New Orleans Port Worker Injury Lawyer
Hurt on the docks, a terminal, or a vessel along the Mississippi River, and now stuck choosing between filing a claim, staying quiet, and going back before your doctor says you are ready? Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation and related injury claims for people hurt on the job across Louisiana and Mississippi, and that includes a New Orleans port worker injury lawyer perspective on the claims that come out of the city’s waterfront.
Port work is some of the hardest physical labor in the region. Longshoremen, crane operators, warehouse and cold-storage workers, truck drivers waiting in terminal lines, mechanics, and cargo handlers all deal with heavy loads, moving equipment, wet surfaces, and long shifts. The injuries that follow tend to be back and neck damage, crushed or fractured limbs, shoulder tears, and burns. The first decision most injured port workers face is not about a lawsuit. It is which legal system their claim belongs in, because that single question shapes everything after it.
Which Law Covers Your Port Injury: State Comp or Federal Maritime Coverage
Not every injury at a New Orleans port falls under Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system. Depending on where you were hurt and what you were doing, your claim may belong under a federal program for maritime workers, under maritime law for crew members, or under Louisiana workers’ compensation. Dockside and terminal workers sometimes assume one applies when another does, and filing in the wrong place can cost months.
The practical point: describe your job honestly and in detail from the start. Where you were standing, what you were handling, whether you worked on a vessel or on land, and who signed your paycheck all matter. Our attorneys focus on workers’ compensation and injury claims in Louisiana and Mississippi, and we will tell you plainly if your situation points toward a different framework rather than leave you guessing.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Port Worker Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout South Louisiana and Mississippi, including New Orleans and the surrounding river parishes. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish, which matters on a waterfront workforce that includes many Spanish-speaking workers.
Rob Lunsford, our founding partner, 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 has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Several of our results involve the kinds of injuries port work produces: $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 struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients describe a team that listened, stayed professional, and fought the insurance company at every step.
Injuries and Claim Types We See From Port and Waterfront Work
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lifting, container lashing, and repetitive loading wear down discs and can cause herniations in a single incident. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, and we answer with medical evidence tying the injury to the work.
- Shoulder and knee tears: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears come from pulling lines, climbing ladders and gangways, and working on uneven decks. Employers sometimes call them old sports injuries.
- Fractures: Feet, ankles, and hips break when cargo shifts, equipment backs into a worker, or a fall happens on wet steel. These often need specialists and complex surgical repair.
- Burns and catastrophic injuries: Industrial sites around the river involve hot work, chemicals, and heavy machinery, and a severe burn or crush injury can end a career.
- Truck and equipment accidents: Drivers hauling containers and workers on yard equipment get hurt in collisions. When a negligent third party is involved, you may have an injury claim in addition to comp benefits.
- Wrongful death: When a port accident kills a worker, the family may have claims for death benefits and, in some cases, a wrongful death action against a responsible third party.
- Repetitive trauma: Years of crane operation, forklift driving, and heavy handling can produce injuries without a single dramatic moment, which insurers use to argue the work did not cause them.
What to Do After a Port Injury in New Orleans
Report the injury to your employer right away. In Louisiana, notice must be given within 30 days of the injury, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If compensation has been paid, that deadline can extend to three years from the last payment. Do not wait to see whether the pain goes away. Report it in writing if you can, and keep a copy.
Get medical care and tell the provider exactly how the injury happened. Gaps and vague histories in medical records are what insurers use later. Write down who saw the accident, what equipment was involved, and what your supervisor said. Take photos of the scene if it is safe to do so.
If the insurer denies a treatment request, the clock moves fast. A utilization review dispute must be filed within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial, using the form the Office of Workers’ Compensation requires, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from its issuance to file the next form. These windows run from issuance, not from when you finally read the letter.
Louisiana claims are heard by workers’ compensation judges at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which has a district court in New Orleans. You choose the venue from the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived when injured, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A judgment can be appealed to the court of appeal; for Orleans Parish that is the Fourth Circuit, and for Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes it is the Fifth Circuit. An appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within thirty days, and one that does not suspend it within sixty.
The mistakes we see most: giving a recorded statement before talking to anyone, returning to heavy work before a doctor clears you, signing forms you have not read, and assuming the employer will handle it. Talk to us before you make those moves.
Benefits Available and How Insurers Push Back
Louisiana workers’ compensation covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement while you cannot work. If you return at reduced pay, supplemental earnings benefits can make up part of the difference, calculated at two-thirds of the gap between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of your old pay. Those benefits can last until you return to full duty at pre-injury wages or reach the 520-week maximum, with temporary total disability weeks counting toward that limit. Weekly rates are set annually by statute and fixed by the date of your accident.
Insurers contest port claims in familiar ways: arguing the injury happened off the clock, blaming age or prior wear, disputing which law applies, or cutting off benefits when a doctor of their choosing releases you. Each has an answer, usually built from medical records, witness accounts, and your actual work history.
Questions Port Workers Ask Us
Do I need a lawyer for a port injury claim?
Not every claim needs one, but if benefits are denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if you will be out of work for a long time, a lawyer can change the outcome. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys; you should have someone on your side too.
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 workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a work injury in Louisiana?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the injury. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with a longer period possible when compensation has been paid.
What if I work on a ship rather than on the dock?
Crew members and some maritime workers fall under different legal frameworks than land-based workers. The right path depends on your duties and where you were hurt, so tell us the details at your consultation and we will sort out where your claim belongs.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Louisiana 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 your options.
What if the insurer says my injury is from a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence is how that argument gets answered.
What if my claim was denied?
A denial is a starting point, not a final answer. Claims go before a workers’ compensation judge, and deadlines for disputing treatment denials are short, so call us promptly.
Can I sue someone besides my employer after a port accident?
Possibly. If a negligent driver, a contractor, or an equipment maker contributed to your injury, you may have a separate injury claim alongside your comp benefits. Louisiana’s tort deadline for injuries on or after July 1, 2024 is two years, and under the fault rule applying to causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing.
Will my medical bills be paid while my claim is pending?
If the claim is accepted, the comp insurer pays reasonable and necessary treatment. If it is disputed, bills can pile up, which is one reason early legal help matters. Do not skip treatment because of a dispute.
What if I do not speak English well?
Hablamos español. Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Does a settlement affect my future medical care?
It can. Some settlements close out future medical benefits, so the terms need careful review before you sign anything. We walk clients through exactly what they are giving up and receiving.
Serving Injured Port and Waterfront Workers Across South Louisiana
We represent injured workers from New Orleans and Orleans Parish across the river and lake communities nearby: Algiers, Chalmette, Arabi, Meraux, Violet, Gretna, Harvey, Marrero, Westwego, Kenner, Metairie, Harahan, and River Ridge. Our reach extends to Slidell and St. Tammany Parish, to LaPlace and the River Parishes, and to Houma and the bayou communities of South Louisiana.
Beyond the New Orleans area, we help injured workers in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and we also serve Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta. Wherever a port, plant, or job site has hurt someone, the claim process in Louisiana and Mississippi is one we handle every day.
Talk With a New Orleans Port Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt working the river, you do not have to figure out the right legal system, the deadlines, and the insurer’s tactics by yourself. A New Orleans port injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which benefits apply, and start protecting your claim right away. Call us any time of day. Consultations are free, and you owe no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
