New Mexico Workplace Brain Injury Lawyer

Did you suffer a brain injury in a workplace accident in New Mexico? At Davie & Valdez, P.C., we provide plaintiff-focused workplace brain injury representation grounded in more than 35 years of employee-side litigation.

If you were hit in the head on a job site in New Mexico, you’re likely dealing with pain, medical bills, and financial instability while waiting for workers’ compensation to be approved. Our founder, Roger Davie, has been licensed in New Mexico since 1986 and has spent his career on the worker’s side of these disputes. Our New Mexico workplace brain injury lawyer can review what happened, explain who may be responsible, and lay out your options in plain language. Call Davie & Valdez, P.C. today to schedule your consultation.

Workplace Brain Injury Lawyer New Mexico

Our New Mexico workplace brain injury lawyer handles claims for concussions, contusions, skull fractures, and other traumatic brain injuries that happen on the job. Some of these claims run through the workers’ compensation system. Others involve a negligent contractor, property owner, or equipment maker outside that system entirely. Our responsibility is to figure out which path, or which combination of paths, applies to you and then build the case.

BLS data recorded 32 fatal work injuries in New Mexico in 2024, and 18 of them were transportation incidents. Head trauma is common in those crashes and in falls, and NIOSH research attributes 20 to 25 percent of all work-related trauma to brain injury. We manage the medical documentation, the deadlines, and the insurer so you can concentrate on getting better.

Types of Workplace Brain Injury Cases We Handle in New Mexico

Brain injuries on the job come from a list of causes that repeat across industries. Our New Mexico workplace brain injury attorneys have handled claims from the oil patch in the southeast corner of the state to construction sites, warehouses, and highways in between. These are the cases we see most often.

• Oil field accidents. Rig collapses, high-pressure line failures, dropped drill pipe, and rollovers on lease roads all produce head trauma. We identify every company on the site, from the operator down to the subcontractors, and pursue the ones whose conduct caused the injury.
• Falls from height. Roofs, ladders, scaffolds, and unguarded floor openings account for many of the most severe TBIs we handle. Federal fall protection standards exist for exactly these hazards. We look at whether the employer followed them.
• Struck-by incidents. A dropped tool or a swinging load can fracture a skull through a standard hard hat. Newer hard hat designs reduce some of that risk, but many sites still issue the same equipment they did twenty years ago.
• Forklift and loading dock accidents. Warehouse and distribution workers get pinned, struck, or thrown from equipment. Maintenance logs, training records, and security video tend to disappear quickly, so we send preservation demands right away.
• Work vehicle crashes. Driving is part of the job for truckers, field technicians, and delivery crews, and it caused more than half of New Mexico’s fatal work injuries in 2024. A crash claim can involve the other driver’s insurer, your employer, and the vehicle’s owner at the same time.
• Explosions and burns. Blast pressure alone can injure the brain even when there is no visible head wound. We work with physicians who understand blast-related injury and can document what a first-round CT scan sometimes misses.
• Fatal brain injuries. When a worker dies from head trauma, surviving family members may bring a wrongful death claim against the responsible parties. Our New Mexico workplace brain injury lawyers handle these cases with the care they require.
• Retaliation. Some employers cut hours, reassign, or fire a worker who reported a head injury or filed a claim. Workplace retaliation tied to an injury is its own claim, and we bring it alongside the injury case when the facts support it.

Why Choose Davie & Valdez, P.C. as my Workplace Brain Injury Lawyer in New Mexico?

Attorneys Licensed in New Mexico for Decades

Roger Davie founded the firm after earning his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1985. He was admitted in New Mexico the following year, holds a Preeminent 5.0 rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and has been selected to Super Lawyers in employment and labor law. The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certified him in labor and employment law in 2000, a credential a small percentage of attorneys hold.

John Valdez joined the New Mexico bar in 2007. His practice centers on serious work injuries, he has represented hundreds of injured workers and employees, and he is bilingual in English and Spanish. That depth of experience is what you should expect from a work injury lawyer in New Mexico.

Free Consultation and Direct Answers

We offer a free initial consultation on every workplace brain injury case. You’ll hear from our New Mexico workplace brain injury attorney on whether workers’ compensation, a third-party claim, or both apply, and what a realistic recovery looks like. We do not charge for that conversation and we do not pressure anyone to sign.

What Is Important to Understand About a Workplace Brain Injury Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Workplace Brain Injury Cases

Workers’ compensation pays for medical care and a portion of lost wages without any proof of fault, and in most situations it is the only claim available against the employer itself. A third-party negligence claim is different. It requires showing that someone other than your employer, such as a subcontractor, a property owner, or an equipment manufacturer, owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused your injury.

In certain circumstances, employer negligence can be pursued directly as well. New Mexico applies comparative fault, so a recovery is reduced by whatever share of blame is assigned to the worker. It is not wiped out.

The Worker Guidebook published by the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration explains the benefit categories that system provides. A negligence claim can reach considerably further:

• Past and future medical care, including cognitive rehabilitation and speech therapy
• Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• The cost of in-home care or supervision
• Punitive damages, where the conduct was willful or reckless

What Are Important Aspects of a Workplace Brain Injury Case?

Brain injuries are not always immediately apparent. A worker can walk off the site, finish the week, and later notice trouble concentrating or keeping balance. A blow to the head that seemed minor at the time can become the central fact of the case. That is why the medical record matters so much, and why our New Mexico workplace brain injury lawyers push for a neurological evaluation early rather than waiting to see whether symptoms fade.

Other points that shape these cases:

• Where the injury happened and which state’s law governs, since New Mexico law generally controls a New Mexico accident even when the employer is based in Texas
• Which companies were on the site and what contracts existed between them
• What safety training and equipment the worker actually received, not what the policy manual says
• How the employer or its insurer responded, because bad-faith handling of a claim can create additional exposure
• Whether symptoms were documented consistently from the first medical visit forward

What Is the Workplace Brain Injury Case Timeline?

Every case moves at its own pace, but the deadlines are firm. Under NMSA 37-1-8, a personal injury lawsuit in New Mexico must be filed within three years of the injury. Workers’ compensation runs on a separate clock, and a workplace TBI attorney in NM has to track both. Written notice to the employer is generally due within 15 days under NMSA 52-1-29, and a claim must be filed with the Workers’ Compensation Administration within one year after benefits are denied or stopped under NMSA 52-1-31.

• Immediate medical care and written notice to the employer
• Investigation, records requests, and identification of every potentially liable party
• Treatment continues until physicians can assess the long-term effects
• Demand and negotiation with the insurers involved
• Litigation if a fair settlement is not offered, which can add a year or more

What Should You Bring to Your Workplace Brain Injury Consultation?

Bring any documentation pertaining to your injury and how it has impacted your life.

• Medical records, imaging reports, and discharge instructions
• Any accident report, incident form, or written notice you gave the employer
• Names and contact information for coworkers who saw what happened
• Pay stubs showing your wages before the injury
• Letters, emails, or texts from the employer or an insurance adjuster

The consultation is a confidential conversation with our New Mexico workplace brain injury lawyer. We listen, ask questions, and recommend how to proceed.

Reach Out to Davie & Valdez, P.C. to Schedule a Consultation

Our New Mexico brain injury lawyers offer free initial consultations and there is no obligation to move forward. We respond to every inquiry, and someone from our office will follow up to find a time that works for you. Contact us to discuss your workplace brain injury claim with an attorney who has handled these cases across New Mexico.