Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A back gives out on a job site in Hattiesburg, a nurse in the Delta tears a shoulder lifting a patient, or a truck driver is hurt on a run through north Mississippi, and within days the adjuster is asking questions that sound more like an investigation than help. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi, and a Mississippi workers’ compensation lawyer on your side changes how that early conversation goes.
Mississippi’s system works differently from a lawsuit. There is no jury and no ordinary courtroom at the start. Your claim is decided by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative body whose three members are appointed by the Governor with Senate approval. Coverage begins on an employee’s first day, with no probationary period and no minimum earnings requirement, but the benefits are only as good as the paperwork, the medical proof, and the deadlines behind them.
What Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Pays For
The system covers three broad things: medical care related to the injury, wage replacement while you cannot work, and compensation when an injury leaves lasting limits. Medical coverage reaches treatment your doctors consider reasonable and necessary, including consultations, surgery, and therapy. Wage replacement for temporary total disability and permanent total disability runs at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum that the state adjusts over time, and those payments cannot extend past 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability in the “other cases” category carries the same 450-week ceiling.
Two details catch people off guard. First, wage benefits are a percentage of what you were earning, so a family that lived paycheck to paycheck will feel a real gap even when benefits start on time. Second, the weekly maximum means higher earners receive a smaller share of their actual wages. A good Mississippi workers’ comp attorney builds the average weekly wage figure carefully, because overtime, second jobs, and per diem pay can change it, and a low number follows you through the entire claim.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Mississippi Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, and workers’ compensation is the center of the practice rather than a sideline. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off early, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. 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 in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff, who has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and attorneys Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team.
Results matter more than adjectives, so here are some. The firm obtained $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 hurt when his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients describe a team that listens, stays in contact, and fights the insurance company at every step. We serve clients statewide, we answer the phones around the clock, consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Hablamos español.
Injuries and Claim Types We See Most in Mississippi
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are the most common serious claims from warehouse, construction, and trucking work. Carriers frequently point to degenerative disc disease, so the medical record has to show how the job caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and knee injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often come from pulling pipe, climbing, or repetitive lifting. Employers sometimes recast them as old sports injuries, and the answer is timing, imaging, and physician testimony.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, and hips from falls and equipment accidents may need specialists and staged surgeries, which means long stretches away from work and a fight over what treatment is authorized.
- Burns and catastrophic injuries: Oil field work, plants, and industrial sites on the Gulf Coast and across the state produce injuries that change a person’s working life permanently and call for careful valuation.
- Firefighter and first responder claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and job-related cancer require tying a gradual condition to years of exposure.
- Truck driver and delivery injuries: Crashes on the road and strain injuries from loading often involve both a comp claim and a claim against the at-fault driver.
- Healthcare worker injuries: Nurses and aides hurt lifting or restraining patients frequently face questions about whether the injury was a single event or built up over time.
- Wrongful death: When a workplace accident takes a life, surviving family members may have rights under the comp system and, in some cases, against third parties.
What to Do After a Mississippi Job Injury
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can, and no later than 30 days after the accident. Do not rely on a verbal “I told my supervisor.” Keep a copy of whatever you send, and write down who you told and when. Get medical attention right away and tell the provider the injury happened at work; the first treatment note is often the document the insurer reads most closely, so describe the mechanism of injury plainly and mention every body part that hurts, not just the worst one.
The filing deadline is separate from the notice deadline. If no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the date of injury, your right to benefits is barred unless you file a claim with the Commission within that window. The usual vehicle is a Petition to Controvert, and the two years generally run from the injury, or one year from the last compensation payment if benefits were paid. These rules come from Miss. Code section 71-3-35. Insurers sometimes pay a few weeks of benefits and then stop, which can lull a worker into waiting; paying the claim does not replace filing it, so ask a lawyer before assuming you have time.
If the carrier denies the claim, the case is heard by an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing. Either side can ask for review by the Full Commission, which sits in Jackson and reviews the record made before the judge. It is not a new trial, so everything important has to be in the record the first time: medical opinions, wage records, and witness testimony. After the Commission issues a final award, a party has 30 days to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals are decided on the record only.
The common mistakes are predictable. Workers give recorded statements before they understand the questions, return to full duty because a company doctor says so, miss the 30-day notice, or sign a settlement without knowing what future surgery will cost. If you have been hurt, call before you sign anything.
How Insurers Fight Mississippi Claims, and How We Answer
Carriers rely on a handful of arguments. They say the accident did not happen at work, that nobody saw it, that you reported it late, that the condition was already there, or that you have recovered enough to work. Each has an answer, but the answer has to be built with evidence rather than assertion. Coworker statements, safety logs, prior employment history, and records showing you worked without restrictions before the injury all carry weight. A pre-existing condition does not end a claim when the job caused, worsened, or accelerated it, and the treating surgeon’s testimony is often what decides the issue.
Much of the real work happens before the hearing. We press for authorization of the treatment your doctor recommends, challenge independent medical examiners whose opinions appear tailored to the carrier, track whether benefits are being paid at the correct rate, and prepare for the point where settlement becomes realistic. Settlement timing matters: settle too early, before you reach maximum medical improvement, and you may close out medical care you still need. Settle too late and a family can run out of runway. That judgment call is one the attorney makes with you, with the medical picture in hand.
Some work injuries also involve someone other than your employer, such as a negligent driver or an unsafe contractor. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence for those outside claims, so your own share of fault reduces a recovery without eliminating it. Our personal injury lawyers coordinate the two claims so a settlement in one does not undercut the other.
Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Questions Answered
Do I need a lawyer for a Mississippi workers’ comp claim?
Not every claim needs one, but if benefits are denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer makes a real difference. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys protecting its position, and you should have someone doing the same for you.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
You must notify your employer within 30 days of the accident. Do it in writing and keep a copy.
How long do I have to file a claim with the Commission?
Generally two years from the date of injury, or one year from the last compensation payment if benefits were paid. If no disability benefits were paid and no claim was filed within two years of the injury, the right to benefits is barred.
Does Mississippi cover me if I was hurt on my first day?
Yes. Coverage applies from the first day of employment, with no probationary period and no minimum earnings requirement. The employer must carry coverage if it has five or more employees.
How much will I receive in wage benefits?
For total disability, benefits are two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a weekly maximum that is adjusted periodically, and they cannot run beyond 450 weeks. Getting the wage calculation right is one of the first things we check.
My employer says my back problem is from degenerative disc disease. Is my claim over?
No. If your work caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, benefits may still be owed. Insurers raise this argument constantly, and medical testimony linking the job to the symptoms is how it is answered.
Can I be fired for filing a comp claim?
Retaliation for filing a claim is prohibited. If you were fired or punished after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation so we can look at your options alongside the comp claim.
Can I choose my own doctor?
That depends on the circumstances, and employers and carriers often steer workers to their own providers first. Before treating or switching, talk to a lawyer, because who treats you affects what the record says later.
What happens if the Administrative Judge rules against me?
You can ask the Full Commission to review the decision, and after a final award you have 30 days to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Because review is limited to the existing record, a hearing should be prepared as if it is the only chance to make that record.
Can I also sue someone besides my employer?
Possibly. If a negligent driver, equipment maker, or outside contractor contributed to your injury, you may have a separate injury claim. Pure comparative negligence applies, so your own fault reduces that recovery rather than ending it.
Do you handle claims for workers who speak Spanish?
Yes. Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Representing Injured Workers From the Gulf Coast to the Delta
Our Mississippi workers’ compensation attorneys represent clients statewide. In the Jackson metro area that includes Jackson, Madison, Ridgeland, Clinton, Pearl, Flowood, Brandon, Byram, and Terry, along with Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County workers. Farther south we serve Hattiesburg, Laurel, Columbia, and the Pine Belt, and across the Gulf Coast we help workers in Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis, and the surrounding shipyards, ports, and plants. In the Delta and west toward the river, we represent workers in Greenville, Cleveland, Clarksdale, Greenwood, Vicksburg, and Natchez, and in north Mississippi we serve Southaven, Olive Branch, Oxford, Tupelo, and Corinth. We also work with injured employees in Meridian, Starkville, Columbus, and Brookhaven. Wherever the injury happened, the Commission handles the claim the same way, and we know how to put the case together for it.
Talk With a Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job, the clock on your notice and filing deadlines is already running. Speaking with a Mississippi workers’ compensation attorney early gives you the best chance to protect your medical care and your paycheck while you recover. 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 tell us what happened.
