12h 30min, mar 29, 2019 y - LAW 360 Johnny Depp's Ex-Attys Can't Cut 'Secret Window' Fee Claims

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Law360, Los Angeles (March 29, 2019, 9:47 PM EDT) -- A California judge Friday denied a bid by Johnny Depp's former attorneys at Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP to trim the actor's claims the firm wrongfully collected a cut of his film earnings, saying too many questions are left unanswered about when the firm's work stopped.

At the start of the hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green said Depp's contract for legal services with Bloom Hergott was "unconventional" and "open-ended," disagreeing with the law firm that the actor's breach of fiduciary duty claims regarding the 2004 thriller "Secret Window" should be trimmed from the suit on summary adjudication based on a statute of limitations for negligence claims against attorneys under California's Business & Professions Code.
The firm argued it hasn't worked on the film since 2008, making it too old to bring up in Depp's suit now.

But Judge Green said Bloom Hergott's contract with Depp did not specify an end date to which the firm would no longer be working for him on specific films, including "Secret Window," finding the statute of limitations can't really be applied in a show business situation like this because, financially speaking, movies last forever.

"Maybe it was a dud," Judge Green said. "Who knows? Maybe in years it'll become a cult movie."

The question of how long Depp expected the firm to help him throughout his career in the entertainment business is a question of fact for a jury to decide, the judge said.

Depp, the star of such films as "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," accused his longtime personal attorney Jacob Bloom and the firm in his October 2017 suit of years of misconduct through self-dealing and failure to disclose conflicts of interest.

Depp says the firm, of which he had been a client for 18 years before firing them, failed to disclose years of misconduct between itself and The Management Group, his former business managers, which the movie star sued earlier that year.

The Bloom firm collected its fees from The Management Group without a written contract in violation of state law, the suit claimed.
In July, Depp settled his suit with The Management Group, averting a trial that was scheduled for August in a pair of multimillion-dollar suits over how at least $25 million of the actor's money was handled and whether his properties should be foreclosed.

Judge Green in August granted Depp's bid to dismiss Bloom Hergott's counterclaim that the actor breached their oral fee agreement, saying the show business deal is no different from any other attorney contingency fee agreement and thus is voidable because it had not been put in writing.

On Friday, Kurt C. Peterson of Reed Smith LLP, an attorney for Bloom Hergott, argued that just because the firm provided ongoing representation for Depp doesn't mean the statute of limitations doesn't also apply to "Secret Window."

Peterson said Depp was paid about $11 million in 2003 for his role in the film, with Bloom Hergott taking 5 percent. The film was released in 2004, Peterson said, and all work was complete by 2008 at the latest.

"It's not reasonable to think the firm is still doing any work on the film," Peterson said.
But Judge Green denied the motion for summary adjudication, saying it was a factual issue that a jury will need to decide.

After the hearing Friday, Benjamin G. Chew of Brown Rudnick LLP, an attorney for Depp, told Law360 they were "very gratified" with the judge's decision and that it was a good result for the actor.

Counsel for Bloom Hergott declined to comment.

Depp is represented by Ronald Rus, Randall A. Smith, Camille M. Vasquez, Samuel A. Moniz and Benjamin G. Chew of Brown Rudnick LLP, Adam R. Waldman of The Endeavor Law Firm PC, and Robert B. Gilmore, Brittany W. Biles and Kevin L. Attridge of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP.

Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP is represented by Kurt C. Peterson, Lorenzo Gasparetti, Peter J. Kennedy and Mathew M. Wrenshall of Reed Smith LLP.

The case is Depp et al. v. Bloom et al., case number BC680066 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

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