ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Johnny Depp, who is already embroiled in a legal battle with his former managers, is now accusing a hot shot Hollywood lawyer of ripping him off for nearly $35 million.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday, Depp claims that attorney Jacob A. Bloom — whose other clients include Ron Howard, Nicolas Cage and Jackie Chan — and his law firm, Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal & LaViolette, committed “professional malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment,” ultimately costing the the Pirates of the Caribbean star tens of millions of dollars, according to documents obtained by People magazine.
“Johnny Depp’s lawsuit filed today reflects his continued stand against systemic, self-serving Hollywood practices that he hopes this lawsuit will expose and end,” the actor’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, tells the entertainment magazine.
Depp reportedly hired Bloom and his firm to handle his legal affairs in 1999, but claims they “improperly and negligently collected over $30,000,000 in voidable contingent fees” from his variable income over the years without a legally binding contract under California law, the claim alleges.
The complaint further alleges that Bloom and his firm were in cahoots with business managers at The Management Group — who he’s also suing — took out a “hard money loan” with a “double digit interest rate.” from a lender with whom they also had a professional relationship with for Depp, and manipulated the terms of the loan for their own financial benefit, as well as TMG’s.
TMG, in turn, is seeking repayment of a $4.2 million loan to Depp, in addition to several hundred thousand dollars in unpaid fees. TMG commenced non-judicial foreclosure proceedings against one of Depp’s properties in 2016, which the company alleges caused Depp to concoct false allegations.
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