Workers’ comp lawyer enjoys challenges that produce fair resolutions, stability

CEDAR RAPIDS — Darin Luneckas doesn’t know specifically what led him to decide to become a lawyer, but he wanted to help those going up against powerful adversaries — workers fighting for proper treatment after being injured on the job and individuals seriously hurt in car crashes.

“I started to fall in love with the idea of taking someone from a spot of complete frustration and financial stress to slowly, over the course of the next 6 to 18 months, putting them back on financial stability,” Luneckas said while sitting in his Cedar Rapids office at Luneckas Law, P.C., last week.

“I want to get them the medical care needed — an MRI because the (worker) has shooting pain down his arm or leg, instead of just being sent to a chiropractor. That isn’t reasonable medical care after someone has fallen off a truck and hit their head,” he said.

Luneckas, who has been practicing law for 26 years, handling mostly workers’ compensation law, personal injury and some medical malpractice cases, said the goal is to get them back to work, but not before they are ready or if it will make their injury worse without the appropriate work restrictions.

Legal recognition

Luneckas was recently named “Lawyer of the Year” in the category of Workers’ Compensation Law — who represents claimants — for the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, a national company that conducts legal peer reviews. It’s only awarded to one attorney per practice area and geographic region.

“Their recognition tells me I’m doing right by my clients, and that motivates me to keep pushing for justice on their behalf,” Luneckas said.

He said he’s honored to be recognized because this award is based on the trust of his fellow lawyers that he’s worked “alongside and against.”

These awards are solely based on peer reviews, according to the company’s website. A lawyer is nominated by their peers, followed by confidential evaluations from lawyers in the same practice area and region of the nominee’s work.

Only about 5 percent of practicing attorneys in the United States earn a “best lawyer” distinction.

Paul Thune, a former trial lawyer and now mediator in Des Moines, has known Luneckas for more than 15 years, and has been a mediator on a few of his cases. He said Luneckas is a “great lawyer” who has a good rapport with his clients and treats them fairly.

“He is a fair but tough negotiator, which is what you want, and he gets excellent results,” Thune said. “He’s also not afraid to go to trial if it means a better (outcome) for the client.”

‘Clumsy’ career path

Luneckas knew he wanted to help people, but he didn’t necessarily set out to be a lawyer. It was a “clumsy” path to law school, he said. He wasn’t even sure about going to college, but it’s what his parents wanted.

His older brother went to Coe College, so he visited him a few times and realized it might be an opportunity to play basketball and golf because it was smaller college.

He had played football at West Branch High School, the town he grew up in, but had a serious brain injury as a 16-year-old in a homecoming game in 1990 that ended future play for him.

He was “kneed” in the back of the head by a fullback. He didn’t realize how serious it was until about a week later when he started having headaches and was nauseated all the time.

An MRI showed a brain bleed, which caused swelling and pressure, and a doctor wanted to perform a craniotomy to reduce the pressure, but his dad declined because he knew his son wanted to play basketball. Luneckas said if they had inserted a piece of plastic, depending on the surgery, it would have prevented him from playing contact sports.

The doctor told them there was a good chance the bleed could be absorbed by the body over a few months. However, he didn’t get better and started losing weight because he couldn’t eat much. He went from 165 to 112 pounds in a month.

Luneckas then experienced numbness in his right hand and he was taken back to the hospital for a craniotomy.

That relieved the pressure and he could eat again and was able to gain weight. He didn’t suffer any long term effects, but joked that maybe the injury explained his “arrested development” of not knowing what he wanted to study in college and his lack of math skills.

At Coe, he eventually got involved in student government and politics and ended up majoring in political science. His adviser suggested law school. His grades were decent but he LSAT score was “on the border to get into UI law school.” Reference letters from Coe officials helped him get accepted, he said.

After passing the bar exam in 1999, Luneckas planned to move to a larger city like Chicago or Minneapolis, but around that time his father was diagnosed with colon cancer and had about 12 to 18 months to live, so he couldn’t leave the area. He wanted to see his dad and support his mom.

Luneckas initially went to work for an attorney, Ben Blackstock, but Luneckas and another young lawyer, Chad Newhouse, wanted to open their own shop after a few years. Both needed to make more money to pay off student loans.

In 2003, they leased an office on Center Point Road and borrowed money for equipment and furnishings, including the desk Luneckas still has today. He moved into his current office at 866 First Avenue NE, Suite A, in 2010. Newhouse left the practice in 2017.

Luneckas has remained a sole practitioner and has a staff of four paralegals with him.

He attributes their success to being receptive to the clients’ needs and maintaining communication with them. They are “empathetic” for what the individuals are going through and they want to help the employee effectively communicate their job duties that may impact their injuries to the health care professional.

“Most of the people aren’t coming to me because they were hurt yesterday and want to get a lawyer,” he said. “They got hurt weeks or months ago and have been misled or ignored by an insurance adjuster, sending them to doctors or pushing them to get back to work before they’ve healed.”

By the time they come to him they aren’t receiving (wage replacement) disability checks on time and now they can’t pay their rent or mortgage, utilities and other bills, Luneckas said.

Didn’t follow family footsteps

Luneckas said he didn’t follow in anyone’s footsteps in becoming a lawyer. His father owned an insurance agency and no one else in the family — including his four siblings — is an attorney. Although, he is hoping his son, Cash, 18, may follow in his.

The “proud dad” bragged on his “4.0 student” and soccer player son who is planning to attend Coe College as a pre-law major next fall. Luneckas and his wife, Jamie, also have a daughter, Karlee, 20, who is a junior studying dentistry at Minnesota State University.

Luneckas said in hindsight, he realizes now that his dad was making sure people were getting affordable policies to help them when unexpected life events happen.

Luneckas’ profession wouldn’t survive without the insurance companies, he pointed out. He’s helping people financially recover from bad situations and the insurance companies need to “step up” and pay the claims when an injury happens.

Luneckas is a former president of the Linn County Bar Association and member of the bar association’s Board of Governors, and also served on the 6th Judicial District Nominating Commission.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com