St. Charles Parish Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A hurt worker from Hahnville, Luling, or Norco often finds out quickly that the plant, the dock, or the contractor’s insurer has its own idea of what happened. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers in St. Charles Parish and across Louisiana and Mississippi, handling denied claims, cut-off benefits, and the medical fights that follow a serious injury.
If you need a St. Charles Parish workers’ compensation lawyer, local conditions matter. The parish sits along the river corridor where refineries, chemical plants, shipyards, and industrial contractors employ thousands of people, and the injuries that come out of that work tend to be heavy: crushed hands, burns, back and shoulder damage from turnarounds and pipe work, falls from scaffolding, and injuries on the road between job sites. Those claims often draw closer scrutiny from insurers precisely because the wage and medical exposure is large.
Louisiana law gives you rights to medical treatment, wage benefits, and more if the injury is lasting. Getting those rights honored is the harder part, and it usually comes down to deadlines, medical documentation, and knowing how the process works before the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a St. Charles Parish Comp Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC serves injured workers in St. Charles Parish, neighboring parishes along the river, and communities throughout South Louisiana and Mississippi. Workers’ compensation is the center of the firm’s practice, and the attorneys bring over 75 combined years of experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, works on a no recovery, no fee basis, advances the costs of the case, offers free consultations, answers its phones 24 hours a day, and speaks Spanish with clients who prefer it.
The people doing the work matter. Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both 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 tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results track the kinds of injuries industrial workers suffer. The firm secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury. It recovered $385,000 for a project manager injured when he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients describe a team that listens, communicates, and stands up to the insurance company, and one client credited Brad Baskin with fighting the carrier at every step.
Injuries and Claims We See From St. Charles Parish Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lumbar and cervical disc herniations are common among pipefitters, laborers, and equipment operators. When the carrier points to degenerative disc disease, the answer is medical evidence showing that years of heavy work or a single incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Tears: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears often follow pulling pipe, climbing, or awkward lifting. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and the claim turns on timing and treating-physician opinions.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plant and industrial sites carry fire, steam, chemical, and electrical hazards. These injuries can mean long treatment, skin grafts, and permanent limits, which raises the stakes on benefits and any settlement.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and other bones from falls, dropped loads, and struck-by accidents can require specialists and complex surgical repair, and recovery often runs well past the point an insurer wants to pay wage benefits.
- Vehicle Accidents on the Job: Workers driving between sites, hauling materials, or making deliveries can be hurt by other drivers. Those cases can support both a comp claim and a separate claim against the at-fault driver.
- Third-Party Contractor Injuries: On multi-employer industrial sites, a negligent contractor or equipment owner who is not your employer may be liable in addition to your comp benefits.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace accident takes a life, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits under comp and, in some cases, a wrongful death claim against a third party.
What to Do After a Work Injury in St. Charles Parish
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can. Louisiana law requires notice within 30 days of the injury, and a compensation proceeding generally cannot be maintained without it. Do not wait to see whether the pain fades. Delay gives the insurer room to argue the injury happened somewhere else.
Get medical care and be specific with the provider about how the injury happened at work. What you say in the first visits tends to shape the entire claim. Follow the treatment plan, keep your appointment records, and save everything: photographs of the scene, names of coworkers who saw it, pay stubs, and any written communication from the employer or adjuster.
A formal claim in Louisiana generally has to be filed within one year of the date of injury. If comp payments have been made, that window may extend to three years from the last payment, but do not rely on that. Hearings are held before a workers’ compensation judge, and the worker chooses among the parish where the injury happened, the parish of residence at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. Appeals from a final judgment go to the Louisiana courts of appeal, and St. Charles Parish is within the territory of the Fifth Circuit.
The common mistakes are predictable. Workers give recorded statements to adjusters without preparation, return to full duty before a doctor clears them, skip appointments, or sign paperwork they do not fully understand. Any of these can be used later to reduce or end benefits. Talking with a St. Charles Parish workers’ comp attorney early lets someone else handle the adjuster while you focus on treatment.
Denied Treatment, Cut-Off Benefits, and How Louisiana Disputes Move
When an insurer denies a requested treatment, a specific short clock starts. The party disputing the decision has 15 calendar days from receiving written notice of the denial to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. The medical director then has 30 calendar days to issue a decision. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008, and the clock runs from issuance, not from when you read it. Missing either deadline can leave you without the surgery or therapy your doctor ordered.
Wage benefits have their own structure. Temporary total disability covers time when you cannot work at all. If you return to work earning less because of the injury, supplemental earnings benefits can make up part of the difference: they are two-thirds of the gap between your pre-injury earnings and what you earn or are able to earn, when you cannot earn 90 percent or more of your prior wages. Supplemental earnings benefits are capped at 520 weeks, and weeks of temporary total disability count toward that total. Weekly benefit limits are set annually and fixed by the date of the accident.
If a workers’ compensation judge rules against you, the judgment is final unless appealed. An appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within 30 days; one that does not suspend it has 60 days. The delay runs from the day after the judgment was signed or the day after the district office mailed notice, whichever is later. Because these windows are short, a denial should be reviewed by a lawyer right away.
Questions St. Charles Parish Workers Ask About Comp Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one. But if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or the injury will keep you out of work for a long time, a lawyer can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys looking out for its interests.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and it is paid only if it recovers benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Report it to your employer as soon as possible and within 30 days of the injury at the latest. Filing a formal claim generally must happen within one year of the accident, with a possible extension to three years from the last payment if benefits were paid.
What does workers’ compensation cover?
Reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you cannot work, supplemental earnings benefits if you return at reduced pay, and additional benefits for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, or death.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, raise it during your consultation so the circumstances can be reviewed.
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 work caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence is how that argument is answered.
My doctor ordered surgery and the insurer said no. What now?
You have 15 calendar days from receiving the written denial to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. The medical director has 30 calendar days to decide. Missing the 15-day window can cost you the treatment, so call right away.
I was hurt by another contractor’s negligence at a plant. Can I sue them?
Possibly. Comp generally limits claims against your own employer, but a negligent third party such as another contractor or an equipment owner can be pursued separately. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s general injury deadline is two years from the day of injury, and a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026 recovers nothing, so those cases need prompt attention.
Can I choose where my hearing is held?
Yes. Louisiana lets the worker elect among the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where the worker lived when injured, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. The choice can affect convenience and which district office handles the case.
Will my comp case affect a separate injury claim?
They are connected. Benefits paid through comp can be subject to reimbursement from a third-party recovery, so the two claims need to be coordinated rather than run separately. That is why the firm handles both together when a work injury involves someone other than your employer.
What if a family member died in a workplace accident?
Dependents may be entitled to death benefits under workers’ compensation. If a third party was at fault, a wrongful death claim may also exist, and that claim prescribes one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer.
Do you handle Spanish-speaking clients?
Yes. Hablamos espanol, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call through the end of the case.
Serving Injured Workers Across St. Charles Parish and the River Parishes
The firm represents injured workers throughout St. Charles Parish, including Hahnville, the parish seat, and Luling, Boutte, Norco, Destrehan, St. Rose, Des Allemands, Paradis, and the communities along the river between them. Many of our clients work at the plants, docks, and industrial sites that line the Mississippi in this part of the state.
We also represent workers in neighboring parishes, including Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. James, Lafourche, and Orleans, and across South Louisiana in places like Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles. Our work extends north to Shreveport and across the state line to Jackson, Madison, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta in Mississippi. Wherever the injury happened, the approach is the same: gather the medical proof, hold the insurer to what the law requires, and pursue the claim as far as it needs to go.
Talk With a St. Charles Parish Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job and the insurer is stalling, denying treatment, or cutting off your checks, speak with a St. Charles Parish workers’ compensation attorney before the deadlines close in. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC takes calls around the clock, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you. Call today to talk through what happened and what comes next.
