Attorney James Hanvik of Minneapolis; thieving liar

The state of Minnesota presented James T. Hanvik with a law license in 1984 after he graduated from William Mitchell Law School.

The Minnesota Office of Lawyer Regulation found Jimmy guilty of the following misconduct.

• Misappropriated (stole) client funds
• Failed to maintain proper trust account records
• Engaged in conduct involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty or misrepresentation
• Endorsed client check in estate matter w/o client’s authorization
• Failed to respond to client inquires re: check improperly endorsed
• Billed and collected $264 from client for filing fees he never incurred (thief)
• Made false statements to client to conceal misappropriation of client funds
• Filed inaccurate ledger to ethics investigators
• Failed to comply with ethics investigator requests (Up yours, said Jimmy!)
• Knowingly lied to Medicare claims agent that client’s case settled for $3,500 when in fact it settled for $5,000
• Failed to pay Medicare $1,167 it was lawfully entitled too after receiving settlement on client’s behalf
• Misappropriated $500 retainer fee from client in divorce matter despite the fact that he never performed any services on behalf of the client
• Fabricated a false billing statement
• Failed to maintain client funds in client trust account
• Failed to maintain client ledgers
• Failed to perform required reconciliations of trust accounts
• Submitted false certifications on four (4) separate occasions to State Bar that he properly maintained trust account records and books

In one matter, Jimmy was hired by a client to about a divorce. The client paid Jimmy a $500 retainer but told him he didn’t want to file the divorce action until the client instructed him to so act. In fact, the client told Jimmy not to contact him because he didn’t want his wife to know he was considering a divorce.

Jimmy deposited the $500 into his trust account, but never hearing from the client about the divorce. The trust account balance for the $500 fell to $108, indicating that Jimmy misappropriated (stole) the balance. While explaining this matter to the ethics investigators, Jimmy falsely claimed that he had earned the entire $500 retainer. In support of his bald faced lie, Jimmy fabricated a billing statement, which falsely represented that he had met with the client and prepared necessary documents to initiate divorce proceedings.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the cheerleaders for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Minnesota Supreme Court punished Jimmy by gifting him with a complimentary 2-year suspension of his law license.

As we speak (ca. December 2014), Jimmy practices with Bassford Hanvik PLLC in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.