Hattiesburg Head & Brain Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers and accident victims in Hattiesburg and across Mississippi and Louisiana, and a head or brain injury is among the hardest claims to prove and the easiest for an insurer to minimize. A Hattiesburg head and brain injury lawyer has to deal with a problem that a broken bone never presents: the worker walks out of the emergency room, looks fine, and the damage shows up weeks later as memory gaps, headaches, mood changes, trouble concentrating, or an inability to handle the job they did for years.
That delay is where claims get into trouble. An adjuster sees a clean CT scan and a short ER visit and concludes the injury was minor. A concussion or mild traumatic brain injury often does not appear on standard imaging at all, and the symptoms that matter most are the ones nobody can photograph. Building the claim means connecting the event at work, or the crash on the road, to a medical record that explains why you can no longer do what you did before.
Hattiesburg’s economy produces these injuries in predictable places: timber and wood products operations, construction sites, warehouses and distribution centers, hospitals and clinics, and the long-haul and local trucking that runs through the Forrest County and Lamar County corridors. A fall from a ladder, a struck-by incident on a job site, or a collision in a company vehicle can all cause a traumatic brain injury, and each one raises different questions about who pays and how.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Brain Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that serves injured people throughout Mississippi, including Hattiesburg, Forrest County, and the surrounding Pine Belt communities, as well as South Louisiana. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, you pay no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
The people behind the work matter on a claim like this one. 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 successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries that are hard to prove. 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 $385,000 for a project manager injured after being struck in his work vehicle, a type of collision that can also produce head trauma. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, explains the process, and stays in the fight with the insurance company. Brad Baskin is named repeatedly in client reviews for exactly that.
How Head and Brain Injuries Happen on the Job and on the Road
- Falls from ladders, scaffolding, and roofs: Construction and maintenance work around Hattiesburg puts people at height, and a landing on concrete or a hard edge is a classic cause of skull fracture, bleeding on the brain, and concussion. These are compensable work injuries from the first day of employment.
- Struck-by and falling-object injuries: Lumber, pipe, tools, and materials dropped from above hit workers on job sites and in mill and warehouse settings. A hard hat reduces the risk but does not eliminate a concussion from the force of the blow.
- Work vehicle and trucking crashes: Delivery drivers, truck drivers, and employees driving on the clock can suffer head injuries in a wreck. These cases often carry both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate personal injury claim against the at-fault driver.
- Industrial and equipment accidents: Machinery, forklifts, and plant equipment can cause blunt head trauma, and explosions or burns on industrial sites sometimes involve brain injury alongside other catastrophic harm.
- Slips and falls in hospitals, warehouses, and retail: A wet floor or poor lighting can send a worker backward onto a hard surface. Nurses, aides, and stock workers are common claimants, and a head strike is easy to dismiss if it was not reported right away.
- Concussions and post-concussive syndrome: Even a mild traumatic brain injury can leave lasting headaches, dizziness, light sensitivity, sleep problems, and cognitive difficulty. Insurers often push back, so treatment records from a neurologist or neuropsychologist carry real weight.
- Brain injuries from third-party negligence: When a negligent driver, an unsafe contractor, or a property owner causes the injury, the worker may recover from that party in addition to comp benefits, which can reach losses that workers’ compensation does not cover.
What to Do After a Head Injury at Work
Get medical care first, and tell every provider that you hit your head or were involved in a blow or crash, even if you feel fine and even if the only thing wrong is a headache. Symptoms of a brain injury can build over hours or days, and the early records are what an insurer will compare against everything that comes later. If you are told to rest or follow up with a specialist, do it and keep every discharge paper. A gap in treatment is one of the first things a carrier points to when it argues your problems are unrelated to the accident.
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can. In Mississippi, the notice deadline is 30 days from the accident, and the same 30-day window applies in Louisiana. Do not wait to see whether the symptoms clear up. With a concussion, people often minimize what happened, and a late report gives the insurer an opening to argue the injury did not occur at work or happened somewhere else. Ask coworkers who saw the fall or the impact to write down what they witnessed while it is fresh, and photograph the area if you can.
Filing a claim is a separate step from reporting. In Mississippi, the injured worker generally has two years from the date of injury to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and that clock can be affected by when the last payment was made. Mississippi workers’ compensation cases are heard by the Commission, not a court, either before an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing or on review before the Full Commission, which examines the record already made rather than holding a new trial. A final Commission award can be appealed within 30 days to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
If the injury happened in Louisiana, a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, extending to three years from the last payment where benefits have been paid. Louisiana claims go before a workers’ compensation judge at the Office of Workers’ Compensation, and a medical treatment denial can be challenged through a utilization review dispute that must be filed within 15 calendar days of the written denial. These short deadlines are why speaking to an attorney early protects your options.
A few common mistakes are worth avoiding. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster before you understand your rights. Do not downplay your symptoms to be agreeable. Do not return to work before your physician clears you because someone told you it would look better. And do not sign anything that releases the employer or insurer without having a lawyer read it first.
What Benefits Cover a Traumatic Brain Injury
A workers’ compensation claim for a brain injury can include all reasonable and necessary medical care: emergency treatment, imaging, neurology and neuropsychology visits, cognitive and physical therapy, and prescribed medication. It also includes wage replacement when you cannot work. In Mississippi, temporary total and permanent total disability benefits pay two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory weekly maximum, for up to 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability benefits are also capped at 450 weeks. Mississippi covers workers from the first day of employment with no waiting period.
Brain injuries create a particular fight over permanency. A worker who can still physically perform tasks may nonetheless be unable to concentrate, remember instructions, or manage the pace of the job. Establishing the loss of earning capacity takes medical opinions that tie the cognitive and emotional symptoms to the injury, and in some cases vocational evidence about what work the person can realistically do. In Louisiana, supplemental earnings benefits are available when a worker cannot earn 90 percent or more of pre-injury wages, paid at two-thirds of the difference and running until release to full duty, a return to pre-injury earnings, or the 520-week maximum.
When someone other than your employer caused the injury, a separate personal injury claim can add recovery for pain, suffering, and losses the comp system does not pay. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, meaning your recovery is reduced by your share of fault rather than barred. The general three-year period for most negligence claims in Mississippi, and the shorter periods that apply against government entities, make it important to identify every responsible party quickly. Coordinating the comp claim and the injury claim so they do not undercut each other is part of the work.
Head and Brain Injury Questions Answered
Is a concussion covered by workers’ compensation in Mississippi?
Yes. If the concussion resulted from an accident arising out of your work, the medical treatment and wage loss are covered, regardless of whether you lost consciousness. The challenge is usually proof, which is why prompt reporting and consistent treatment records matter.
How long do I have to report a head injury to my employer?
You should report it right away and no later than 30 days after the accident in both Mississippi and Louisiana. Waiting gives the insurer room to dispute that the injury happened at work.
How long do I have to file the claim itself?
In Mississippi, you generally have two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment to file a Petition to Controvert with the Workers’ Compensation Commission. In Louisiana, a claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with a possible extension to three years from the last payment.
What if my symptoms did not show up until days or weeks later?
That is common with brain injuries. You should still report the incident and seek care as soon as symptoms appear, and tell your doctor about the earlier blow. The sooner the records link the symptoms to the event, the stronger the claim.
Do I need a lawyer for a brain injury claim?
Not every claim requires one, but brain injury claims are among the most disputed. If benefits are denied, reduced, or cut off, or if you expect to be out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a significant difference. The firm offers free consultations and charges nothing unless it recovers for you.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. The firm advances the costs of the case and is paid only if it recovers benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
What if the insurance company says my symptoms come from a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition does not end your claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence comparing your function before and after the injury is the best answer to that argument.
Can I recover more than workers’ compensation if a third party caused my head injury?
Often, yes. If a negligent driver, contractor, or property owner caused the injury, you may bring a personal injury claim in addition to your comp benefits. That claim can include damages for pain and suffering that workers’ compensation does not pay.
What happens if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault system, so your own mistake does not defeat a comp claim. In a separate Mississippi injury claim against a third party, pure comparative negligence reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault rather than eliminating it.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?
The workers’ compensation carrier is responsible for work-related medical care, and health insurers may resist paying for treatment that belongs under comp. If the carrier denies or delays treatment, an attorney can push to get approval, and you should tell providers it is a work injury so billing goes to the right place.
Can I be fired for filing a claim for a head injury?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting the injury, raise it during your consultation so the firm can review your options.
Does a brain injury claim take longer than a typical comp claim?
Often, yes. Doctors usually want to see how symptoms progress before assigning permanent restrictions, and the insurer may request independent medical examinations. A settlement is generally better evaluated once your condition has stabilized, rather than rushed early.
Serving Hattiesburg Brain Injury Clients Across the Pine Belt and Beyond
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers from Hattiesburg and throughout Forrest County, and the team also serves clients in neighboring Lamar County, including Purvis and the Oak Grove area. The firm works with people hurt on the job across the Pine Belt and elsewhere in Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, the Delta, Southaven, and north Mississippi.
The same representation extends into South Louisiana and across the state, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport, and north Louisiana. Whether a head injury came from a fall on a Hattiesburg job site, a collision on the road, or an accident anywhere else in Mississippi or Louisiana, the firm handles both the workers’ compensation claim and any related personal injury, truck accident, or wrongful death case that grows out of it.
Talk to a Hattiesburg Brain Injury Attorney Today
A head or brain injury changes how you work, think, and live, and the insurance company will not wait for you to figure out what you have lost. If you need a Hattiesburg brain injury attorney, Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC will review what happened, explain your options under workers’ compensation and any third-party claim, and handle the insurer so you can focus on treatment and recovery.
Phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you. Call today to talk through your injury and what comes next.
