Ridgeland Head & Brain Injury Lawyer
A head injury on the job in Ridgeland is not decided in a Madison County courtroom. Mississippi workers’ compensation claims are heard by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative body, and the evidence that carries a brain injury claim is medical, not testimonial. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including Ridgeland, Madison County, and the rest of the Jackson metro area, and a Ridgeland head & brain injury lawyer from our firm builds these claims around neurology, imaging, and cognitive testing.
Head injuries are among the hardest claims to prove because the damage is often invisible. A worker can walk out of an emergency room with a clean-looking scan and a diagnosis of “mild concussion,” then spend months with headaches, memory gaps, light sensitivity, mood changes, and trouble concentrating at a job that demands focus. Insurers read a normal CT scan as proof that nothing is wrong. Treating physicians know better, and the claim succeeds or fails on whether the right specialists are involved early and the symptoms are documented consistently.
The consequences reach past the medical bills. A worker who cannot reliably think, remember, or tolerate noise and bright light may not be able to return to the same job, and sometimes not to any job. That is why a head injury claim has to be valued for the long term from the first week, not treated as a short-term wage claim that ends when the adjuster says it does.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Brain Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles workers’ compensation as the center of its practice, not as a sideline to car wrecks. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. We serve clients from Ridgeland and Madison County through Jackson, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta, and we work with Spanish-speaking clients in their own language. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day.
The people doing the work matter. Rob Lunsford, our founding partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms 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.
Our results show what serious injury claims can be worth when the medical proof is built properly: $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. Those are not head injury results, and we will not pretend otherwise, but they reflect the same discipline a brain injury claim needs: pushing past an insurer’s first offer with medical evidence it cannot dismiss. Clients consistently tell us we listened, stayed in contact, and stood up to the insurance company on their behalf.
How Head and Brain Injuries Happen on Ridgeland Job Sites
- Falls from ladders, scaffolds, and roofs: Construction and commercial development in and around Ridgeland put workers at height, and a fall onto concrete or a hard floor is a classic cause of skull fracture, contusion, and traumatic brain injury.
- Struck-by incidents: Falling tools, shifting materials, swinging loads, and moving equipment can strike a worker in the head even when a hard hat is worn. Hard hats reduce the risk but do not prevent concussion.
- Vehicle collisions during work: Delivery drivers, truck drivers, sales staff, and anyone driving for the job can suffer head trauma in a crash, from impact with the window or steering wheel or from violent whiplash. These cases can also support a separate claim against the at-fault driver.
- Slips and falls inside retail, restaurants, and medical offices: Ridgeland’s shopping and service economy means many workers are on wet floors and stairs, and a backward fall onto a hard surface is a common source of concussion.
- Industrial and warehouse accidents: Forklift incidents, falling inventory, and equipment failures in distribution and light industrial settings can cause severe head trauma, sometimes with burns or other catastrophic injuries alongside it.
- Repetitive concussions and exposure: Not every brain injury comes from a single event. Some workers, including firefighters and other first responders, develop conditions tied to the job over time, and those claims require careful medical causation proof.
- Assaults at work: Healthcare workers, retail employees, and security staff can be injured by violent customers or patients, and a blow to the head at work is generally a compensable work injury.
What to Do After a Head Injury at Work in Mississippi
Get medical care first, and tell the provider the injury happened at work and that you hit or were struck in the head, even if it seemed minor. Concussion symptoms can build over hours or days, and a record that begins with “no complaints” gives the insurer an opening. Follow up promptly if you develop headaches, dizziness, nausea, confusion, sleep problems, ringing in the ears, vision changes, or personality changes. Ask a family member or coworker to write down what they notice about you, because people with brain injuries often underreport their own symptoms.
Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as you can. Mississippi requires notice to the employer within 30 days of the accident, and a late report invites a denial. Then protect the claim itself. If your employer or its insurer is not paying disability benefits, the right to compensation is barred unless you file a claim with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the injury. A petition to controvert is the filing that opens a contested case. Mississippi covers you from your first day on the job, with no waiting period.
Be careful with the insurer’s recorded statement and with any adjuster who steers you toward a doctor of their choosing. Brain injuries call for a neurologist, and often neuropsychological testing, which measures memory, processing speed, and attention in ways a standard exam cannot. Keep every appointment, take every medication as prescribed, and do not return to work before your doctor clears you. Going back early and struggling is how a legitimate claim gets turned into “he was fine.”
Contested claims are heard by an Administrative Judge of the Commission at an evidentiary hearing. If the decision goes against you, the Full Commission reviews the record from that hearing; it is not a new trial, which is why building the medical record at the first hearing matters so much. A final Commission award can then be appealed within 30 days, and the appeal is decided only on the record the Commission created. Louisiana workers hurt in a Louisiana job follow a different system through the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, with their own deadlines, and we handle those claims as well.
Benefits and Insurer Tactics in Brain Injury Claims
A compensable head injury opens the door to medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary, including emergency care, imaging, neurology, therapy, and cognitive rehabilitation. It also opens wage-loss benefits. In Mississippi, temporary and permanent total disability are paid at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a statutory weekly maximum and for no more than 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability in other cases is also capped at 450 weeks. Because brain injury symptoms can improve, plateau, or worsen, the classification of your disability and the point at which you reach maximum medical improvement are often the central fights in the case.
Insurers use a predictable set of arguments against head injury claims. They point to a normal scan. They attribute memory problems and headaches to stress, depression, sleep apnea, or age. They cite a prior concussion from sports or an earlier accident. They send the worker to a physician who reviews the file for a few minutes and declares recovery. A pre-existing condition does not automatically defeat a claim; if the job caused, worsened, or accelerated the problem, benefits may still be owed. Answering these arguments takes treating specialists willing to explain, in plain medical terms, why the symptoms trace to the workplace event.
Sometimes a head injury at work involves someone other than your employer, such as a negligent driver who hit your work vehicle or a contractor whose unsafe site caused a fall. Comp benefits do not bar a separate injury claim against that third party, and we coordinate the two so they work together. Our firm also handles car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death cases.
Questions About 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 contested more often than most. If benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if you will be out of work for a long time, legal representation can change the outcome. Fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
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, and do it in writing. Waiting hurts brain injury claims in particular because symptoms may surface slowly, but the notice clock still runs from the date of the accident.
How long do I have to file the claim itself?
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 within two years of the injury and no claim has been filed, the right to benefits is lost.
What if my CT scan or MRI came back normal?
A normal scan does not rule out a concussion or traumatic brain injury. Many mild injuries do not show on standard imaging. Neurological examination, neuropsychological testing, and consistent symptom documentation are what establish the injury.
Will workers’ comp pay for neuropsychological testing and cognitive therapy?
Workers’ compensation covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the injury, and testing and rehabilitation recommended by your treating physicians commonly fall within that. Insurers sometimes resist these costs, which is a frequent reason to bring in an attorney.
Can I be fired for filing a claim after a head injury?
Mississippi and Louisiana both protect workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting your injury, tell us at your consultation so we can review it.
The insurer says my memory problems come from an old concussion. Does that end my claim?
No. If the work accident caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. The question becomes medical causation, and your treating specialists’ records are the best answer to it.
What if I returned to work but can no longer do my job well?
Returning to a lighter or lower-paying role does not necessarily end your benefits. Depending on your circumstances, partial disability benefits may apply. Keep records of errors, restrictions, and reduced hours, and do not resign without talking to an attorney first.
Can I also sue someone other than my employer?
Possibly. If a negligent driver, contractor, or property owner caused your head injury, you may have a separate injury claim in addition to comp benefits. Mississippi follows pure comparative negligence for those claims, meaning your recovery is reduced by your share of fault rather than barred.
How long does a brain injury comp case take?
It depends largely on medical recovery. Settlement of a serious brain injury claim usually waits until the doctors can say what permanent limitations exist, because settling before that point can leave future care unfunded. If the claim is contested, scheduling an evidentiary hearing adds time.
Does the claim cover me if I worked for a very small employer?
In Mississippi, employers with five or more employees must carry coverage from an employee’s first day. Smaller employers may fall outside the system, but other options can exist, so call us before assuming you have no claim.
What if I live in Ridgeland but was hurt in Louisiana?
Where the injury happened and where the job is based can affect which state’s rules apply. Louisiana has its own deadlines, including a general one-year filing period, so get advice quickly if there is any Louisiana connection.
Serving Head Injury Clients in Ridgeland and Across Mississippi
We represent injured workers in Ridgeland and throughout Madison County, including neighboring Madison and the surrounding communities that make up the northern part of the Jackson metro area. From Ridgeland our work extends into Jackson and the rest of Hinds County, and into Rankin County and the suburbs on the east side of the river. Workers from Clinton, Byram, and Terry come to us, as do clients from the Pearl and Brandon area.
Beyond the metro, we serve injured workers on the Gulf Coast, in Hattiesburg, in Southaven and north Mississippi, and throughout the Delta. We also represent workers in Louisiana, from New Orleans and South Louisiana to Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and north Louisiana. Wherever the job site was, the medical and legal work on a head injury claim is the same: document the injury, protect the deadlines, and meet the insurer’s arguments with evidence.
Talk With a Ridgeland Brain Injury Attorney Today
If a blow to the head at work has changed how you think, remember, work, or live, speak with a Ridgeland brain injury attorney before the insurance company defines your claim for you. Call Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC any hour of the day for a free consultation. We handle the employer and the insurer, and you owe no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
