Victory for an International Acclaimed Entertainer

John C. Depp II, et al. v. Bloom Hergott (Los Angeles County Superior Court): Stein Mitchell successfully represented the actor Johnny Depp in a legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty suit against his former entertainment lawyers. At the core of the suit was a groundbreaking legal theory: that the Mr. Depp’s former lawyers had violated Section 6147 of the California Business and Professions Code by refusing to put in writing their supposed contingency fee arrangement with Mr. Depp, in which the lawyers claimed to be entitled to a percentage cut of all of Mr. Depp’s earnings regardless of the services they provided to Mr. Depp.  We obtained judgment on the pleadings in Mr. Depp’s favor on defendants’ counterclaims, in a ruling where the Court adopted Mr. Depp’s interpretation of Section 6147’s operation, and then defeated the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds, persuading the Court to adopt Mr. Depp’s continuous representation argument.  Shortly before trial, we were able to secure an eight-figure settlement from defendants for Mr. Depp.