On Friday, June 30, 2023, the Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility filed charges for disciplinary action against attorney Robert R. Hopper before the Minnesota Supreme Court for mishandling client funds and providing inadequate representation.
The charges cite Minnesota Rules of professional conduct Rule 1.1, 1.3, 1.4(a)(2) and (3), 1.4(b)and 1.7(a)(2) which states:
A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
A lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client.
A lawyer shall: Reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client’s objectives are to be accomplished; keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter;
A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.
Except as provided in paragraph (b), a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest. A concurrent conflict of interest exists if:
There is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will be materially limited by the lawyer’s responsibilities to another client, a former client, or a third person, or by the personal interest of the lawyer.
The rules of professional conduct can be found here.
The petition puts forward claims stating that the respondent engaged in multiple instances of unprofessional behavior during a legal case concerning the tragic demise of a student named Jacob Anderson. According to the allegations, the respondent is accused of mishandling client funds, providing inadequate representation, and displaying insufficient communication with the clients. The petition provides details of the attorney’s actions and violations of professional rules, including his failure to meet statutory deadlines, failure to bring the case with a court-appointed trustee, failure to serve required documents, and attempt to sue entities that cannot be sued.
The Petition states:
“By this time, respondent had failed to comply with Minn. Stat. § 573.02 and failed to have a court-appointed trustee in place to bring and pursue the action, failed to inform the Andersons a court-appointed trustee was needed to bring the action, failed to advise the Andersons to seek to have a court-appointed trustee appointed, made no mention of this requirement to the Andersons, and also failed to provide the draft complaint to the Andersons before he filed it.”
The Petition continues:
“At the termination of representation, respondent failed to return to the Andersons any of the funds not used for out-of-pocket expenses and the funds are not in respondent’s accounts. Respondent spent the funds, thereby misappropriating the funds received for, but not used for out-of-pocket expenses.”
In lieu of these allegations, the Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility requests that the State of Minnesota Supreme Court disbar the respondent.
The request states:
“WHEREFORE, the Director respectfully prays for an order of this Court disbarring respondent or imposing otherwise appropriate discipline, awarding costs and disbursements pursuant to the Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility, and for such other, further or different relief as may be just and proper”
As of today, Hopper is listed on the website of the law firm Robert R. Hopper & Associates, LLC. as a managing partner. He attended William Mitchell College of Law, graduating in 1997. He practices in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His info can be found at martindale.com.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
