Johnny Depp's lawyer trial delayed

25 March 2019

Johnny Depp's legal battle with his former lawyers has been pushed back in order to give more time to "unwind the tangled affairs" of the actor.

Johnny Depp

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star was due to face legal firm Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman - who he is suing for $30 million - in court in May but a Los Angeles judge has now changed the trial date to now begin on September 16 because both parties have been fighting over documents that need to be submitted and there are still outstanding depositions.

The judge warned both sides could have moved quicker and have caused the case to drag on by engaging in "a great deal of finger-pointing concerning whose fault it is", The Blast revealed.

The company had raised issues over documents and information they claim Johnny had failed to supply, and while the judge ordered the 55-year-old star to give more detailed answers to a number of questions, he denied some of the firm's demands.

And the judge noted: "This case requires the parties to unwind the tangled affairs of Plaintiff Depp, his various entities, and his lawyers, going back several years.

"Plaintiff's inclination to incorporate by reference and tell Defendant Firm to, in essence, 'figure it out,' is understandable.

"However, the very number of parties and issues present in this case calls for a more meticulous approach. Although shorthand references are easier, they are by necessity less clear."

The 'Black Mass' actor has accused the company of conspiring with his former business managers, The Management Group (TMG), to cheat him out of millions, blaming his lawyers for allegedly failing to alert him to their actions, despite knowing what was going on.

Johnny's lawyer, Adam Waldman, told The Blast, "Bloom is accused among other things of a failure to supervise the fraudulent activity of the Mandel Brothers/TMG, Mr. Depp's former business managers who are under multiple federal criminal investigations and whose offices were raided by the FBI in June 2017. Judge Green agreed to move their trial from May to September, and ruled that Bloom is entitled to Mandel's sealed documents."

And he also slammed the company for their behaviour during Johnny's divorce from Amber Heard, who accused her ex-husband of being abusive during their marriage.

He added: "Part of Bloom's defense is that he did a good job on Mr. Depp's divorce. But the facts are these: some of Mr. Depp's legal dream team of five Hollywood lawyers reviewed the entire surveillance video library taken of Ms. Heard, her friends, Elon Musk and others captured by 24 surveillance cameras in the Eastern Columbia Building and the 87 surveillance videos that these lawyers set aside. Then Mr. Depp's lawyers took sworn declarations from multiple eyewitnesses.

"Some on Mr. Depp's legal team secretly represented Elon Musk. Some of Mr. Depp's legal team then hid for nearly three years this exculpatory evidence from Mr. Depp that disproved the malicious hoax perpetrated against him by Amber Heard."

The firm have denied all allegations of wrongdoing and insisted they never conspired against the 'Edward Scissorhands' actor.

They went on to file a countersuit, accusing Johnny of causing his own damages due to his own misconduct and negligence, and filed a countersuit, claiming he hadn't paid them for months, despite them continuing to work for them.

The actor denied owing any money, claiming he had paid tens of millions over the years and argued the firm are barred from trying to collect unpaid dues because they never signed an official retainer, describing their agreement as "illegal".