The Milwaukee Post

I have Packers general manager Ted Thompson figured out. He cares only about the NFL Draft. He sees nothing else. Free agency isn't an option. It's just an opportunity to resign his drafted players. He has said his philosophy is draft and develop. He isn't telling the whole story because it doesn't end with draft and develop. It's draft and develop, and resign the guys he's drafted. The Packers will always be a young team because he will keep his drafted players in their first few years. He will bet on their potential over aging veterans who are past their prime. That's the first part and most commonly understood part of the Thompson plan. Part two of the Thompson plan becomes clear every year during the free- agency period. He doesn't sign big-dollar free agents, and he spends most of his money on his drafted players. He would rather pay one of his draftees $20 million than give the same amount to another free agent who has never played for the Packers. It's great if the player is good, but it becomes a problem if Thompson has made a mistake on the talent of the player. Is the free agent a good player or is he a good player just because he was drafted by Thompson? For example, Thompson signed Sam Shields to a $39 mil- lion contract. Is Shields worth the money? It doesn't mat- ter. All that matters is whether or not TT could have signed another free agent from another team for the same money who is better than Shields. I suspect Thompson could have found better. He didn't sign another team's free agent because he loves his draftees. He's going to sign what he knows almost every time over the best available from another teams. The weakness of the defense is the result of bad drafting because Thompson is going to resign his drafted players when they become free agents. It worked fine with Nick Collins because he was worthy of the money. He turned out to be a good player. It hasn't gone as well in recent years. In 2011, Thompson signed A.J.Hawk for five years and $33 million. Desmond Bishop also got 17.8 million for four years. Last year, Thompson gave Morgan Burnett $24 million for four years. TT also paid Brad Jones $11 million for three years. Was there better talent available for the same money from outside free agents? It would seem likely because none of the players mentioned have been special in any way. The offense has been better than the defense because the play- ers drafted have been better players. Resigning the drafted players like Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Josh Sitton and Jordy Nelson has worked out because of the talent of the players. Don't waste time following free agency because it isn't important to Thompson. He will live or die based on his draft choices. If the Packers fail to get that second Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers, it will be the result of Thompson's reliance on his drafting abil- ity. AND his refusal to sign free agents from other teams instead of signing new contracts with his draft choices. *** Congratulations to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team and head coach Rob Jeter on its dominating performance in the Horizon Conference tournament. The Panthers played like the first seed, not the team picked for last in the conference in the preseason poll. It has to be special for Jeter. He's back in the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2005-06 after winning only eight games last season. March 14, 2014 • Milwaukee Post • 11 "HOMER" on SPORTS STEVE "The HOMER" TRUE (Steve "The Homer" True, host of "Homer and Thunder Show," heard from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays on 540 ESPN, can be reached at homer@espnmilwaukee.com) Packers GM prefers draft over making free-agent splash Thompson By BRIAN HUBER Conley News Service MILWAUKEE – A Waukesha man has filed a complaint against prominent area attorney Gerald Boyle, alleging that Boyle failed to put fee agreements in writing related to the man's actions against outfits that sold him counterfeit Beatles memora- bilia passed off as authentic. David Petersen of Waukesha filed the complaint with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation earlier this month, which issued a six-count complaint alleging Boyle broke Supreme Court rules governing attorneys. Specifically, Boyle was accused of taking $80,000 in advanced fees from Petersen and putting them in his law firm's operating account rather than a trust account for Petersen, failing to get fee agreements in writing, failing to act with reasonable diligence on behalf of a client, failing to comply with client requests, and also putting the funds of another client in an unrelated case into his law firm's oper- ating account instead of a trust fund. Boyle on Tuesday said Petersen knew exactly what the arrangements were between them. Boyle said the agreed-upon fees were far short of the $250,000 he esti- mated it would cost his client if the attor- ney were paid hourly. After receiving the funds, Boyle said, he took care of all expenses, including traveling to New York and California to work on the case. "It's totally absolutely bogus," Boyle said. "Because of my efforts he got all the money back from the Florida guy and all the money back from the New York guy and I was on my way to fulfilling a lawsuit when I started for him and he dismissed me. "He was a horribly, horribly unpre- dictable client and I am very, very disap- pointed in him. I did everything I said I would and I never charged him an addi- tional penny (beyond) that we agreed upon. "I did everything the right way except I didn't write down everything on a piece of paper," Boyle continued. "He knew every- thing about what we were doing and he knew exactly what the fee was. "I did not get paid everything we agreed to but since he switched lawyers, some- times in this business you get the good, the bad and the ugly, and the ugly part is I did- n't get paid for it." The complaint said Petersen collected Beatles memorabilia, including buying 14 supposedly "original" John Lennon draw- ings and a microphone used to record Lennon's "Imagine" album from Celebrities Galleries in Hawaii for $191,580. He also bought 13 "original" Lennon draw- ings from the America Royal Arts Gallery in Boca Raton, Fla., for $95,287, as well as another "original" Lennon drawing and a handwritten letter from Gotta Have Rock & Roll/Gotta Have It Gallery in New York. Upon learning the items were counter- feit, Peterson worked on his own to get a $60,000 refund for the microphone and hired Boyle in late 2009 for a flat rate of $25,000. But Boyle didn't prepare a written agreement, and later asked for another $35,000 and then another $20,000 – again without a written agreement, the com- plaint said. Boyle did write letters to the three gal- leries in December 2009 and January 2010 but failed to bring lawsuits against the Florida and New York firms despite prom- ises to do so, the complaint said. Petersen fired Boyle but rehired him in May 2010 after Boyle promised to handle the cases more aggressively and to file suit against the New York gallery but did not, the com- plaint said. Boyle also failed to act before a three-year statute of limitations expired, the complaint said, costing Petersen a claim on a third of the items he purchased. Petersen also requested copies of all his long-distance records, but Boyle did not act on the request or the client's inquiries, the complaint said, and both he and other members of his firm failed to get a subpoe- na for them. Petersen ultimately reached settlements with the New York and Florida firms, but another attorney was hired to complete the lawsuit against the Hawaii gallery, the complaint said. In the unrelated case that is also part of the complaint, Boyle was accused of taking $19,000 from his client Robert Grintjes, who retained him on a drug case, and putting that money into his firm's operating account rather than a trust fund. Boyle said the money came to him in cash, which was reported to the IRS, and it was unreal- istic to expect Boyle to make a visit to prison or jail to talk to his client every time he needed to use some of the money for his case. He said it was possible the government could have gone after that money in a trust account, leaving Grintjes without money to pay for a lawyer. "I didn't want cash but that's what was brought into my office. I reported it to the IRS and said that's what I got from this man," Boyle said. "I certainly wasn't going to put it in the trust account and I don't know where they get off telling me that was a requirement. "Because at the end of the day, if the guy says to me I want another lawyer, give me my money back, I wouldn't have given it to him because that could be a claim there was money laundering." Boyle, who has been licensed since 1962, was previously the subject of reprimands for failing to act diligently on a client's request for post-conviction relief in a 2002- 09 matter, failing to take remedial action on multiple cases, and failing to get a fee agreement in writing in a 2012 case, the complaint said. He is perhaps best known for represent- ing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 1992. Contact Brian Huber bhuber@conleynet.com Beatles collector files complaint against well-known attorney Boyle says allegations 'bogus'

• Cover