Madison Head & Brain Injury Lawyer
A head or brain injury claim succeeds when the medical record, the work history, and the legal filings all tell the same story about what the injury has taken from you. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that helps injured workers in Madison, throughout Madison County, and across Mississippi and South Louisiana secure the medical care and wage benefits the law provides. When you need a Madison head & brain injury lawyer, the firm builds the claim around the evidence that matters most in these cases.
Brain injuries are different from a broken bone or a torn shoulder. The injury may not show on a first scan, symptoms like memory gaps, light sensitivity, irritability, and trouble concentrating can surface days or weeks later, and an insurer reading a thin chart may decide nothing serious happened. A fall from a ladder at a construction site, a rear-end collision in a company truck, a struck-by incident in a warehouse, or a blow from a falling tool can all cause a concussion or a more serious traumatic brain injury. Whether the claim is paid or denied often depends on how well that first week of symptoms was documented.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Brain Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, serving Madison and Madison County along with Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Delta, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport. Workers’ compensation is the center of the firm’s practice, and its attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and 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.
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 represents injured workers before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The firm’s results show what its attorneys can do with serious injuries: $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 he was struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients consistently describe the team as thorough listeners who stay with them through the process; one wrote that her attorney fought the insurance company at every step.
In a brain injury case, an attorney’s work goes well beyond filing paperwork. It means getting the injured worker in front of the right treating physicians, pushing for neurological and neuropsychological evaluation rather than a quick clearance, gathering witness statements about the incident and about the worker’s behavior changes afterward, and answering the insurer’s usual arguments about pre-existing conditions or unrelated causes.
Types of Head and Brain Injury Claims We Handle
- Concussions and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Often dismissed because imaging looks normal. Headaches, dizziness, sleep disruption, and cognitive fog can still keep a worker off a job site or out of a driving seat, and these claims depend on consistent treatment records.
- Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Falls from scaffolding, roofs, and ladders, and impacts from falling equipment, can cause lasting cognitive, emotional, and physical impairment that supports permanent disability benefits.
- Vehicle Collisions on the Job: Delivery drivers, truck drivers, and employees running errands in work vehicles are often hurt in crashes. When another driver is at fault, a personal injury claim may exist alongside the comp claim.
- Struck-By and Falling Object Injuries: Warehouses, plants, construction sites, and industrial facilities around the Madison and Jackson area produce head injuries from tools, materials, and equipment.
- Industrial and Oil Field Accidents: Explosions, blowouts, and equipment failures on rigs and in plants can combine head trauma with burns and other catastrophic injuries.
- Skull Fractures and Facial Trauma: These injuries often bring surgery, specialist care, and long recovery periods that affect both medical coverage and wage replacement.
- First Responder Injuries: Firefighters and other first responders face head trauma on scene, along with job-related conditions the firm also handles, including posttraumatic stress.
- Delayed-Onset Symptoms: Memory problems, mood changes, and personality shifts that appear after a workplace incident still tie back to the injury, and prompt documentation protects the claim.
What to Do After a Workplace Head Injury in Madison
Get medical attention first, even if you feel fine, and tell every provider that the injury happened at work and that you struck your head or were jolted. Brain injuries can look minor in the first hours. A record that says “work injury, head impact” on day one is far stronger than one created after symptoms worsen. Follow up on any dizziness, vomiting, confusion, memory loss, or vision changes, and keep every appointment.
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can. In Mississippi, notice must reach the employer within 30 days of the accident, and the same 30-day notice rule applies in Louisiana. Mississippi workers are generally covered from the first day of employment, with no waiting period. A claim filed with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission generally must be filed within two years of the injury or the last compensation payment. Most Madison cases fall under the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, which handles claims through Administrative Judges and the Full Commission rather than a civil court.
If your claim is denied or the insurer stops paying, an attorney can request an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge. A Full Commission review examines the record built at that hearing; it is not a new trial, so the quality of the evidence at the first hearing matters enormously. A final Commission award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and the Supreme Court may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Appeals are decided on the existing record.
Keep your own records. Write down symptoms as they happen, note missed work, and ask a family member or coworker to describe changes they notice, since brain injury patients often underreport their own difficulties. Avoid giving a recorded statement to the insurer without guidance, do not return to work before your doctor clears you, and do not downplay symptoms to a claims adjuster. Social media posts can also be used to argue that you are more capable than your medical records suggest.
How Insurers Contest Brain Injury Claims
Carriers rely on a familiar set of arguments: the accident did not happen at work, the symptoms come from a pre-existing condition, or the worker has recovered enough to return. With brain injuries, they also lean on normal CT or MRI results and on gaps between the incident and the first treatment. A good response combines the mechanism of injury, contemporaneous medical notes, specialist opinions, and testimony from people who knew you before and after.
Wage-loss benefits in Mississippi are generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory weekly maximum, and temporary and permanent total disability benefits are capped at 450 weeks. Partial disability in other cases is also limited to 450 weeks. Where a head injury leaves you unable to return to your old work, the question becomes how much earning capacity you lost, which is why vocational evidence and cognitive testing carry so much weight. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a negligent driver or an unsafe contractor, you may also have a separate injury claim, and the two claims have to be coordinated so one does not undermine the other.
Questions About Madison Head and Brain Injury Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a head injury workers’ compensation claim?
Not every claim requires one, but brain injury cases are among the hardest to prove without help. If benefits are denied, delayed, or cut off, or if you may be out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference in the outcome.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and you pay only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report a head injury at work in Mississippi?
Report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident. You generally have two years to file a petition with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, though exceptions apply when benefits have already been paid. Report right away, in writing.
What if my symptoms did not show up until days after the accident?
That is common with concussions and other brain injuries. Tell your doctor about the work incident as soon as symptoms appear, and notify your employer promptly. Delayed symptoms can still be tied to the injury with proper medical evidence.
What benefits can I receive for a work-related brain injury?
Medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary, wage replacement while you cannot work, and additional benefits if the injury causes permanent disability. In Mississippi, wage-loss benefits are generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a weekly maximum set by the Legislature.
The insurance company says my scans are normal. Does that end my claim?
No. Standard imaging often misses concussions and mild brain injuries. Neurological examinations, neuropsychological testing, and consistent treatment records can establish the injury even when scans look clear.
Can I be fired for filing a claim?
Both Mississippi and Louisiana protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, tell your attorney so your options can be reviewed.
Can a pre-existing condition or an old concussion defeat my claim?
Not automatically. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated a condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Insurers raise this argument often, and answering it with strong medical evidence is a core part of the firm’s work.
Can I also sue someone other than my employer?
Possibly. If a negligent driver, contractor, or equipment maker contributed to the injury, you may have a personal injury claim in addition to comp. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence, so your own share of fault reduces a recovery rather than barring it, and the general limitation period for many injury suits is three years. Those claims have their own rules, so discuss the facts early.
What if I live in Madison but was hurt on a job in Louisiana?
Where the injury happened and where your employer operates affect which state’s rules apply. The firm handles claims in both states. In Louisiana, notice is due within 30 days and a formal claim generally within one year of the accident, so deadlines can be shorter than in Mississippi.
Will the insurer make me see their doctor?
Insurers often arrange independent medical examinations, and their doctors may be quick to say you have recovered. Your attorney can help you prepare, make sure your own treating specialists’ opinions are in the record, and challenge conclusions that ignore your symptoms.
Serving Brain Injury Clients Across Madison County and Beyond
The firm represents injured workers in Madison and throughout Madison County, including Ridgeland, Flora, Canton, Gluckstadt, and the communities along the I-55 and I-220 corridors. Clients also come from neighboring Hinds County and Rankin County, including Jackson, Clinton, Pearl, Brandon, Flowood, and Byram. From there, the team serves workers across Mississippi, including Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast, Southaven, north Mississippi, and the Delta.
In Louisiana, the firm represents head and brain injury clients in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities across south and north Louisiana. Whether you were hurt at a construction site, a plant, a warehouse, on an oil rig, or on the road in a work vehicle, the team can review your claim wherever you live.
Talk With a Madison Brain Injury Attorney Today
A head injury can change how you work, think, and function at home, and the insurer will not wait for you to recover before disputing your claim. If you need a Madison brain injury attorney, call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC. 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 what happened and what your claim needs.
