Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield Recognizes Indiana Law Journal Publication on Arkansas Workers’ Compensation
Springdale, Arkansas – The Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield announced that J.D. graduate Brock Hatfield, has a Note that has been published in the Indiana Law Journal that examines the independence of administrative law judges in Arkansas’ workers’ compensation system.
Hatfield’s Note, titled “The Plight of Workers: ALJ Independence in Arkansas Workers’ Compensation,” appears in Volume 101 of the Indiana Law Journal, the flagship publication of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana. His article evaluates how legislative, executive, and institutional bodies in Arkansas have influenced outcomes for injured workers and the judges who decide their claims and have sent a clear message to judges who decide their claims.
The Note places Arkansas within a national trend in which many states have tightened eligibility rules and limited injured worker benefits, which have resulted in record insurance company profits. The costs of workplace injuries have shifted away from the workers’ compensation insurance companies and toward public safety-net programs. It highlights the role of agency structure — including appointment and removal of commissioners and judges, funding mechanisms, and panel rotation — in either insulating adjudicators from political pressure or leaving them exposed to it.
It also analyzes a line of recent decisions applying the “dual employment” doctrine to temporary workers, and how the Arkansas workers’ compensation commission has used the doctrine to insulate negligent companies from both workers’ compensation and tort liability. By tracing these developments, the note highlights how legal interpretations can significantly narrow the rights and remedies available to some of the state’s most vulnerable workers.
Jason Hatfield, whose Springdale firm represents injured workers in Arkansas, said the publication underscores the importance of close scrutiny of state-level systems that rarely draw national attention yet play a critical role in shaping broader public outcomes.
“Workers’ compensation is often invisible until someone gets hurt,” he said. “When companies are immune from paying benefits, they no longer need to be concerned with safety. And when the unsafe companies are not required to pay benefits, then injured workers are forced to rely on government benefits to survive. In essence, the burden of unsafe employers gets shifted to the taxpayer. Brock’s Journal Note takes a hard look at how the system is currently structured in favor of business and insurance. The public deserves this broader understanding of what injured workers and their families are currently enduring. I’m very proud of Brock’s hard work to illustrate the unfairness, and I am excited for him to come work with me to help injured workers and to work to change the current system to level the playing field for injured workers.”
Beyond the academic analysis, the publication reflects Brock Hatfield’s deeply rooted commitment to the people of Arkansas. Having grown up, worked, and built his life in the state, he brings a vested interest in strengthening the systems that affect everyday Arkansans. His belief that workers deserve fairness, dignity, and accountability fuels both his scholarship and his emerging legal career. He intends to carry that passion directly into his practice, advocating for greater equity for the communities where he and his clients work, play, and live.
The Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield is excited to welcome him as he begins his legal career, continuing the Hatfield tradition of standing up for Arkansas workers — including the frontline employees who keep our communities running — and fighting for a system that treats them with the fairness they deserve.
At the Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield, P.A., we are seasoned veterans of the Arkansas legal system. We have families who are proud to live, work, and play in Northwest Arkansas – from Fayetteville to Bentonville.
Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield, P.A.
1025 E Don Tyson Pkwy
Springdale, AR 72764
(479) 888-4789
https://www.jhatfieldlaw.com/
Press Contact : Jason Hatfield
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