Olive Branch Truck Accident Lawyer
Olive Branch sits where Interstate 22, Interstate 269, and Highway 78 funnel an enormous amount of freight through DeSoto County, and the people who live and work here know what it is like to share those roads with loaded tractor-trailers. If a truck has hurt you, you are probably weighing whether to talk to an insurer, hire a lawyer, or wait and see how your recovery goes. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a Mississippi and Louisiana injury and workers’ compensation firm that represents people hurt in truck and car crashes, and we serve Olive Branch and communities across north Mississippi.
A Olive Branch truck accident lawyer deals with a different animal than a lawyer handling an ordinary fender-bender. A commercial truck crash usually involves more than one potential defendant: the driver, the trucking company, a broker who arranged the load, a shipper who loaded it badly, or a maintenance contractor who signed off on brakes that should have been replaced. Add a distribution-center economy where thousands of people drive for a living, and a large share of truck crash victims in this area were also on the clock when they were hit. That second fact changes the claim in ways many people do not see coming.
When the Truck Crash Is Also a Work Injury
Many Olive Branch residents work in warehousing, delivery, and logistics, and plenty of them are struck by a tractor-trailer while driving a work vehicle, making a delivery, or running a job-related errand. When that happens you may have two separate claims running at once. One is a workers’ compensation claim against your employer’s carrier, which pays medical care and wage benefits without regard to who caused the wreck. The other is a third-party injury claim against the at-fault truck driver and company, which can reach losses comp does not cover, such as pain and suffering.
The two claims affect each other. A settlement with the trucking company can trigger the comp carrier’s right to be repaid, and the wrong move on one claim can hurt the other. We have recovered a $385,000 settlement for a project manager with back injuries after he was struck in his work vehicle, and a $190,000 settlement for a truck driver who injured his lower back in a wreck on the job. Handling both claims under one roof is exactly why workers’ compensation sits at the center of our practice.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Truck Crash Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including DeSoto County and the rest of north Mississippi. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for our clients. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and you owe no fee unless we recover for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish.
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 has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and has argued personal injury and insurance cases before Mississippi’s appellate courts.
Results matter more than adjectives. The firm secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients tell us they felt heard and kept informed, and one reviewer described how their attorney fought the insurance company at every step. Those are the same habits we bring to a serious truck wreck.
Parties and Problems That Define a Truck Accident Claim
- The Driver and the Carrier: A driver’s negligence, such as speeding, distraction, or driving past legal hours, usually makes the trucking company responsible too. The company may also be directly at fault for how it hired, trained, and dispatched that driver.
- Loading and Cargo Failures: Overweight or poorly secured freight can cause rollovers, jackknifes, and spilled loads. The shipper or loading contractor may share fault, which matters in a warehouse-heavy market like DeSoto County.
- Maintenance and Equipment Defects: Worn brakes, bald tires, and failed lights show up in inspection records and repair logs. Those records are not public, so they have to be demanded before they disappear.
- Underride and Rear-End Collisions: Passenger vehicles that slide under a trailer or are crushed by a truck that cannot stop in time produce spine, head, and chest injuries that change a person’s working life.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated discs and fractures are the injuries we see most from heavy-vehicle impacts, and insurers often try to blame degeneration instead of the crash.
- Shoulder, Knee, and Fracture Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, meniscus tears, and broken ankles or hips may need specialists and surgery, and they keep people off the job for months.
- Work-Related Truck Crashes: When the injured person was driving for an employer, comp benefits and a liability claim run side by side and must be coordinated.
- Wrongful Death: When a truck crash kills a family member, surviving relatives may pursue a wrongful death claim against everyone responsible.
What to Do After a Tractor-Trailer Crash Near Olive Branch
Get medical care first, even if you feel walking-around fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and emergency departments in the Olive Branch and greater DeSoto County area can document what happened to your body on the day it happened. That record becomes the backbone of your claim. Make sure a police report is taken by the responding agency, whether that is Olive Branch police, the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, or the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and ask for the report number before you leave the scene.
If you can do so safely, photograph the truck, its license plate, any company name and USDOT number on the door, the road, skid marks, and your injuries. Get names and numbers of witnesses. Then stop. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer, do not sign a medical release that opens your entire history, and do not accept a quick check. Trucking carriers often send rapid-response adjusters or investigators to a crash scene, and their goal is to limit what they owe.
We send preservation letters demanding that the carrier keep driver logs, electronic logging data, dashcam video, dispatch messages, inspection records, and maintenance files. Without that demand, routine retention schedules can erase evidence that would prove the driver was over hours or the truck was unsafe.
Deadlines matter. Mississippi generally gives three years to file most negligence claims under its general limitations statute, with a shorter one-year limit and a notice requirement when a county or other government agency is involved, such as a government-owned vehicle. If you were hurt while working, you must report the injury to your employer within 30 days, and you generally have two years from the date of injury to file with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If a Louisiana crash is involved, injuries on or after July 1, 2024 carry a two-year period for most negligence claims, and a workers’ compensation claim there generally must be filed within one year. Because the right deadline depends on where the crash happened, who employed you, and who is liable, call us early so nothing is missed.
How Fault Is Shared and What That Does to Your Recovery
Trucking companies commonly argue the other driver contributed to the crash. In Mississippi, pure comparative negligence applies, which means your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than eliminated. In Louisiana, for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lower percentages reduce the award proportionally. That makes the fault fight central in a Louisiana crash, and we build the liability case with data from the truck itself, witness accounts, and physical evidence.
Damages in a truck case can include medical expenses, lost income, reduced future earning ability, and pain and suffering. In Mississippi wrongful death cases, noneconomic damages are generally capped at $1,000,000, while the cap does not apply to economic losses. Where your injuries limit your return to work, vocational and medical evidence become as important as the crash reconstruction.
Olive Branch Truck Accident Questions, Answered
How much does it cost to hire a truck accident lawyer?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you.
Who can be held responsible for a truck crash?
Beyond the driver, responsibility can extend to the trucking company, a freight broker, the shipper or loader, and any contractor that maintained the truck. Which parties are liable depends on the evidence.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit in Mississippi?
Most negligence claims must be filed within three years. A claim against a county or other governmental entity has a one-year limit and requires notice under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Do not wait to find out which one applies to you.
What if I was hurt in the truck crash while working?
You may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a claim against the at-fault trucking company. Report the injury to your employer within 30 days and talk to us before settling either claim.
Do I have to deal with the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer. Direct them to your attorney and avoid signing releases or accepting early offers.
What if I was partly at fault?
In Mississippi your recovery is reduced by your share of fault but not barred. In Louisiana, for newer causes of action, fault at 51 percent or more bars recovery entirely, so assigning fault accurately is critical.
What evidence from the truck should be preserved?
Driver hours-of-service logs, electronic logging device data, dashcam footage, dispatch communications, inspection and maintenance records, and hiring files. We send formal preservation demands quickly because carriers do not keep this information forever.
Will my health insurance or workers’ comp pay while my claim is pending?
If you were on the job, comp should cover reasonable and necessary medical treatment and partial wage replacement regardless of fault. Otherwise, your health insurance may pay first, and some insurers have repayment rights from a later settlement.
Can a truck accident claim continue if my loved one died?
Yes. A wrongful death claim can be brought for a death caused by negligence. Mississippi generally allows three years for negligence-based wrongful death, and Louisiana uses the longer of one year from death or two years from the injury.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the injuries seem minor?
Often yes. Soft-tissue and back injuries can worsen over weeks, and insurers use early quiet periods to lock in low settlements. A free consultation lets you learn where you stand before any commitment.
Can you help if the driver or trucking company is from another state?
Yes. Interstate carriers pass through Olive Branch constantly, and we handle claims involving out-of-state drivers and companies on behalf of injured people in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Truck Accident Clients Across Olive Branch and DeSoto County
We represent people hurt in truck crashes in Olive Branch and throughout DeSoto County, including Southaven, Horn Lake, Hernando, Walls, Nesbit, and Lake Cormorant. We also serve neighboring Mississippi communities across the northern part of the state and the Delta, as well as Madison, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and the Gulf Coast. Our reach continues into Louisiana, where we represent injured people in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and throughout South Louisiana and north Louisiana.
Whether the crash happened on a congested stretch near the freight corridors or on a rural highway, the same questions apply: who was responsible, what evidence still exists, and how your injuries affect your ability to work. We serve injured workers and accident victims statewide in both states, and we will tell you plainly how your situation looks.
Talk to an Olive Branch Truck Accident Attorney Today
If a tractor-trailer has changed your life, you do not need to take on a trucking company and its insurer yourself. An Olive Branch truck accident attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain whether workers’ compensation, a third-party claim, or both are in play, and start preserving evidence right away. Consultations are free, you pay no fee unless we recover for you, and our phones are answered 24 hours a day. Call us today to talk through your case.
