New Orleans Third Party Work Injury Lawyer
The workers’ compensation check covers a fraction of your wages, and the forklift driver from another company who hit you, or the contractor whose unguarded opening dropped you two stories, may owe you far more than comp will ever pay. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation and injury law firm that represents hurt workers and accident victims across Louisiana and Mississippi, and it handles the New Orleans third party work injury lawyer work that sits on top of a comp claim: pursuing the people and companies outside your employment relationship whose carelessness put you in the hospital.
The distinction matters because workers’ compensation is a no-fault system with a hard trade attached. In exchange for guaranteed medical care and partial wage replacement, you generally cannot sue your own employer for negligence. But that bargain does not protect everyone else on the job site, on the road, or in the supply chain. A third party claim is an ordinary negligence or product liability lawsuit against someone who is not your employer and not a co-worker, and it can reach damages comp never touches, including pain and suffering and the full measure of lost earning capacity.
New Orleans produces these cases in volume. Port and riverfront work, offshore and industrial support, hospital and hotel construction, hospitality, delivery and trucking, and the daily traffic on the interstate and city streets all put workers in contact with companies that are not their employers. That overlap is where third party claims come from.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Third Party Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities across South Louisiana. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and you pay no fee unless there is a recovery. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
That workers’ compensation focus is what makes a third party case work properly. The two claims run side by side, and decisions in one affect the other. What you say in a recorded comp statement, how your treating doctor describes the mechanism of injury, and how a settlement is structured can all help or hurt the companion case. The firm handles car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death alongside comp, so one team coordinates both claims instead of leaving them to work against each other.
Results show the scale of injury these cases involve. The firm has 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. Those outcomes reflect the kind of serious, long-recovery injuries where looking beyond comp matters most.
Rob Lunsford, 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 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which matters when a liability carrier will not make a fair offer. Clients describe attorneys who listened, stayed responsive, and fought the insurance company at each step.
Situations That Give Rise to a Third Party Claim
- Vehicle collisions during work duties: A delivery driver, project manager, or truck driver hit by a negligent motorist is covered by comp, and the at-fault driver and that driver’s insurer can also be sued. Interstate corridors and busy city streets around New Orleans are common settings, and the firm has recovered substantial settlements for workers injured in work vehicles.
- Unsafe conditions created by another contractor: On a multi-employer site, the general contractor, a subcontractor, or a property owner may create the hazard that injures workers who answer to someone else. Falls from scaffolding, unguarded openings, and struck-by incidents often point to a company other than your employer.
- Defective tools, machinery, and equipment: When a saw, lift, crane component, or protective gear fails, the manufacturer or distributor can face a product liability claim. Preserving the equipment itself is often the most important evidence in these cases.
- Industrial and oilfield injuries: Plant, rig, and refinery sites involve owners, operators, and service contractors working side by side. Burns, crush injuries, and pipe-handling injuries can implicate a company that was not your employer, such as the site owner or a contractor operating nearby.
- Premises hazards at someone else’s property: A worker making a delivery, repair, or service call who slips, trips, or is injured by a dangerous condition on a customer’s or vendor’s property may have a premises liability claim in addition to comp.
- Toxic exposure and occupational illness: Exposure to hazardous substances supplied or controlled by another company can support a claim against that company, separate from the comp claim for the illness itself.
- Wrongful death of a worker: When a fatal workplace or work-travel incident was caused by an outside party, surviving family members may have both comp death benefits and a wrongful death action against the responsible third party.
What to Do After a Work Injury Caused by Someone Other Than Your Employer
Start with the comp side, because its deadlines run regardless of what else you pursue. Report the injury to your employer right away. In Louisiana, notice must be given within 30 days of the injury or the claim can be defeated, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with an extension to three years from the last payment if comp benefits have actually been paid. Get medical treatment and tell every provider that the injury happened at work and exactly how.
Then protect the third party case, whose deadline is separate and shorter than many people expect. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana gives two years from the day the injury was sustained to file a negligence suit. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Wrongful death follows its own rule: the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury. Do not assume the comp clock and the lawsuit clock are the same.
Gather what disappears fast. Photograph the scene, the equipment, and your injuries before anything is cleaned up or repaired. Get names and contact information for every witness, especially workers from other companies, and write down which companies were on the site and who controlled what. If a vehicle was involved, get the police report and the other driver’s insurance information. Keep any defective tool or gear exactly as it is, and do not let anyone send it back to a manufacturer or discard it.
Be careful with insurers. The third party’s liability carrier will likely call you quickly, often sounding friendly, and ask for a recorded statement. Anything you say can be used to argue you caused or worsened your own injury. Louisiana now bars recovery entirely for a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, with lesser fault reducing the award proportionally, so fault arguments carry real weight. Do not give a statement or sign a release before talking with counsel. Also avoid settling the comp claim in a way that waives your rights against outsiders without checking how it affects the lawsuit.
Comp disputes in New Orleans are heard by a workers’ compensation judge in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the worker chooses among the parish where the injury occurred, the parish of residence when injured, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Appeals from a judge’s final decision go to the Louisiana courts of appeal; for the Orleans Parish area, that is the Fourth Circuit, and appeals generally must be filed within 30 days if they suspend the judgment or 60 days if they do not. The third party lawsuit is a separate civil action in a state district court or, in appropriate cases, the federal court sitting in New Orleans.
How the Comp Claim and the Lawsuit Fit Together
The two claims pay for different things. Comp covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment and wage replacement, with supplemental earnings benefits available if you return at reduced pay. A third party suit can add damages comp does not provide, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and the full loss of future earning capacity. Because the comp insurer has been paying your bills, it usually holds a reimbursement interest in what you recover from the outside party. How that interest is calculated and negotiated can change what lands in your pocket, and it should be addressed before any settlement, not after.
Timing also needs coordination. Comp benefits can keep paying while the lawsuit develops, and the lawsuit often takes longer. Rushing the injury claim before your doctors know the extent of permanent impairment can undervalue it badly, since a back or shoulder surgery outcome may not be clear for many months. At the same time, waiting too long risks losing evidence and missing the prescription period. Your attorney’s job is to move both claims forward at the pace your medical recovery and the deadlines allow.
Mississippi workers hurt in New Orleans, or New Orleans workers hurt in Mississippi, face an added layer. Mississippi gives two years to file a comp claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission and generally three years for negligence suits, while comparative fault there reduces recovery without barring it. When an injury crosses state lines, which state’s law governs each claim must be sorted out early.
Questions About Third Party Work Injury Claims in New Orleans
What exactly is a third party claim in a work injury case?
It is a lawsuit against someone other than your employer or a co-worker whose negligence or defective product caused your injury. It exists alongside your workers’ compensation claim, not in place of it.
Can I sue my employer if I was hurt on the job?
Generally no. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your own employer for negligence. That is why identifying outside parties is so important, since they are the ones you can actually sue.
Can I collect workers’ compensation and sue a third party at the same time?
Yes. You can receive comp benefits while pursuing a separate claim against the responsible outsider. The comp insurer will typically have a right to be repaid from your third party recovery, so the two need to be managed together.
How long do I have to file a third party lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the period is two years from the day the injury was sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the previous one-year period. Wrongful death claims follow the longer of one year from death or two years from the injury.
How much does it cost to hire the firm for this kind of case?
Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are collected only if there is a recovery. Attorney fees in comp matters are also limited and approved under state law.
What if I was partly at fault for my own injury?
Louisiana bars recovery for a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault in causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, and reduces the award proportionally below that threshold. Earlier causes of action remain under pure comparative fault. Because the percentage can decide the whole case, how fault is documented early on matters a great deal.
Does the comp insurer get paid back from my settlement?
Usually it has a reimbursement interest in what you recover from the third party. The amount and how it is calculated are negotiable in many situations, and addressing it before settling protects your net recovery.
My injury happened on a site with several companies. How do I know who is responsible?
That is a fact investigation, not a guess. It turns on who controlled the work area, who created or knew about the hazard, who owned the equipment, and what the contracts between the companies say. Witness names and any photos or records from the day are the starting point.
Can a third party claim be worth pursuing if comp is already paying my medical bills?
Often, yes. Comp does not pay pain and suffering and replaces only part of your wages. For serious injuries such as back, shoulder, and burn injuries that lead to surgery or permanent limits, the gap between comp and full damages can be large.
What happens if a family member died in a work-related incident caused by an outside company?
Surviving family members may be entitled to comp death benefits and may also bring a wrongful death action against the responsible third party. The deadline for that action is the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury.
Do you represent Spanish-speaking workers?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Third Party Injury Clients From New Orleans Across Louisiana and Mississippi
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers from New Orleans and the surrounding communities of Orleans Parish and the greater metro area, including the parishes along the river and lakeshore that feed the city’s port, industrial, and hospitality workforce. The firm also serves clients in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana.
In Mississippi, the firm represents injured workers from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, as well as communities across north Mississippi. Whether the injury happened on a New Orleans job site, an interstate in either state, or an industrial facility along the Gulf, the team can evaluate both the comp claim and any claim against an outside party.
Talk With a New Orleans Third Party Injury Attorney Today
If someone other than your employer caused your work injury, the time to look at your options is now, while the evidence still exists and the deadlines are far away. A New Orleans third party injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review how the injury happened, tell you who may be responsible, and explain how a lawsuit would work alongside your comp benefits. Call the firm to schedule a free consultation. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you owe no fee unless there is a recovery.
