Rejected as far too young at age fourteen, he gave up the idea when his uncle relocated to California in the early summer of 1861.

James was supposed to attend school in San Francisco, but instead he joined his uncle in Idaho, still a part of Washington Territory, during the spring of 1862.

That district encompassed an area stretching generally from Mountain Home to the Montana border, north of Salmon.

Record-keeping in early Idaho Territory was rather hit-or-miss, but it is generally agreed that Hawley served as prosecutor or defense attorney for hundreds of criminal trials during his legal career.

Hawley played a strong leadership role in Democratic Party politics, including six years as Committee Chair in Boise County.

Although he received high marks for his administration of city government, he chose not to run again and served a single two-year term.

Although no specific court cases are mentioned in extant records, Hawley became involved in labor disputes during his terms as district attorney of Boise County.

During his term as U.S. Attorney for Idaho Territory, Hawley prosecuted a number of cases against Mormons under the anti-polygamy Edmunds Act.

Although he disapproved of the Act on legal grounds,[4] Hawley "prosecuted the cases vigorously … leaving the punishments to the court."

The owners responded by introducing more mechanization, reclassified workers to cut their pay, and increased working hours.

[4] Five years later, Hawley began a long involvement with a case that drew considerable attention in southern Idaho.

Cattleman John Sparks, later governor of Nevada, hired him to defend two of his cowboys accused of murdering two sheep herders.

[9] One cowboy, Jackson Lee "Diamondfield Jack" Davis, had a notorious reputation as a gunman, and had earlier shot and wounded another sheepman.

Because of structural flaws in Idaho's legal system at the time, Hawley never could secure a "not guilty" verdict for his client.

Finally, in December 1902, shortly after Hawley was elected mayor of Boise, Davis was pardoned and released from prison.

Besides that long effort, in 1899 Hawley acted, along with attorney William Borah as state prosecutor after a re-occurrence of labor violence in the Coeur d'Alene mines of the Silver Valley.

On December 30, 1905, a bomb at his front gate assassinated Idaho's ex-Governor, Frank Steunenberg, who had gained the enmity of the union when he sent troops in to enforce martial law during the 1899 violence.

Their first case, in 1907, proceeded against "Big Bill" Haywood, General Secretary of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM).

Haywood's defense team, which included the renowned Clarence Darrow, found enough holes in the State's evidence to secure a "not guilty" verdict.

Although the State failed, at great expense, to gain a conviction, Hawley always felt the trials had been "worth the effort that had been made."

In his letter of transmittal for the required 1923–1924 biennial report, Hawley pleaded that the Librarian and her Assistant "should be given a salary commensurate with the importance of their positions and the character of their duties.