On Tuesday the Los Angeles Superior Court found that under California law the oral contract made between actor, Johnny Depp and his former lawyer, Jake Bloom, is not valid.
The decision is interesting because it has sweeping implications for Hollywood percentage fee agreements which are notoriously often made with little more than a nod and a handshake.
The case, which was opened in October, 2017, saw Depp suing his former attorney for more than $30 million in contingent fees for which there was no contract associated with Depp’s role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Bloom then counter-sued in December seeking an official declaration that their oral agreement made in 1999 was valid and that Depp owed failed to pay the appropriate amount in legal fees.
In March Depp sought a ruling that the deal was invalid due to California’s requirement that all contingency fee contracts be written. an argument that was ultimately successful.
While Bloom’s attorneys countered that Depp had ratified the contract by continuing to accept Bloom’s legal counsel, Judge Terry Green was unmoved. Green stated, “I don’t think there are special rules for show business. I grew up in a show business family. I’m aware that show business people think they live in a separate universe, but they don’t. Not a separate legal universe.”
While the ruling itself is strictly oral at this point, Judge Green stated that he will be writing the opinion up.
Depp will be seeking a refund of all the fees paid to Bloom when trial begins in May. Bloom may decide to appeal or he may pursue a quasi-contractual claim, quantum meruit, which seeks to gain recompense in the form of a reasonable fee for the work done.
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