The POWER List: Joe Hatley

Spencer Fane, Kansas City

On Dec. 10, 2021, Joe Hatley responded to the attorney general office’s mask mandate cease-and-desist letter to Lee’s Summit R-7 School District with, “You cite no authority in your letter, because there is none.”

Hatley is a civil and commercial litigator who helps educational institutions navigate federal and state laws so they can meet demands of lawmakers, parents and students.

Earlier this year, Hatley represented the same district in a $275,000 race discrimination settlement, which followed a Black woman’s claim that the district discriminated against her when it declined to hire her as its executive director of public relations.

In 2020, he represented the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in its amended award after a Ste. Therese Catholic School teacher was terminated after she told her personal pastor, who was also the school supervisor, that she was pregnant and unmarried. The diocese had argued at trial that Bolen’s employment was terminated for unrelated performance issues and that she was never asked to end her pregnancy. A Jackson County judge initially claimed that the diocese failed to comply with statute processes required to seek out costs and only issued it $60 to cover witness fees and mileage. The judge later increased the diocese’s award to $12,791.

Hatley co-chairs Spencer Fane’s litigation and dispute resolution group. He says that his extensive work for educators — often among the largest employers in their communities — provides a natural segue for other his work with private and public employers.