Attorney James Hammis of Stoughton, WI; lying repeat offender

The state of Wisconsin presented James E. Hammis with a law license in 1988 after he graduated from Marquette University Law School.

It should be noted that this wasn’t Jimmy’s 1^st bite at the Attorney Misfit Apple Tree. He previously received a complimentary 4-month suspension of his law license for engaging in a variety of misconduct. An article dealing with said misconduct, can be viewed by visiting the URL listed at the end of this article.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) found Jimmy guilty of the following misconduct.

• Engaged in 40 counts of misconduct, involving nine separate client matters
• Made misrepresentations [lied] to his clients
• Failed to respond to client information requests
• Failed to act with due diligence (slacker)
• Failed to pursue his client's interest in negotiating considerations in exchange for termination of her employment
• Failed to account to client for her $2,000 advance fee deposited into his operating account
• Failed to file the discrimination complaint he had prepared for his client
• Failed to fully cooperate with ethics investigators (Screw you, said Jimmy!)
• Converted [stole] client funds
• Failed to hold in trust the funds he received for the purpose of paying the subrogation claim of client’s insurer
• Failed to timely file the quit claim deed on his client's behalf
• Failed to respond to numerous client email inquires
• Over 9-months engaged in prohibited Internet and telephone transactions with a combined dollar value of $259,281.22 to and from his trust account
• Withdrew estate funds from his trust account as "reserve fees" to apply to his legal bill, without notice to and consent from his client or other parties with a potential interest in the funds
• Notarized an affidavit of mailing in a Dane County small claims action with the declaration that his notary commission was permanent, when his notary commission was in fact revoked
• Failed to return his client's original documents and return his unearned fee for approximately five months after the representation ended
• Engaged in illegal practice of law in Michigan when license was suspended

As a direct consequence of his misconduct, the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court punished Cole by gifting him with a complimentary 3-year suspension of his law license effective August 23, 2019. He was also ordered to pay $17,105.44 for the cost of the disciplinary proceeding.

As we speak (ca. February 2020), Jimmy will resume his practice in August 2022 at 623 West Street in Stoughton, Wisconsin.