The Lawsuits Thread

[Ruby Begonia]

Thank you ever so much for finding that for us So under certain circumstances the newspapers can get access quite legally ... Great

For Johnny's divorce, it was possible to search the LA family court online database using name, docket or case number and find public documents such as the divorce filing, court orders, etc. Some people found more by paying for certain access. Some documents - especially settlement agreements - can be made confidential.

Media outlets usually have people assigned to watch court filings to get scoops and updates.

[humiliatedgrape]

Interesting article regarding Johnny's lawsuit against his former lawyer

The Hollywood Reporter
AUGUST 10, 2018 12:12pm PT by Eriq Gardner

How Johnny Depp Could Soon Disrupt Hollywood Dealmakers

A case that explores the relationship between Hollywood stars and the attorneys who negotiate for them.

This coming Wednesday, Johnny Depp will bring to a Los Angeles judge an issue that could wreak havoc across Hollywood. The star actor recently settled his big lawsuit against his former management firm, but he's still in court with the lawyer who negotiated most of his work for the past two decades. That would be Jake Bloom, whose other clients include Jerry Bruckheimer, Nicolas Cage, Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese. Depp alleges that he and Bloom have been together since 1999 on basically a handshake basis, and that without a written contract, he's entitled to recover more than $30 million in fees. And if the actor succeeds, Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman quite legitimately predicts it could render void decades of similar handshake agreements across the industry. But will Depp prevail?

The key to understanding the fight is not so much a focus on whether Depp and Bloom had an oral agreement, but whether Bloom's entitlement to a percentage of Depp's income amounts to "contingency" arrangement. That's because of a provision in California business and professions code that requires that an attorney get a written contract when a client is being represented on a contingency basis.

When it comes to litigators, those who try cases in court, there's not much ambiguity about the meaning of "contingency." For example, see those lawyers who agree to represent clients for a fixed percentage of the winnings in lawsuits. But as Bloom's own attorney told the judge in a court brief this month, there's never been a case that has addressed whether the percentage fee agreements used by transactional lawyers in the entertainment industry fall within the contingency-fee statute. That is, until now.

Bloom alleges that Depp has "ratified" the fee arrangement, and for that reason, Depp's early bid to win the case fails. In support of the argument, not to mention a reason why this dispute will impact others in Hollywood besides stars and their lawyers, Bloom points to an assertion that Depp made against his former managers. In Depp's complaint against The Mandel Company, Depp alleged that the firm "failed to obtain and maintain written agreements with critical service providers, including, but not limited to, a written agreement with [his] entertainment attorneys who were paid tens of millions of dollars in contingent fees without the statutorily prescribed written contract or agreement."

Since Bloom continued to do work for Depp months after this allegation was made in January 2017, and given that Depp accepted such legal services, Depp blessed the arrangement, Bloom argues.

If that doesn't work, Bloom will need to show that Hollywood's percentage fee deals aren't contingency fee deals. Here's the case that Bloom is making...

"A contingency fee agreement provides an attorney with clearly defined, limited goals for the attorney to accomplish," writes Bloom's attorney Peter Kennedy at Reed Smith. "This concept is again more easily articulated in the litigation context: a plaintiff's attorney sets out to either win or settle a case."

As for the non-litigation context, Kennedy offers the example of a property investor hiring an attorney to refinance debt to stop a pending foreclosure. That's an example of a "clearly defined, limited goal."

Now what do attorneys like Bloom do for their star clients?

"In the entertainment industry, actors such as Mr. Depp build a reputation off their performances and often have long-term career goals and public relation strategies," continues Kennedy. "Bloom Hergott offers clients a holistic approach that incentivizes both a client and an attorney to develop a mutually beneficial relationship that can last an entire career instead of just a series of 'one shot' transactions... This goal — advancing a client's career through legal services — is not a clearly defined, limited goal. It is broad and open-ended."

Bloom's attorney continues that it is hard to be binary when it comes to the legal services provided to Depp. It can't be reduced to a description of "successful" or "unsuccessful" when negotiating such things as Depp's approval rights, credits, or insurance coverage. The brief adds, "And how would assisting Mr. Depp with his personal problems allow Bloom Hergott to claim any level of 'success' entitling it to a contingency fee?"

It doesn't end there. Bloom also points to the lack of downside risk. A contingency-fee litigator who loses a case might not be paid. A law firm hired to negotiate with creditors may fail. But when work can't be pigeonholed as either a "success" or "failure," is that a mark of something less than contingent?

"Some jobs are taken by a client to advance his or her artistic goals, and some jobs are taken to advance commercial goals," states the Bloom brief. "The amount of an actor's revenue, viewed with no context, could not, should not, and is not used as the sole determinant of a client's 'success' or 'failure,' nor, for that matter, the 'success' or 'failure' of the attorney who negotiated the deal."

That, at least, is Bloom's case for the "holistic" view of entertainment law that takes the relationship between stars and their clients outside of a contingency marriage. When Depp's attorney shows up at a hearing on Wednesday, he'll likely point to tangible points of success and failure that make or break Hollywood Power Lawyers.

If Bloom fails on these arguments, he'll at least be attempting to retain $30 million in fees on the basis that he did perform services for Depp, and with a claim of quantum meruit, he deserves adequate compensation.

[meeps]

I know Johnny is a trusting soul, but how the heck did he dare NOT having a written contract with these people ...
It might be custom not to have one in Hollywood. But I would still sort of stick to a version of "Trust, but verify" if it had been me. I am pretty trusting myself. But when it comes to money, it is better to have something formal written down, I think.

[humiliatedgrape]

Johnny Depp Claims Alleged Assault on ‘City of Lies’ Set Was Self-Defense

August 20, 2018 at 6:52 am PDT
by Ryan Naumann

Johnny Depp is not denying that he physically hit a location manager while on production for his movie, “City of Lies,” but he’s claiming it was done out of self-defense and should therefore not cause him any legal or financial problems.

Answering the complaint filed earlier this year by Gregg “Rocky” Brooks, Depp argues that any violence brought upon the location manager was because the actor “feared for his safety” during the incident.

According to documents, obtained by The Blast, Depp was not only scared for himself, but allegedly observed director Brad Furman as fearing for his safety. He believes the alleged assault that took place was out of the self-defense and “defense of others.”

“City of Lies” is based around the murder investigations of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. It was slated for a September release, but has been pushed back and a new date has not yet been announced.

In his original complaint, Brooks alleged that Depp “smelled of alcohol” when he allegedly punched him twice in the rib cage after the location manager tried to enforce a permit restriction during a late night of filming. Depp’s bodyguards allegedly had to hold back the star, and Brooks was fired from the production three days later after refusing to sign a release on the incident.

Now Depp wants the entire case dismissed and for Brooks to get no money.

[Sweeney Todd]

Depp’s attorney further denied Depp punched Brooks in a statement to PEOPLE just hours after filing the response.

“Despite false media reports suggesting otherwise, Johnny Depp never touched the person suing him, as over a dozen witnesses present will attest. In a court filing we have generally denied all claims and we will fight these latest sham allegations,” his attorney said. 

[Judymac]

Depp’s attorney further denied Depp punched Brooks in a statement to PEOPLE just hours after filing the response.

“Despite false media reports suggesting otherwise, Johnny Depp never touched the person suing him, as over a dozen witnesses present will attest. In a court filing we have generally denied all claims and we will fight these latest sham allegations,” his attorney said. 

First of all I doubt Johnny would punch anybody. I especially don't think he would punch somebody who goes by the nickname of Rocky.

[myfave]

So he was doing it to defend himself or he didn't do it at all? It's one or the other.

[SnoopyDances]

According to documents, obtained by The Blast...

The Blast does not elaborate on what documents they obtained: court papers, depositions, letters/emails from unnamed sources?

When other sites have obtained legal papers relating to a case, they've shown the paperwork or linked to it.

The article is a little misleading, at a quick glance, you might think Johnny gave them an interview. Instead, it is based on these "documents". I would think if court documents/depositions were available, everyone with a computer would be showing them.

Bottom line...there are dozens of people on set at any given time, so there would have to be witnesses to whatever occurred, especially if security was called. If either of them were threatening or menacing in any way, others would have known about it.

In American courts, it is up to the plaintiff to prove their allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant doesn't have to prove a thing.

[fireflydances]

Well, I hope Johnny sues People. In the end that's the only way to stop media from disseminating any crap they want to put out there to increase or sustain sales.

[tralala]

The Wrap's article is even stranger.

Johnny Depp Denies Punching Crew Member But Argues Injuries Are Due to ‘Self-Defense’
A location manager said in July that Depp punched him twice on set of “City of Lies”
Beatrice Verhoeven | August 20, 2018 @ 8:43 AM
Last Updated: August 20, 2018 @ 2:30 PM

Johnny Depp has claimed that the film crew member who has accused the star of punching him on the set of “City of Lies” sustained his injuries due to “self defense/defense of others.”

In a legal documents obtained by TheWrap, Depp’s attorneys do not admit that the actor or his co-defendants struck location manager Gregg “Rocky” Brooks but argue that Brooks himself “provoked” the actions that resulted in his own injuries.

“The acts complained of by Plaintiff were provoked by Plaintiff’s unlawful and wrongful conduct in that Plaintiff willfully and maliciously acted out and conducted his activities in such a manner as to cause, Defendant Depp to fear for his safety, and according to Defendant Depp’s observations, Defendant Brad Furman for his safety,” read the legal filing.

Moreover, the documents read, “the Complaint and each of its causes of action are barred, or recovery reduced, by Plaintiff’s own carelessness, recklessness and/or negligence.”

Brooks, who said he was working as a location manager on the film, filed a suit in July that claimed things got ugly during a shoot at the Barclay Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the suit, permits for the shoot initially allowed for exterior shooting at the hotel until 7 p.m. and inside the hotel until 10 p.m. An extension was granted, and at 10:50 p.m. they were asked to make the current shot the last exterior shot of the night. Brooks said that he was told to instruct Depp of the request, but wanted an on-set LAPD officer to assist him in doing so because he knew Depp “may become upset.”

Before he could enlist the officer’s help, however, Brooks’ suit said that Depp accosted Plaintiff and began attacking him, angrily screaming in his face ‘WHO THE F— ARE YOU? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!'”

According to the complaint, Depp also “angrily and forcefully punched Plaintiff twice in the lower left side of his rib cage and causing pain.”

When Brooks maintained his composure, the suit said, Depp yelled that he would give Brooks $100,000 to punch him in the face. According to the suit, Brooks still didn’t react, and Depp’s bodyguards physically removed the actor from the scene.

In the legal filing answering Brooks’ lawsuit, Depp contended that Brooks’ own actions caused the damages claimed in the initial complaint and that he didn’t take the necessary steps to mitigate the damages he “proximately caused to himself.” Depp, therefore, asked for a judgment in his favor and that the costs of the suit and attorney fees and further relief be returned to him.

In a statement to TheWrap, Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman said, “Despite false media reports suggesting otherwise, Johnny Depp never touched the person suing him, as over a dozen witnesses present will attest. In a court filing we have generally denied all claims and we will fight these latest sham allegations.”

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

For the record: A previous version of this story incorrectly suggested that Johnny Depp’s legal team had admitted that the star had hit Brooks.

Sooo... Johnny didn't touch him, but there were injuries? Something's missing here. Was there someone else involved? A bodyguard, perhaps?
Also: note the closing lines: "A previous version of this story incorrectly suggested that Johnny Depp’s legal team had admitted that the star had hit Brooks."

[justintime]

Yes, I’m waiting for another end-of-article “For the record” correction of THIS supposed update, whenever The Wrap decides to get the full story before rushing something (i.e. anything) to “print.” Both The Wrap and The Blast (lol - a truly trust-inspiring banner; no corrections from them yet) are deplorable tabloids, but not nearly the worst of the worst.

I’m sick of all the convenient, self-serving interpretations - all designed to keep their initial hate-fueled, (imao commissioned) narratives in place.

Read a little quote the other day - not sure where, no author:
“Be cautious with the venom you put into your words. You may have to eat them one day.”

All of these pitiful tabloids (including The Rolling Stone) owe Johnny Depp a heck of a lot more than half hearted, grudging “corrections”. He deserves unqualified, across the board apologies (and a hefty percentage of their profits over the last two and a half years!).

[humiliatedgrape]

Thank you detectives!

I try to be as accurate and reliable as I can when sharing articles but it's all honestly getting so confusing lately

[SnoopyDances]

From Deadline:

Johnny Depp In Settlement Talks To End $30M Malpractice Suit With Ex-Lawyers

by Dominic Patten
August 23, 2018

EXCLUSIVE: Having reached a deal last month in his $25 million legal sword fight with his former business managers, Johnny Depp is also looking to bring a related $30 million ruckus with his ex-lawyers to an end.

With a jury trial penciled in to start May 6 next year, the seemingly near-cash-strapped The Pirates of the Caribbean star’s reps and attorneys for Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP are now engaged in serious settlement talks, I’ve learned.

At this stage, nothing is signed or sealed, and it is not even certain whether the battle-scarred parties will have an agreement before their scheduled August 28 motion hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. However, with the timeline still somewhat fluid and that downtown L.A. gathering looming, I hear that there is an impetus among the principals to bring to a halt the big-bucks malpractice complaint, filed initially in October 2017 and resulting in a December 2017 countersuit from Martin Scorsese attorney Jacob Bloom and his partners.

The resolution would be welcoming news to Warner Bros, home of the November 16-releasing Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, among others.

Similar to the recent end of Depp’s January 2017-commencing showdown with The Management Group, the actor settling things with his formerly trusted lawyer of two decades immediately eases worries that the Burbank-based studio may have of bitter litigation distracting from Grindelwald. Having rolled out a focused Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald at Comic-Con last month, Warners haas made no secret of how high its expectations and P&A are for the pic.

Witnessing the ultimately contained backlash to Depp’s casting in tje Fantastic Beasts franchise to begin with as claims of domestic abuse in his now-ended marriage to Amber Heard splayed across the trades and tabloids, Warner Bros had to recognize it might have a problem on its hands with future lawsuits the actor might become involved in. Even a slither of the revelations of Depp’s financial excess and other dirty laundry that the bust-up with TMG put in the public docket, not to mention that June Rolling Stone profile the actor disastrously agreed to, would certainly overshadow the Eddie Redmayne-led follow-up to 2016’s successful Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Neither Bloom’s Reed Smith lawyers nor Depp’s team led by The Endeavor Law Firm’s Adam Waldman responded to request for comment on the case or the status of settlement talks.

Publicly, the parties are in the weeds fighting over whether Bloom’s firm was entitled to the lucrative slice of Depp’s fees for films and more that they have been collecting under a contingency agreement. The Oscar-nominated actor says no because all they’ve had since 1999 is a handshake deal. The lawyers for the lawyers say yes because, among other objections, Depp never suggested he felt otherwise over the years, even from January 2017 to October 2017 when he had sued TMG but before he went after Bloom.

First filed last fall, Depp’s $30 million malpractice barrage against his longtime lawyers said that there had never been a “statutorily prescribed written contract” between the parties. Spreading his tangled net wide, the actor also claimed the venerated law firm had been working with The Management Group against his best interests and expressed economic desires.

“Cross-Defendants completely fail to discuss ratification in their motion. Indeed, the word ‘ratification’ is nowhere to be found in their memorandum,” said Reed Smith for the Bloom participants in an August 2 opposition response to Depp’s efforts to crash their breach of contract countersuit. “Cross-Defendants have therefore waived this issue and Bloom Hergott’s pleading should be accepted as true and the contract claim allowed to proceed,” the filing added. “Furthermore, if an amended pleading is required, Bloom Hergott can provide additional allegations about Cross-Defendants’ ratification of the agreement.”

At this point, even as this case looks to be heading towards a settlement, Depp isn’t out of the legal woods at all. Battered with a lawsuit from former bodyguards over owed pay, Depp is also looking at assault allegations by the location manager of the now stymied City of Lies. In the latter case, Depp said in an August 15 filing that plaintiff Gregg “Rocky” Brooks “provoked” the situation, and the actor responded in “self-defense/defense of others.”

“The acts complained of by Plaintiff were provoked by Plaintiff’s unlawful and wrongful conduct in that Plaintiff willfully and maliciously acted out and conducted his activities in such a manner as to cause, Defendant Depp to fear for his safety, and according to Defendant Depp’s observations, Defendant Brad Furman for his safety,” the filing in Los Angeles Superior court said of the film;s star and director.

So, even if one more is down, there are more lawsuits to go for Depp – for now.

[Sweeney Todd]

AUGUST 27, 2018 3:51pm PT by Ashley Cullins

'City of Lies' Script Supervisor Defends Johnny Depp in Lawsuit Over Alleged On-Set Attack

A City of Lies script supervisor says she was on set when Johnny Depp allegedly verbally and physically assaulted a crew member — and claims she has proof none of it actually happened.

Location manager Greg "Rocky" Brooks in July sued Depp, along with the film's director and producers. He alleges Depp screamed at him, punched him twice in the ribs and offered him $100,000 to hit back. Brooks also claims he was fired from the film after he wouldn't promise not to sue over the alleged incident.

Script supervisor Emma Danoff on Monday submitted a declaration stating that she witnessed the altercation and it was nothing like what Brooks described in his lawsuit.

Danoff says they were shooting outside and Brooks berated an African-American homeless woman with "racial and derogatory slurs" because she was in his way. Depp was sitting next to her about 25 feet away when it happened.

"He immediately stood up from our shared seat on the edge of a planter bench and went over to Brooks to stand up for the woman," she says. "Mr. Depp said to Mr. Brooks, 'You can’t talk to her like that. You think she is something less than you? Who do you think you are? How dare you?' "

Danoff says there were no punches thrown and no offer of $100,000 for Brooks to punch Depp — and she says she has 40 time-stamped photos that prove it. 

“Mr. Brooks, and others who have abused Mr. Depp, are about to discover the consequences for making false accusations,” says Depp's attorney Adam Waldman.

City of Lies, formerly known as LAbrynth, centers on the investigation following the death of Christopher Wallace, known as Notorious B.I.G. It was set to open after Labor Day, but was recently pulled from Global Road's distribution schedule.

[justintime]

“Mr. Brooks, and others who have abused Mr. Depp, are about to discover the consequences for making false accusations,” says Depp's attorney Adam Waldman.

Thank you so much, Sweeney, for posting this.

This information - with nothing cherry-picked or tweaked - should be making headlines everywhere, with particular emphasis on Mr. Waldman’s promise and purposeful reference to “others”. There’s only one “other”, Imao, responsible initially for laying the groundwork of hideous lies and false accusations that eventually morphed into a relentless no-holds-barred onslaught of hate, ridicule, and downright persecution against an innocent man (and, not to be lost in the rubble, his family). It’s time: Never forgive. Never forget.