Mississippi Construction Site Accident Lawyer
A construction worker hurt on a Mississippi job site usually has two separate claims running at the same time: a workers’ compensation claim against the employer’s insurer, and, when someone other than the employer caused the accident, a negligence claim against that outside party. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles both, representing injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, and a Mississippi construction site accident lawyer from our firm can sort out which claims apply before either one is damaged by a careless statement or a missed deadline.
Construction sites are layered workplaces. The person who signs your paycheck is rarely the only company on the property. A general contractor, a subcontractor, an equipment lessor, a property owner, and a materials supplier may all have had a hand in the conditions that hurt you. Because Mississippi’s workers’ compensation system generally prevents you from suing your own employer for negligence, the identity of everyone else on that site matters a great deal to how much your case can ultimately recover.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC for a Construction Accident Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers throughout Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, along with south Louisiana. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury practitioners who see a work injury only occasionally. Workers’ compensation is the center of our practice, and our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, and consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover for you.
Several results speak directly to construction work. We obtained $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $385,000 for a project manager injured when his work vehicle was struck, and $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, a reminder of how often serious spine injuries drive the value of these claims. We have also resolved cases for a derrickhand with complex shoulder injuries from pulling large pipe and an oil rig worker with severe burns, injuries that look familiar to anyone who has worked heavy industrial sites.
Rob Lunsford, our 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 regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. That mix matters on construction cases, which often need both comp-system knowledge and trial-level skill when a third party is involved. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Hablamos español.
Clients consistently describe the same things in their reviews: attorneys who listened, stayed in the fight with the insurance company, and were easy to reach. Those are the qualities that matter when a claim stretches over months of treatment.
Common Construction Injuries and the Claims They Produce
- Falls from Scaffolds, Roofs, and Ladders: Falls are among the most serious events on any site and often produce fractures of the feet, ankles, hips, and spine. They also raise the sharpest liability questions: who erected the scaffold, who was responsible for fall protection, and whether a subcontractor other than your employer created the hazard.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations come from lifting, falls, and vibration over years of heavy labor. Insurers routinely blame degenerative disc disease, so the medical evidence has to show how the work caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Tears: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears are common among carpenters, ironworkers, and laborers. Employers sometimes dismiss them as old sports injuries, which makes a documented work history essential.
- Struck-By and Caught-In Accidents: Falling materials, swinging loads, backing equipment, and trench collapses cause crush injuries and traumatic fractures. These accidents often involve equipment owned or operated by a company other than your employer.
- Burns and Electrical Injuries: Contact with energized lines, welding and cutting hazards, and industrial site fires produce severe burns that require specialists and long recoveries. We have handled burn claims from oil rigs and plants where the injuries were catastrophic.
- Vehicle Collisions on the Job: Project managers, superintendents, and truck drivers are frequently hurt in work vehicles. When a negligent driver is at fault, you can pursue workers’ compensation and a separate injury claim against that driver.
- Cumulative and Latent Conditions: Hearing loss, repetitive-motion injuries, and exposure-related illnesses develop over time rather than in a single event, and they raise their own questions about when a claim begins and when notice was due.
What to Do After a Mississippi Construction Site Injury
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can. Mississippi requires notice within 30 days of the accident, and a late report gives the insurer an argument that costs you nothing to avoid. Name the supervisor you told, the date, and what happened, and keep a copy. Coverage begins on your first day of employment, with no waiting period, so a new hire is protected the same as a veteran, provided the employer carries coverage as the law requires.
Get medical care immediately and tell every provider that the injury happened at work. Vague histories like “my back has been bothering me” are what insurers later quote to argue a pre-existing condition. Follow your treating doctor’s restrictions, and do not return to full duty because a supervisor or adjuster pressures you to. Insurers sometimes push workers back before a physician clears them, then point to the return as proof the injury was minor.
Preserve evidence while it still exists. Photograph the area where you were hurt, the equipment involved, and your injuries. Collect names and numbers of coworkers who saw the accident, and write down which companies were working on the site that day. On a multi-contractor project, that list can be the difference between a comp-only case and one with a third-party claim worth far more. Do not give a recorded statement to an adjuster before speaking with a lawyer, and do not sign medical releases broader than the injury at issue.
The filing deadline is separate from the notice deadline. In Mississippi 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. If no disability benefits have been paid and no claim is filed within that window, the right to benefits is barred. Do not assume the insurer’s payment of medical bills protects you; talk to a lawyer well before the second anniversary.
Comp disputes are heard by the Commission, not by a court. A case is tried before an Administrative Judge, and an appeal to the Full Commission is decided on the record made at that hearing rather than in a new trial. From the Full Commission, a final award can be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Because appellate review rests on the existing record, what is built at the first hearing largely decides the outcome later.
When Someone Other Than Your Employer Is Responsible
Workers’ compensation pays regardless of fault, but it pays a fraction of what a negligence claim can. Wage replacement runs up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum and a cap of 450 weeks for total disability. It does not compensate for pain, lost quality of life, or the full value of a career-ending injury. A third-party claim can.
On a construction project, potential defendants include a general contractor who controlled site safety, a subcontractor whose crew created a hazard, a property owner who knew of a dangerous condition, an equipment manufacturer whose product failed, or a driver who struck a work vehicle. Mississippi generally gives three years to bring a negligence claim that has no shorter prescribed period, but claims involving a county or government agency carry a one-year limit and a notice requirement under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. If a public project is involved, that shorter clock can run out long before you expect it.
Mississippi applies pure comparative negligence, so if you are found partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share rather than eliminated. That matters on job sites where defendants love to argue that a worker skipped a harness or ignored a warning. Our Mississippi construction injury attorneys make sure the comp claim and the injury claim are handled together, because settling one carelessly can undercut the other, and the comp carrier will often assert a right to be repaid from a third-party recovery.
If a worker dies in a construction accident, the family may have a wrongful death claim in addition to death benefits under the comp system. Mississippi generally allows three years for a negligence-based wrongful death claim and one year for an intentional tort, and noneconomic damages are capped in most wrongful death cases at $1,000,000, though the cap does not reach economic losses.
Frequently Asked Questions About Construction Accident Claims in Mississippi
How soon do I have to report a construction injury in Mississippi?
You must give your employer notice within 30 days of the accident. Do it in writing and do it right away; the 30-day limit is the outer edge, not a target.
How long do I have to file a workers’ compensation claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury or from the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If no disability benefits were paid and no claim was filed in that period, the right to benefits is barred.
Can I sue my employer for a construction accident?
Generally no. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against a covered employer. But you can often pursue other companies on the site, such as a general contractor, subcontractor, equipment maker, or property owner, whose negligence contributed to your injury.
What does workers’ compensation pay?
All reasonable and necessary medical treatment, plus wage replacement of up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage subject to a weekly maximum. Total disability benefits cannot run longer than 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability in other cases is also limited to 450 weeks.
Does it matter that I was hurt on my first day?
No. Mississippi covers workers from the first day of employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement, as long as the employer is subject to the law.
What if my employer says I am an independent contractor?
Misclassification is common in construction, and the label an employer uses does not control. The real working relationship, including who directs your work, supplies tools, and sets your hours, determines whether you are an employee entitled to comp. If you were told you are not covered, have a lawyer review it before accepting that answer.
The insurer says my back injury is just degenerative disc disease. Is my claim over?
No. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim if your work caused, worsened, or accelerated it. Treating physician opinions and a documented history of physical labor are how these disputes are won.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Mississippi protects 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 it.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Workers’ compensation does not turn on fault, so your own mistake does not defeat a comp claim. In a third-party negligence case, Mississippi’s comparative negligence rule reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault rather than barring it.
Will a settlement of my comp claim affect a lawsuit against another company?
It can. Releases and settlement terms may waive or complicate the insurer’s reimbursement rights and your outside claim, which is why you should not sign anything from the comp carrier until a lawyer has read it with the third-party case in mind.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance case costs, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
I was hurt on a Mississippi site but live in Louisiana. Which state’s law applies?
It depends on where you were hired, where the work was based, and where the injury occurred, and sometimes more than one state’s system is available. We practice workers’ compensation in both states and can evaluate which forum serves you best.
Representing Construction Workers Across Mississippi
Our work for injured construction workers starts in Hinds County, where Jackson’s commercial and healthcare construction keeps crews busy, and extends through Clinton, Byram, Terry, Raymond, and Bolton. We represent workers in neighboring Madison County, including Madison and Ridgeland, and in Rankin County communities such as Brandon, Flowood, and Pearl. From there our clients span the state: Vicksburg and Warren County, the Delta towns along the Mississippi River, Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt, Meridian, and Tupelo and the northeast corner of the state.
On the Gulf Coast we help injured workers from Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula, where shipyard, port, and industrial projects generate serious injuries. In north Mississippi we serve Southaven, Olive Branch, Oxford, and the DeSoto County corridor, and we reach workers on projects in the Delta from Greenville and Cleveland to Clarksdale. We also represent workers across south Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and in north Louisiana, including Shreveport, for those whose work crosses the state line.
Talk With a Mississippi Construction Accident Attorney Today
Construction injury claims are won or lost on early decisions: what you say to the adjuster, which companies you identify, and whether you file before the clock runs. If you were hurt on a job site anywhere in Mississippi, a Mississippi construction accident attorney from Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC can review your situation, explain whether you have a comp claim, a third-party claim, or both, and start protecting both. Our phones are answered around the clock, the consultation is free, and you owe no fee unless we recover for you. Call today and tell us what happened.
