Union County Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A back that gave out on a loading dock, a hand caught in a line at a furniture plant, or a truck wreck on a run through north Mississippi can leave a Union County worker with medical bills and no paycheck in the same week. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, and this is what a Union County workers’ compensation lawyer from our team does for people hurt on the job in Union County and the communities around it.
Union County sits in the northern part of Mississippi, in the Northern District’s Oxford Division for federal court purposes, but your comp claim will not be decided there. Mississippi workers’ compensation is handled by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative body whose members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Claims are heard by Administrative Judges, reviewed by the Full Commission on the existing record, and can then move up to the state’s appellate courts. Knowing that path, and building the file for it from the first day, is much of what separates a paid claim from a stalled one.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Union County Comp Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Mississippi, including Union County and north Mississippi, and across south and north Louisiana. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who see a work injury only when one walks in. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. We work on a no recovery, no fee basis, consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law, and our phones are answered 24 hours a day. Hablamos español.
The team is led by Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, who has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers, with partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe. Brad and Jennifer 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 regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Results matter more than adjectives. The firm has 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 injured 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, answers questions, and fights the insurance company at every step. Those are the same skills a Union County claim needs, whether it involves a disputed accident, a pre-existing condition argument, or a doctor released too early.
Injuries and Claim Types We Handle for Union County Workers
Union County’s economy leans on manufacturing, furniture and upholstery production, trucking and distribution, healthcare, poultry and food processing, and construction. Each of those settings produces a recognizable pattern of injury and a recognizable insurer response.
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Herniated lumbar and cervical discs are common among line workers, warehouse employees, and drivers. Insurers often blame degenerative disc disease, so the medical proof must show how repetitive work or a single incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears follow repetitive overhead work, lifting, and awkward landings. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and the claim turns on the treating surgeon’s causation opinion.
- Fractures: Broken feet, ankles, hips, and arms from falls, struck-by incidents, and forklift or machinery accidents often require specialists and surgical repair, with long recovery periods and questions about permanent impairment.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plant, welding, and industrial site accidents can cause severe burns or injuries that end a career, raising permanent disability and lifetime medical care issues.
- Truck Drivers and Delivery Workers: Drivers hurt in wrecks or by loading and unloading strain may have both a comp claim and a claim against the at-fault driver, which must be coordinated.
- Firefighter and First Responder Claims: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job are often contested because the link to work develops over years.
- Healthcare Workers: Nurses and aides suffer back injuries from patient transfers and exposure-related illness, and insurers frequently dispute whether the event occurred at work.
What to Do After a Work Injury in Union County, Mississippi
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as it happens. Mississippi gives you 30 days from the accident to give notice, and a late report hands the insurer an easy defense. Keep a copy of the report, or send a text or email so there is a dated record. Then see a doctor and tell the provider the injury happened at work and describe exactly how, because the first medical records become the foundation of causation. If the ER or urgent care is where you start, follow up with a specialist, and do not skip appointments or ignore restrictions, since insurers use gaps in treatment against workers.
Mississippi covers you from your first day on the job, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. Wage benefits for temporary or permanent total disability run at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and are capped at 450 weeks. For permanent partial disability in other cases, payments also cannot run beyond 450 weeks. The deadline to protect is the claim itself: you generally have two years from the date of injury, or from the last compensation payment, to file a Petition to Controvert with the Commission. If no disability benefits have been paid and nothing is filed within two years, the right to benefits can be lost. These time rules come from Miss. Code section 71-3-35.
If the claim is denied, the case is set for a hearing before an Administrative Judge, where testimony and medical evidence are presented. A party unhappy with that result can seek review by the Full Commission, which examines the record made before the judge rather than holding a new trial. From there, a final award can be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and review is limited to the record the Commission created. That is why the hearing itself matters so much: new evidence generally cannot be added later.
Common mistakes are avoidable. Do not give a recorded statement to the adjuster before you understand the questions. Do not accept a quick return to work that your doctor has not cleared. Do not sign medical releases broader than your injury. And do not post activity on social media that could be framed as inconsistent with your restrictions. Gather your pay stubs, the names of any witnesses, photos of the area where you were hurt, and every medical bill and record.
How Insurers Fight Union County Claims and How We Respond
The playbook is familiar. The carrier says the accident did not happen at work, points to a prior condition, pushes you back before your doctor agrees, or stops paying without warning. An attorney’s work here is concrete: obtaining the treating physician’s causation opinion in terms that fit the legal standard, securing prior records so a pre-existing condition is explained rather than hidden, interviewing coworkers while memories are fresh, and challenging independent medical examinations that downplay the injury.
A pre-existing condition does not end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated a back, knee, or shoulder problem, benefits may still be owed. We also look at the wage side closely, because an understated average weekly wage lowers every check for the life of the claim. When settlement is on the table, the question is whether the number accounts for future surgery, ongoing medication, permanent impairment, and the realistic ability to return to the same work. We prepare each file as if it will be tried before the Commission, because an insurer’s offer tends to improve when it believes that.
Some Union County injuries involve a party other than your employer, such as a driver who hits a work vehicle or a contractor whose unsafe site causes a fall. In those cases a separate injury claim may exist alongside comp, and the two have to be handled so that one does not undercut the other. Our Union County workers’ comp attorney team also handles personal injury, car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death.
Union County Workers’ Compensation Questions Answered
How long do I have to report a work injury in Mississippi?
You must notify your employer within 30 days of the accident. Do it in writing and keep a copy. Waiting makes it easier for the insurer to dispute that the injury happened at work.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury or from the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If no disability benefits have been paid and no claim is filed in that window, the right to benefits can be barred.
What benefits can I receive?
Reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement at up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage subject to the weekly maximum, and compensation for permanent disability where it applies. Temporary and permanent total disability benefits cannot exceed 450 weeks.
Does my employer have to carry workers’ compensation?
Mississippi requires coverage from employers with five or more employees, and coverage begins on an employee’s first day. Smaller employers may fall outside the system, which is worth reviewing with an attorney.
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ comp claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits were denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work a long time, a lawyer can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers working for it.
What does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance 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.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Mississippi protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
Is my claim hurt if I have a degenerative condition like arthritis or disc disease?
No, not automatically. If work caused, aggravated, or sped up the condition, benefits may still be owed. Insurers raise this argument constantly, and the answer is strong medical evidence tying your job duties to your symptoms.
What happens at a hearing, and is it a court trial?
Mississippi comp cases go before an Administrative Judge at the Commission, not a jury. Witnesses testify and medical evidence is admitted. If either side appeals to the Full Commission, that review is based on the record from the first hearing, which is why building the record carefully matters.
Can I still sue someone else if I got hurt at work?
Often yes, when a third party such as a negligent driver or contractor caused the injury. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence for those claims, so your own share of fault reduces recovery rather than eliminating it. Your comp and injury claims should be coordinated.
My Louisiana employer sent me to work in Mississippi, or the reverse. Which state’s law applies?
It depends on factors such as where you were hired, where you work, and where the injury occurred. Because our firm handles claims in both states, we can compare the deadlines and benefit rules in each and pursue the better path. Louisiana, for example, generally requires a claim within one year and sets its own weekly maximums.
Will my health insurance pay while the comp claim is pending?
Comp is supposed to cover work-related treatment, so health insurers often resist paying. If the carrier is denying care, tell your attorney promptly so treatment is not interrupted while the dispute is resolved.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Injured Workers Across Union County and North Mississippi
Our work for Union County clients starts in New Albany, the county seat, and extends to Myrtle, Blue Springs, Ecru, Sherman, Hickory Flat, Allen, and the rural communities between them. Many workers in these areas commute to jobs in neighboring counties, and we represent them there as well. Nearby, in Pontotoc, Lee, Benton, Tippah, and Lafayette counties, we help workers from Pontotoc, Tupelo, Oxford, Ripley, and Holly Springs, as well as injured workers across the Delta, Southaven, Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast, and Jackson and Madison.
Beyond Mississippi, the firm represents injured workers throughout Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and across south and north Louisiana. Wherever the injury happened, the same principle applies: the sooner an attorney is involved, the stronger the record.
Talk With a Union County Workers’ Compensation Attorney
If you were hurt on the job in Union County, speak with a Union County workers’ compensation attorney before the 30-day notice window and the two-year filing deadline pass without your knowledge. 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 today and let us deal with the employer and the insurer while you focus on getting well.
