Hurt on the job in New Orleans? Start here.
If you're hurt at work in Louisiana, you generally must report the injury to your employer within 30 days and file any disputed claim within one year. New Orleans adds a wrinkle most cities don't have: a huge share of injuries here happen offshore, on the docks, or on vessels, where federal maritime law — not state workers' comp — may control. Our workers' compensation guide explains the benefits, deadlines, and appeal process in plain English.
We verified the New Orleans workers' compensation firms below through Super Lawyers, Avvo, and Justia. We confirmed eight firms by at least two independent sources; several also handle the maritime and offshore claims that are common in this port city.
How we picked these 8: We reviewed published verdicts and settlements, peer rankings (Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Avvo, Martindale), client review patterns, and bar association recognition. Firms that appeared consistently across independent sources made the list. We do not accept payment for placement, and we do not write sponsored reviews. More on our methodology →
Practice focus: Workers' comp, maritime/Jones Act, offshore injury
Founded by Timothy J. Young, who has more than 30 years of experience and is licensed in Louisiana and Texas. The firm is known for both state workers' comp and the maritime and offshore claims common in the Gulf.
Practice focus: Workers' compensation, on-the-job injury, car accidents
One of the best-known firms in the Gulf South, with a large team and the leverage to negotiate hard with comp insurers. A practical choice when an insurer is fighting your benefits.
Practice focus: Workers' comp, personal injury, offshore injury
A New Orleans firm with more than 100 years of combined legal experience and a reputation in the local injury and comp community for thorough, client-focused representation.
Practice focus: Workers' comp, supplemental earnings benefits, injury
Known for understanding Louisiana's specific comp deadlines and for helping injured workers maximize Supplemental Earnings Benefits when they can only return to lower-paying work.
Practice focus: Workers' compensation for the New Orleans workforce
More than 25 years serving New Orleans workers, from restaurant and hospitality staff to dockworkers, with hands-on attention to each claim.
Practice focus: Offshore and maritime injury, workers' comp, serious injury
More than 40 years handling personal injury and offshore claims in New Orleans, with deep experience in the maritime and platform injuries that drive many local comp disputes.
Practice focus: Workers' comp, auto accidents, traumatic brain injury
Representing injured people in New Orleans since 1982, handling workers' compensation alongside auto and serious-injury claims with a steady, client-first approach.
Practice focus: Workers' compensation, disputed benefits
More than 35 years of experience handling New Orleans and Louisiana workers' comp claims, with a focus on getting wrongly denied or delayed benefits restored.
Tell us about your work injury and we'll match you with experienced New Orleans workers' comp attorneys. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Request Free Consultation →Louisiana workers' comp is a no-fault system: you don't have to prove your employer did anything wrong, only that you were hurt on the job. Benefits cover medical treatment and a portion of your lost wages — generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a state maximum — while you can't work.
Report the injury to your employer promptly (within 30 days is the safe rule) and get medical care. If the insurer accepts the claim, benefits start. If it denies, delays, or cuts off benefits, the dispute goes to the Louisiana Office of Workers' Compensation, where a workers' comp judge — not a jury — decides.
Disputed claims commonly take several months to over a year. The most contested issues are whether the injury is work-related, what your average weekly wage is, and whether you can return to work — which is where Supplemental Earnings Benefits come in if you go back to a lower-paying job.
Workers' comp lawyers in Louisiana work on contingency, and the fee is capped by law: an attorney can charge up to 20% of the benefits recovered on disputed amounts, subject to court approval. You don't pay out of pocket up front, and if no additional benefits are recovered, you generally owe no fee.
Because the fee comes out of recovered benefits and is capped, the cost of hiring a lawyer is far less than most injured workers expect. The real question is whether the insurer is paying you everything you're owed.
If your claim has been accepted and benefits are flowing without issue, you may not need a lawyer. The moment benefits are denied, delayed, or cut off — or your injury turns out to be serious or offshore — that's when representation pays for itself.
Guaranteed outcomes. No ethical attorney can promise a specific result. If a firm guarantees a workers' comp outcome before reviewing your file, walk away.
The disappearing senior partner. You meet a name partner at intake, then never speak to them again while a junior runs the file unsupervised. Ask in writing who your day-to-day lawyer will be.
Treating every case as plain state comp. In New Orleans, an offshore or dock injury may fall under the Jones Act or the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, which pay very differently from state comp. A firm that doesn't ask where you were hurt could leave large benefits on the table.
Pressure to sign immediately. A reputable firm gives you the engagement letter in writing and time to read it. High-pressure intake is a sign of a volume mill, not a careful practice.
Vague fee terms. “Don't worry about the cost” is a red flag. Every legitimate firm puts the fee, what it covers, and what triggers extra charges in writing.
Most comp firms offer a free consultation. Bring your accident report, any denial letter, and your pay records, and ask these before you hire.
Maritime law often overrides state comp. If you were injured on a vessel, a rig, or the docks, the Jones Act or the Longshore Act may apply instead of Louisiana workers' comp — and those systems can pay significantly more. Several firms above built their practices on exactly these claims.
Supplemental Earnings Benefits matter here. Louisiana pays SEBs when an injury forces you into lower-paying work. Calculating and defending SEBs is technical, and getting it right can mean years of additional benefits.
Disputes go to a comp judge, not a jury. The Office of Workers' Compensation hears cases through judges who specialize in these claims. A lawyer who appears before them regularly knows how each one approaches medical and wage disputes.
Tell us what happened. We'll match you with vetted New Orleans firms from the list above. Most respond within one business day.
Report it to your employer as soon as possible — within 30 days is the safe rule. A disputed claim generally must be filed with the Office of Workers' Compensation within one year of the injury.
By law, attorney fees in Louisiana comp cases are capped at 20% of the disputed benefits recovered, subject to court approval, and paid on contingency. You typically pay nothing up front.
Medical treatment for the work injury and wage-replacement benefits — generally about two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a state cap — plus Supplemental Earnings Benefits if you return to lower-paying work.
Maybe not, if benefits are being paid correctly. You need one when benefits are denied, delayed, or cut off, when your injury is serious, or when the injury happened offshore or on the docks.
Possibly not — it may fall under the Jones Act or the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, which often pay more. Tell any firm exactly where you were hurt so they apply the right law.
Louisiana law prohibits retaliating against you for filing a legitimate comp claim. If you're fired or demoted after filing, tell your lawyer — that's a separate legal issue.
One last thing. Choosing a lawyer is personal. Read the reviews. Call two or three firms before you sign. Ask each one: How many disputed comp claims — and maritime claims, if mine is one — have you handled in the last three years? The answer tells you most of what you need to know. — The LawFirmSquare team