Adam Hansen
On December 1, the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court debated a case brought by Tofte native Adam Hansen. The Supreme Court agrees to hear less than 1 percent of cases presented to it, and most of the best lawyers in the country never get a case heard by the court, according to University of Minnesota Constitutional Law Professor Dale Carpenter, who taught Hansen and is “a big fan of his.”
Hansen, just six years out of law school, works at Nichols Kaster, a 34-lawyer workers’ rights law firm with offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco. The firm represents employees who are victims of wage theft, discrimination, and workplace retaliation. “I got into workers’ rights because it’s more fun fighting for the little guy,” Hansen explained in a recent interview.
Labor and Employment Law Professor Stephen Befort says Hansen was one of his favorite students, and Befort is “not one bit” surprised that Hansen is specializing in workers’ rights. After posing a question to a class of 25 students, Befort saw 24 students with their heads buried in their computers, silently taking down notes. Hansen, however, made eye contact, and the two engaged in a long, probing dialogue. “Adam alone wanted to analyze the issue by talking with me,” Befort recalls. “I knew he had the right stuff.”
Hansen didn’t interact with lawyers or judges when growing up in Cook County, and recalls that his first contact was after receiving a speeding ticket on the Gunflint Trail. Appearing before Judge Kenneth Sandvik at the Cook County courthouse, “I had no idea what was going on and I ended up pleading guilty,” Hansen admits.
Hansen’s grandparents, Frank and Mary Alice Hansen, moved to the area to start Sawbill Canoe Outfitters. His father and stepmother, Bill and Cindy Hansen, live in Tofte. Bill, who says he “couldn’t be prouder” of Adam, adds that it “doesn’t surprise me that Adam is really good at what he does.
“He got his mom’s brains, and you can quote me on that,” he quipped.
Adam admits being very competitive, but he hates the “bickering” kind of arguing. “Litigation can be fun when both sides are respectful, don’t play games, and just go into the courtroom and try to make their case as best they can,” he explains.
Hansen started thinking about becoming a lawyer while traveling in Africa as a college student. Discouraged by the “might makes right” dispute resolution systems on the continent, where bribes and corruption are commonplace, Hansen started working with a group of lawyers trying to build democratic institutions from the ground up. Inspired by these people using their legal skills to “create the fabric of law and order that would allow regular people to start businesses, create art, and go about their lives,” Hansen had found his calling.
Bill Hansen recalls that from the time Adam was very young, he was always very compassionate and had a strong sense of justice. Sometimes Bill caught Adam giving away the money he had earned from doing chores.
Longtime friend John Oberholtzer, of Lutsen, personally experienced 5-year-old Adam’s understanding of justice and fair play when Oberholtzer was working at Sawbill Outfitters. Oberholtzer snuck a 10-pound rock into Adam’s kid-size pack for his first canoe trip with Bill, and Adam later retaliated by placing a dead snake into Oberholtzer’s sleeping bag. They agreed to call it a draw.
Despite all the attention his case at the Supreme Court is garnering in legal circles, Hansen, who has lived in Cook County off and on his whole life, remains grounded. “You can go chase adventures elsewhere in the world, even for years or decades, but you never really stop being a Cook County resident.” He notes that “there are some big egos in the legal field, and I’ve found that the best way to avoid getting caught up in that nonsense it to come home and fish for lake trout.”
Professor Befort credits Hansen’s experiences in Cook County for his “very respectful and low-key personality.” “In a small town environment, there’s an incentive to get along and interact with everybody, and Adam has a very interactive style.”
Oberholtzer adds that growing up at Sawbill Outfitters meant that Hansen had free rein to explore the wilderness, and quickly learned to be self-sufficient and solve his own problems.
Hansen says his Cook County background affects everything he does. “When I write my arguments in my brief, I try to be very straightforward and upfront about what I’m asking for. I think judges appreciate that, and I think it’s the kind of communication that you learn in Cook County.”
Professor Carpenter describes Hansen as “a first-rate thinker and a hard worker, very responsible, very serious, and very common sensical without being unsophisticated. To find that combination of qualities in anybody—much less a lawyer—is extraordinary.”
Oberholtzer credits Hansen’s formative years in Cook County for his interest in workers’ rights. “In a rural economy, many people are holding down two or three jobs, just scraping to get by. Adam grew up knowing people from all parts of the economic spectrum, and saw how sometimes people were treated unfairly.”
Hansen’s work is far removed from television legal dramas like Law and Order. Writing, rather than the glamor of cross-examining witnesses or persuading a jury, is “the heart of the job,” Hansen explains. He spent the entire summer working on his brief for the Supreme Court, staying up late researching and writing, and “trying to find the perfect words to frame my arguments.”
“A good brief should present the issues in a crisp, forceful, and easy-to-read manner,” he adds.
Hansen is the lead attorney representing three former mortgage loan officers, Jerome Nickols, Ryan Henry, and Beverly Buck, in a case against their employer. The three “were denied workplace protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Hansen explains. Hansen argues that the employer misclassified them as exempt from the law, “and it’s unfair to the employees and to other businesses who play by the rules.”
At the Supreme Court, Hansen’s case is combined with another case in which the U.S. government is taking a similar position. “We’re fortunate that the government joined the case and is supporting our side. If you look at the statistics, the government is far and away the most successful litigant at the Supreme Court,” Hansen observed.
On November 10, the justices ruled that Hansen would not be allowed to share oral argument time with the government. As a result, Hansen’s position in the case will be represented by the Deputy Solicitor General, who has argued over 125 Supreme Court cases.
Having an experienced government advocate arguing for his side doesn’t mean Hansen’s case will be a slam dunk. “The justices are very independent thinkers and we have to win this case on its own merits,” he cautions.
The court will decide the case by the end of June, but Hansen explains that “it’s difficult to predict how long the process will take.”
Asked what advice he would give to young people in Cook County who are thinking about a career in law, Hansen urges them to “find your inspiration.” Some people are born to be prosecutors; others to be public defenders, Hansen explains. “I was lucky to find my inspiration and it led to something that I like doing.”
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