Jason Hatfield was recently named for the fourth time one of the year’s Super Lawyers by superlawyers.com. Only the most qualified attorneys across the country are selected to this prestigious group. To be considered, an attorney must be nominated anonymously by a peer, an independent third party or someone on the Super Lawyers research team. Once nominated, an attorney is evaluated based on Super Lawyers’ rigorous qualifiers including: Experience, Honors, Awards, Verdicts, Settlements and Other Achievements. No more than 5% of attorneys nominated will be selected for “Super Lawyer” status. Selected lawyers are featured in Super Lawyers magazine, which is distributed to firms and law schools throughout the country.
In 2016, Jason successfully argued and prevented the entry of a protective order in a complex product liability case involving a machine operator that was severely injured operating a zero turn lawn mower that had been manufactured and sold without a roll bar and seat belt system (ROPS). The manufacturer appealed the ruling to the Arkansas Supreme Court where it was later dismissed. Kubota Tractor Corporation; Kubota Manufacturing of America Corporation v. Henry Gibson, Arkansas Supreme Court Case No. CV-17-77
Jason tried more than 20 cases over the last year and worked on appeals related to those cases at the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Arkansas Supreme Court, and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Missouri.
Of note, Jason successfully tried a workers compensation case wherein a city worker was attacked and seriously injured while performing his job shutting off water meters in locations wherein residents failed to pay their bill. When the worker arrived at the residence he was attacked and able to subdue the attacker while waiting for the police. The worker held down the initial attacker when another resident began jumping and stomping on him, causing him to have a stroke which resulted in paralysis. The Workers Compensation Commission awarded a fifty percent wage loss disability over the permanent anatomical impairment rating issued by his physician. After listening to oral arguments in Little Rock, the Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed the award. Birtcher v. Mena Water Utilities and Arkansas Municipal League, 2017 Ark. App. 210, 518 S.W.3d 707.
In another case, Jason represented a construction worker that was severely injured when his heavy equipment overturned while unloading it from a flatbed tractor trailer. Innumerable facial fractures resulted in misalignment of his eyes, resulting in severe double vision. After trial the Arkansas Workers Compensation Commission concluded that the double vision resulted in 100% loss of vision in one eye as opposed to the employer’s argument that it was only a 25% loss of vision. This conclusion was affirmed by the Arkansas Court of Appeals in Multi-Craft Contractors, Inc., and Gallagher Bassett v. Yousey, 2017 Ark. App. 343.
Jason built a new law office in Springdale, Arkansas, where he currently practices primarily in the areas of personal injury, car wrecks, workers compensation, and social security disability.
