Johnny Depp was dropped by a second law firm in the space of one month

Johnny Depp and guests attend Shane MacGowan 60th

I haven’t been keeping up with Johnny Depp’s legal and financial troubles, but I know enough to know that this is not good news. Throughout 2017, there was a lot of back and forth between Depp and his former business managers. They were and are suing each other. Depp alleges that his former managers badly mismanaged his money and that millions of dollars (if not tens of millions) are missing or unaccounted for. His former managers allege that Depp is a drunk, abusive scarf monster who has pissed away the bulk of his fortune on stupid sh-t, an endless array of real estate and wine and a fleet of cars which barely get used and a lot more. The two camps have been sniping at each other for more than a year, as I said, and it’s probably going to take years for all of the lawyers to figure out this mess. Except that Depp’s lawyers just quit.

At World’s End may not just be a title in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for Johnny Depp but also the state of the star’s $25 million fraud lawsuit with his former business managers. Less than three weeks after losing heavyweights Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP as part of his legal team in the nearly year and a half long multi-complaint battle with The Management Group, Depp has now been bloodlessly cut loose by replacement Michelman & Robinson, LLP.

“Upon having had an opportunity to review this matter in detail, we have determined it is in the best interest of our firm to focus our attention on other matters,” a spokesperson for the Irvine, CA based firm bluntly told Deadline today. “We wish the parties luck in resolving their differences,” they added after a deep dive into the affair and then exit of the leaking Good Ship Depp in just under a month.

Additionally, I hear that Michelman & Robinson attorneys will not be in front of Judge Teresa Beaudet tomorrow in Los Angeles Superior Court [on Friday] for a scheduled procedural motion hearing in the case that Depp instigated against TMG back in January 2017. Amidst tales of extravagant spending by the Murder On The Orient Express star, foreclosure attempts and bare financial cupboards dominating the actor’s complaint and the commission seeking cross-complaint that TMG hit back with soon afterwards, this latest shake-up in the Oscar nominee’s legal representation also comes as an August 15 trial start date is approaching in the matter.

Even closer on the calendar and making Depp look more like a defendant than the plaintiff he is, I’ve learned that a deposition of the actor that was supposed to take place in early May has certainly been postponed. No new deposition date has been penciled in despite the legal invectives and moves each side have lashed the other with and the trial date on the horizon.

[From Deadline]

Two law firms have fired Johnny Depp as their client in the space of a month. Not only that, Deadline also notes that Depp had another lawyer, Adam Waldman, based in DC, who was supposed to be coming back on the team but now it looks like Waldman is in the wind too, so to speak. Basically, anyone Depp hires gets a good look at what really happened with his finances over the past decade and then the lawyers run screaming from the room. Which isn’t the vote of confidence Depp wants, obviously. I have another theory too: I wonder if these lawyers weren’t so much scared off by the case itself, but they just didn’t want to work with Depp because he is, legally speaking, non compos mentis.

'Murder on the Orient Express' World Premiere - Arrivals

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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25 Responses to “Johnny Depp was dropped by a second law firm in the space of one month”

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  1. Mia4s says:

    Very, VERY, interesting.
    Getting a look at his finances wouldn’t send a law firm packing in of itself -unless they got a look, realized there was big trouble in this case, made recommendations, and their client completely disregarded them all. Or he’s just impossible to deal with…or (and this seems likely) he’s not paying his invoices.

    Whatever it is…MESS!!!!

  2. TheOtherOne says:

    Good. I hope more continue to drop him.

  3. WMGDtoo says:

    Lord how recent is that first picture. I just don’t know what to say about Johnny Depp. He needs to get some mental help then do what his Lawyers say and PAY YOUR BILLS. Those huge money days are gone. Just not going to happen. Even with those Pirate movies.

  4. Bridget says:

    This case has been a little hard to follow amidst all of the mud-slinging, but what I find the most interesting about this is the fact that there have long been Depp fans that maintain that forensic accounting was going to find that the original management team was defrauding him – and yet burning through multiple legal teams isn’t a good sign. The whole thing has been completely crazy, especially the parts with his sister, who was the recipient of the fraudulent loan.

  5. Pandy says:

    I can only shake my head at these fools and their money. Fleets of cars. Castles. Idiots.

  6. Veronica S. says:

    Honestly, it suggests to me that he really doesn’t have a case. If Depp had solid evidence of mismanagement of his wealth by his former management, no legal team would bypass that opportunity if only because of the fiscal worth of representing him. Given that he’s an abusive alcoholic who has been repeatedly caught lying or trying to get around court orders, I’m going to assume the management team wasn’t the problem.

  7. Yawn says:

    Methinks this is too weird to discount. It seems as though this dudes financial problems have been going on for a LONGGGG time. Doesn’t surprise me that this complete and total financial unraveling coincides with him apparently beating the daylights out of his then wife…

  8. Kitty says:

    I have to say this no matter who shits on me it. Everything about Johnny depp makes me so sad. When I was a teenager, I loved him so much, I devoured his movies, he was a family man, charitable. He just seemed really likeable and different than other actors at the time.. Now he’s such a mess and an abusive, ignorant jerk.

    • tealily says:

      Yeah, I don’t think anyone is going to shit on you here.

    • nb says:

      @kitty I feel the same way. I have so much love for movies like Benny & Joon, Edward Scissorhands, Fear & Loathing, Sleepy Hollow, Secret Window, From Hell, Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one, it’s just a fun movie) and Blow. He was so different and refreshing. He seemed down to Earth, like someone I’d like to just hang out with. He really knew how to get into a role and make you believe it, and of course he was soooo cute. But now it’s just sad to see where his life headed.

      Sigh.

    • elle says:

      I was leafing through a stack of old magazines and found one with a cover of him in his heyday. I remember saving it because he was so beautiful. Put it right in the recycling pile.

  9. ariel says:

    In addition to not being of sound mind, i’m guessing once these law firms looked at the reality of the case, the fault and his finances, they realized they would not get PAID, because there is no money, and there will be no judgment in favor of Depp.

  10. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I think since he played Captain Jack Sparrow he became Captain Jack Sparrow. Only now, the fictional character has more validity so, lol, that’s sad and not amusing, endearing or watchable.

  11. ValiantlyVarnished says:

    I think the reason he keeps getting dropped by lawyers is two-fold: one he has no case. The moment they took a look at his finances they figured this out. But lawyers take on unwinnable cases all the time – because they still get paid either way. But if Depp’s as broke as we suspect he is AND his case is utter crap who pays the lawyers?? They arent getting paid by him in all likelihood and were perhaps counting on their fees being paid by a possible settlement in the case or a direct judgement in their favor. That can’t happen if your client has no leg to stand on and the accounting tells a different story than the one he is giving you. Also – judging by how he treated his management Depp is probably a nightmare to work with and corral for meetings, etc. There was no literally no incentive for the firms to continue to do business with him.

  12. NoShame says:

    Pro tip to Legal Zoom: Make a commercial about Depp and Trump, offering your services. I swear this could be the most viral commercial of all time.

  13. Chaine says:

    Sounds like somebody is just about on the verge of hiring Rudy Giuliani!

  14. Case says:

    He repulses me. It’s really a shame he is such a mess — he was once so talented and handsome. I thought the world of him before Amber came forward. Never again.

  15. Ivy says:

    Let’s not forget that the lawyers want to get paid–if they’re looking through his finances and discover he doesn’t even have the money to pay them for all the time it’ll take (months to years) they’re not gonna wanna work with him, obviously.

  16. Molly says:

    What is tragic here is that when he started as an actor he did a lot of indies and genuinely interesting movies, he was a simple guy and different from the typical Hollywood movie star and didn’t try to become one. That was his mojo. And now? He is a typical Hollywood washed up persona – ridiculous posh lifestyle, financial problems, personal life in tatters, stuck in one character in all his recent movies and the movies are all one-note and uninspiring (and mostly flops). Plus renewed alcohol and drugs problems. The latter is especially threatening. He relapsed at an older age and that may actually do him in completely.

  17. Rebecca says:

    Could it be that he is not paying his lawyers and refusing to sell off any assets to get the money to pay him. I think he’s living in a world of delusion and denial. They see the case and realize that they may to win and get compensated in the future and they are not getting any money now so why bother with it.