Lawyer’s board moves to disbar high profile-attorney Randy Hopper

(FOX 9) - The state lawyer’s board is seeking the disbarment of high-profile civil attorney Randy Hopper, because of critical mistakes he made in the wrongful death case of a 19-year-old University of Minnesota student who froze to death.

Jacob Anderson was found in the early morning hours of December 15, 2013, lying face down under the 10th Avenue Bridge along the Mississippi River. First responders, believing he had died from hypothermia, did not engage in life saving efforts.

Hopper, representing Anderson’s parents, William and Kristi, sued first responders including Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and the City of Minneapolis, claiming they were negligent in failing to follow hypothermia protocols by bringing Anderson to the hospital, and instead left him in the bitter cold for two hours.

The discipline petition, filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, lays out several key mistakes made by Hopper who fashioned himself as an expert in wrongful death claims.

The key mistake is that Anderson’s parents did not have standing with the court, because under Minnesota statutes the wrongful death case must be filed by a court-appointed trustee for deceased.   

There is also a three-year statute of limitations in wrongful death cases. Hopper made it just under the deadline. But because Anderson’s parents did not have standing, the lawsuit was later dismissed.

Hopper failed to advise the Anderson’s they needed a court appointed trustee, and failed to provide a draft copy of the lawsuit before he filed it, the petition says. Instead, the complaint was drafted with Anderson’s parents as the plaintiffs individually.

The petition says Hopper also failed to tell the Andersons that the defendants planned to dismiss the lawsuit because the parents did not have standing.

In February 2017, Hopper told the Andersons he wanted to change strategy and file a civil rights case, and that as counsel, he was "the general" and this was the new strategy, the petition says.

On March 30, 2018 a federal court judge dismissed the case because the negligence claims were "time barred" by the statute of limitations.

The Anderson’s terminated Hopper by email on August 16, 2020. The parents are also suing Hopper for negligence in Hennepin County District Court.

The Anderson’s had paid Hopper $66,500 toward out-of-pocket expenses. The money was not considered a payment for attorney’s fees and was supposed to be kept in a trust account. He failed to return the money.

According to the lawyers’ board, Hopper can only account for less than $28,000.

Hopper has had a 40-year legal career and is considered an expert in complex litigation, especially involving scientific evidence.  He is on the faculty of the University of Minnesota where he has taught a class on neuroscience and the law.

He represented Audrey Seiler, the woman who faked her own disappearance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in March 2004.

An attorney for Hopper, Barry O’Neil, told FOX 9 "the petition is misconceived," and is "missing material facts."   

O’Neil said he believes the executive director of the lawyer’s board "fundamental misunderstanding of the legal strategies" involved.   

He said it was a complicated case that involved "professional judgement" and there is "more than one way to litigate claims." 

In the petition, Susan Humiston, director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, asks the Minnesota Supreme Court for an order "disbarring respondent or imposing otherwise appropriate discipline."