and it is usually unwise before you have medical answers. Adjusters use recorded statements to lock in details and to find inconsistencies. Direct them to your attorney.
What if the crash happened while I was working?
You may have two claims: workers’ compensation against your employer’s carrier and a negligence claim against the at-fault driver. Report the injury to your employer within 30 days, and make sure the two claims are coordinated so a settlement in one does not damage the other.
Will my health insurance pay for treatment while my claim is pending?
Often yes, and using it keeps you in treatment instead of waiting on a settlement. Health plans and some other payers may have reimbursement rights against your recovery, so your attorney should address those liens before a settlement is finalized.
What if the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little?
Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, may apply. Review your policy early, because those claims have their own notice requirements and your own insurer can become an adversary in them.
Can a pre-existing back or neck condition hurt my claim?
It gives the insurer an argument, but it does not end the claim. If the crash aggravated or accelerated an existing condition, that aggravation is compensable. Medical records showing your condition before and after the wreck are the core evidence.
What if a family member died in a Mississippi crash?
A wrongful death claim based on negligence generally must be filed within three years. Noneconomic damages are capped at $1,000,000 in most wrongful death cases, though economic losses are not subject to that cap. Speak with an attorney early, because evidence like vehicle data and trucking records can be lost.
Does it matter if the wreck happened near the Louisiana line?
Yes. The state where the crash occurred generally supplies the fault rules and deadlines. Louisiana’s rules are different, including a bar on recovery for anyone found 51 percent or more at fault. The firm handles claims in both states and can tell you which rules apply to your wreck.
Serving Mississippi Car Accident Clients Across the State
The firm represents injured people throughout Mississippi, beginning in Hinds County with Jackson, Clinton, Byram, Terry, and Raymond. Just outside Hinds County, we serve Madison and Rankin County communities, including Madison, Ridgeland, Brandon, Pearl, and Flowood. Out along the interstates and highways, clients come from Vicksburg, Canton, Yazoo City, Brookhaven, McComb, and Natchez.
On the Gulf Coast, the firm serves clients in Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis, and Waveland, as well as Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Picayune. In north Mississippi, we represent people in Southaven, Olive Branch, Oxford, Tupelo, and Corinth, and across the Delta in Greenville, Greenwood, Clarksdale, and Cleveland. The firm also handles crash cases in Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, for people injured on the other side of the state line.
Talk to a Mississippi Car Accident Attorney Today
The evidence from a crash fades fast, and the insurance company is already building its version of events. Speaking with a Mississippi car accident attorney early lets you get the facts preserved and your medical care documented before anyone asks you to sign or say anything. Call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC any time of day. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers for you.
