While a student at Ohio State, he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

[1] He entered private practice in Columbus, Ohio, then moved to Florida in 1958 to serve as a law clerk for Florida Supreme Court justice T. Frank Hobson.

After a brief return to private practice in Palm Beach, Florida from 1960 to 1961, Hopping again clerked on the Florida Supreme Court, this time for Chief Justice William Glenn Terrell, from 1962 to 1964.

He specialized in the areas of environmental and land use law, often representing utilities and corporate interests in efforts to protect property rights and engage in development activity in compliance with land use restrictions and environmental protections.

Hopping died in Tallahassee, Florida of esophageal cancer.