Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyers
What this page covers
This is the starting point for injury claims anywhere in Mississippi — the deadlines, how fault is divided, what insurance is actually available, and where to go next for your specific type of case. Every practice area and city page below is linked from here.
How long do you have to file an injury claim in Mississippi?
Three years for most claims
Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49 sets a three-year limitation period for actions not otherwise specifically provided for, which covers car and truck crashes, premises liability and most negligence claims. For a latent injury or disease, the three years does not begin until the plaintiff discovers, or by reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury.
One year, plus notice, against a government entity
This is the deadline that ends the most Mississippi cases. Under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-11, an action against a governmental entity must be commenced within one year of the conduct complained of, and the claimant must file a notice of claim with the chief executive officer of the entity at least 90 days before filing suit.
Filing the notice within the one-year period tolls the limitation period for 95 days from receipt. No suit may be brought until the claimant receives a denial or the tolling period expires, whichever comes first, after which the claimant has an additional 90 days to file. Missing these steps is an absolute bar.
If a city vehicle, a county truck, a public hospital, a school district or a state agency is anywhere in your facts, the clock is one year and it started on the day of the incident.
Why three years is not permission to wait
Vehicles are repaired or sold. Business camera footage is overwritten in days. Witnesses move. The strongest version of a case is built in the first month.
How does Mississippi’s pure comparative negligence rule work?
Fault reduces, it does not bar
Miss. Code Ann. § 11-7-15 provides that contributory negligence does not bar recovery, and that damages are diminished by the jury in proportion to the negligence attributable to the injured person.
Mississippi is a pure comparative negligence state, and that puts it in a small minority. There is no cut-off. A plaintiff found 60, 80 or even 99 percent at fault still recovers the remaining percentage. Most states, including three of Mississippi’s neighbours, bar recovery entirely once the plaintiff reaches 50 or 51 percent.
Why this matters more than people realise
Cross the state line and the same facts produce a different result. In Tennessee or Arkansas, a 50 percent fault finding is worth nothing. In Mississippi, it is worth half. If your crash happened in DeSoto County rather than Shelby County, that difference can be the whole case — and the reverse is equally true.
It also changes how these cases are negotiated. Because fault never zeroes out a Mississippi claim, insurers cannot use a fault argument to walk away entirely; they use it to discount. Every percentage point is money, which is why the reconstruction and scene evidence are worth developing properly rather than conceding.
What insurance covers a Mississippi accident?
Minimum liability limits
Mississippi requires minimum liability limits of 25/50/25 — $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property damage. Those limits are exhausted by one ambulance ride, an emergency department work-up and a short hospital stay. A great many serious Mississippi injuries are worth more than the coverage that exists to pay them.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Under Miss. Code Ann. § 83-11-101, automobile liability policies issued in Mississippi must include uninsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejects it in writing on a signed form. Where a signed rejection exists it is binding on everyone insured under the policy and is presumed to be an informed, knowing waiver.
That cuts both ways. It means UM coverage is often present when people assume it is not — and it means the existence and validity of any written rejection is worth checking rather than accepting at face value. UM and UIM coverage is frequently the most valuable coverage in a serious Mississippi case, because it responds when the at-fault driver carries the statutory minimum and your damages are a multiple of it.
Other coverage worth finding
Medical payments coverage on your own policy, resident relatives’ policies, employer and non-owned vehicle coverage, umbrella policies, and commercial or rideshare coverage where the other driver was working. Identifying every applicable policy is ordinary early case work and often decides what can actually be recovered.
Liens and reimbursement
Health insurers, ERISA plans, Mississippi Medicaid and Medicare may assert reimbursement rights against a settlement, and hospitals may file liens. These are negotiated rather than simply paid, and the result changes the net figure that reaches you.
How dangerous are Mississippi roads?
The federal numbers
The Mississippi Office of Highway Safety reports, using federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System data, that traffic fatalities in Mississippi rose from 703 in 2022 to 732 in 2023, with a five-year (2019–2023) average of 718. Within that total:
- Unrestrained occupant fatalities rose from 197 to 216
- Impaired driving fatalities rose from 159 to 162
- Speeding fatalities rose from 139 to 140
- Motorcyclist fatalities rose from 52 to 58
- Pedestrian fatalities rose from 81 to 86
- Bicyclist fatalities fell from 17 to 13
Source: Mississippi Office of Highway Safety, FY2024 Annual Report (NHTSA), citing FARS.
What that means for a claim
For a state of roughly three million people, those are heavy numbers, and the composition matters. A high share of unrestrained and impaired-driving deaths tells you what the defence will reach for: seat belt use and the injured person’s own conduct. Rural crashes also produce thinner documentation — fewer witnesses, no camera coverage, longer response times — which puts more weight on physical evidence gathered early.
What kinds of Mississippi injury cases do we handle?
Motor vehicle collisions
Start with our Mississippi personal injury overview. For specific crash types: head-on collisions, texting and distracted driving, drunk driving crashes, Uber and Lyft rideshare crashes, delivery vehicle crashes and van and bus crashes.
Premises, animals and catastrophic loss
Slip and fall and premises liability, dog bites and animal attacks, and wrongful death.
Which part of Mississippi are you in?
DeSoto County and the Memphis metro
Northern Mississippi is where most of our Mississippi work sits, because DeSoto County is minutes from our Memphis headquarters. See our DeSoto County overview, and the city clusters for Southaven and Olive Branch.
Southaven pages: car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, slip and fall, rear-end collisions, uninsured motorist claims and wrongful death.
Olive Branch pages: car accidents, truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, slip and fall, rear-end collisions, uninsured motorist claims and wrongful death.
Jackson and central Mississippi
See our Jackson overview, plus Jackson car accidents and what to do after a Jackson crash, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents.
Which court will hear a Mississippi injury case?
Circuit court
Mississippi circuit courts hear personal injury claims above the county court threshold, and venue is generally proper in the county where the incident occurred or where a defendant resides. A DeSoto County crash is ordinarily a DeSoto County Circuit Court case; a Hinds County crash is heard in Jackson.
Federal removal
Where the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds the statutory threshold, a defendant may remove to the United States District Court for the Northern or Southern District of Mississippi. This is common in the DeSoto County corridor, where out-of-state drivers and national trucking companies are routine.
What should you do after a Mississippi accident?
- Get medical attention, and keep going. Gaps in treatment are the most common argument used to devalue a genuine injury.
- Get the crash or incident report. It identifies the investigating agency, the other driver’s insurer and any witnesses.
- Photograph everything before it changes — vehicles, the scene, the hazard, your injuries.
- Check your own policy for UM, UIM and medical payments coverage.
- Do not give the other insurer a recorded statement before you have advice. In a pure comparative state, every admission is a discount.
- If any government entity is involved, treat it as urgent — one year, plus a 90-day notice requirement.
Frequently asked questions about Mississippi injury claims
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Mississippi?
Generally three years from the date of injury under Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49. For latent injuries the clock runs from when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Claims against government entities are limited to one year under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.
Can I recover if the accident was mostly my fault?
Yes. Mississippi is a pure comparative negligence state under Miss. Code Ann. § 11-7-15. Your damages are reduced in proportion to your share of fault, but there is no threshold that bars recovery — a plaintiff found 90 percent at fault still recovers 10 percent of their damages.
What are Mississippi’s minimum car insurance limits?
25/50/25 — $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. Serious injuries routinely exceed those limits, which is why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters so much.
Does my Mississippi policy include uninsured motorist coverage?
Unless you rejected it in writing. Miss. Code Ann. § 83-11-101 requires uninsured motorist coverage in automobile liability policies issued in Mississippi unless the named insured signs a rejection form, which is then binding on all insureds under the policy and presumed to be a knowing waiver.
What is the deadline to sue a city or county in Mississippi?
One year from the conduct complained of, under Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-11, and you must file a notice of claim with the entity’s chief executive officer at least 90 days before suing. Filing the notice within the year tolls the period for 95 days. Failure to comply is an absolute bar.
How is Mississippi different from Tennessee or Arkansas on fault?
Substantially. Mississippi is pure comparative negligence, so fault only reduces recovery. Tennessee and Arkansas both bar recovery entirely once the injured person’s fault reaches 50 percent. The same crash facts can be worth something in Mississippi and nothing across the state line.
How many people die on Mississippi roads each year?
The Mississippi Office of Highway Safety reports traffic fatalities rose from 703 in 2022 to 732 in 2023, with a five-year average of 718 for 2019 through 2023, based on federal FARS data. Unrestrained occupant deaths rose from 197 to 216 over the same period.
Do I have to go to court?
Most Mississippi injury claims resolve without a trial. That is an outcome rather than a plan, though: cases developed as if they will be tried tend to resolve on better terms than cases developed as if they will settle.
Does Southern Injury Attorneys have an office in Mississippi?
No. We are licensed in Mississippi and handle Mississippi matters from our Memphis headquarters at 5865 Ridgeway Center Parkway, Suite 390, which is a short drive from DeSoto County. Consultations are free and available 24/7 at 901-300-5001.
What does it cost to hire a Mississippi injury lawyer?
We work on a contingency fee, so there is no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. The fee agreement is provided in writing and explained before you sign it.
How much is my Mississippi case worth?
It depends on the medical evidence, the insurance actually available and the fault percentages a jury would assign. No lawyer can responsibly quote a figure before reviewing your records and confirming coverage.
This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and case law change; every case turns on its own facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Responsible attorney: Larry “Jimmy” Peters. Southern Injury Attorneys does not maintain an office in Mississippi; Mississippi matters are handled from our Memphis, Tennessee headquarters at 5865 Ridgeway Center Parkway, Suite 390.
