Johnny Depp has settled a legal battle with his former lawyer Jake Bloom of Bloom Hergott on Wednesday, according to an attorney from Bloom’s firm. An individual familiar with the matter tells TheWrap the settlement was for an amount just over eight figures.
Depp sued Bloom in Oct. 2017 and the company costing the actor “tens of millions of dollars” through improperly collecting upwards of $30 million in legal fees during the course of their 18-year relationship together.
“The former law firm of Bloom Hergott, with the help of its insurance carrier, has favorably settled the litigation with Johnny Depp for a fraction of his original demand,” Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Bloom’s firm, said in a statement. “While the firm was confident it would prevail at trial, we are nonetheless pleased with this resolution as it expedites the firm’s winding down process and allows it to get off the endless Johnny Depp litigation train.”
Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman responded to the statement from Bloom Hergott, saying, “The law firm formerly known as Bloom Hergott, sued out of existence by Johnny Depp for a multi-decade fraud and malfeasance spree, and after losing a landmark ‘6147’ ruling, avoided the shame of evidence in a public trial by paying Mr. Depp an 8 figure settlement. They are correct that 8 figures is a fraction of 9 figures.”
Bloom had additionally countersued and tried to get Depp’s case thrown out. But in Aug. 2018, Judge Terry Green ruled in Los Angeles Superior Court that Bloom’s oral handshake deal with Depp was invalid, giving Depp a leg up in the case.
Depp’s suit, filed against the firm Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman as well as Jacob A. Bloom, stated that the defendants “each collected over $30 million in contingent fees based on Mr. Depp’s variable income… without, among other things, the statutorily prescribed written contract, in a clear violation of California law.”
According to the suit, the initial loan was for $12.5 million, later increasing to $19 million, and was secured with Depp’s residuals from the first four “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, as well as “Alice in Wonderland” and “Into the Woods.” The complaint further says that the loan was loaded with “high fees, double-digit interest rates” and “substantial prepayment penalties,” that kept millions from Depp.