Stoughton attorney faces revocation

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A Dane County attorney is facing the loss of his license, as investigators say he repeatedly failed to file cases, took client money without permission and generally ignored his clients.

James Hammis, of Stoughton, faces 46 counts of misconduct based on his work with 10 clients. The alleged misconduct stems from a variety of cases, from criminal appeals work to divorces, according to the Office of Lawyer’s Regulation’s complaint filed Sept. 25.

The agency alleges that, among other misconduct, Hammis transferred thousands of dollars from his trust account to his personal account and back, as well as overdrawing the trust account.

In one 2006 case mentioned in the complaint, Hammis was representing Donald and Kandy Goerke in business matters relating to their divorce and was named as a receiver to their business, Pro Weld Fabricating Inc. Before being appointed receiver, however, Hammis did not tell the judge his law license was suspended at the time, he had filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and he had outstanding worker’s compensation warrants worth more than $92,000 and was behind on his child support payments.

In another case, Hammis was hired as a personal representative in an estate case. When $150,000 of the estate’s money was transferred, Hammis took $5,000 to pay himself without notifying his clients, according to the OLR.

And though he was licensed to practice in Michigan at one point, he was suspended in 2001 for not paying dues, yet still told clients he was licensed in both states, according to the OLR.

In addition to revoking his license, the OLR is asking the state Supreme Court to order Hammis to pay $400 to Rhonda Graf, a client who paid him to help set up a limited liability company. The OLR alleges Hammis did not perform the work she hired him to do, and notarized an affidavit despite his notary public license being revoked.

Hammis, who graduated from Marquette University Law School in 1988, said Wednesday that aside from a few outstanding cases, he has stopped practicing law. His license is currently in good standing, according to the State Bar’s website, but Hammis said the flood of investigations from the OLR since 2011 was overwhelming.

Hammis said he likely would admit to some allegations and deny others. When going through the cases the OLR named, though, Hammis often said complaints were filed because the client was unhappy with how long it took him to do work for them.

“I anticipated this was coming after my initial suspension in 2011,” Hammis said.

Hammis also was suspended for four months in 2011 for practicing law while administratively suspended and not cooperating with the OLR’s investigation. The complaint also mentions a pending case that has not yet been filed. Follow @eheisigWLJ