Case Description: On December 10, 1997, plaintiff Thomas R. Frazier hired defendant attorney Gerald P. Boyle of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to represent him in his pending lawsuit against his former employer, Bachmans, Inc. The case was pending in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Mr. Frazier hired Mr. Boyle to assist his local counsel after having watched Boyle on Court TV achieve a 26 million dollar verdict for Jerrold MacKenzie against Miller Brewing Company. Mr. Frazier believed his case was just like MacKenzie's - he was fired after many years of faithful service as a result of wrongful allegations of sexual harassment.
In his legal malpractice case, Frazier contended that Boyle advised him in a telephone conversation on December 11, 1997, that to hire him Frazier would have to advance $100,000 to cover costs and pay a 40% contingent fee on any recovery. The next day, Frazier wrote a letter to Boyle requesting that he agree to a 30% contingent fee instead of 40%. Boyle did not reduce the fee agreement to writing nor did he respond to Frazier's letter.
In June 1998, summary judgment was granted for defendants dismissing Frazier's employment case. An appeal was taken. On February 8, 1999, Frazier wrote Boyle confirming that they had agreed to a 40% contingent fee with an advance of $100,000 to cover costs. Frazier requested that Boyle document the fee arrangement. Two months later, Boyle responded in writing that they should sit down and finalize the fee agreement after the Court of Appeals ruled. Subsequently, the Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of the case and after a petition for discretionary review to the Minnesota Supreme Court was denied, Frazier wrote Boyle requesting an accounting of costs and a return of unspent monies. Boyle responded that he had never agreed to a contingent fee and that instead asserted that the $100,000 was a flat fee. Frazier suggested to Boyle that they mediate their dispute. Boyle refused.
In this case, Frazier proceeded at trial on the theory that Boyle breached his fiduciary duties to Frazier in not reducing their fee agreement to writing and in not returning unspent costs. The jury found that Boyle breached his fiduciary duties and ordered him to pay $89,000 compensatory damages as requested by Frazier.