Johnny Depp's suit against lawyer hopelessly mired in discovery

LOS ANGELES -- Johnny Depp's come to regret agreeing to the terms of his divorce settlement with actress Amber Heard, his former personal attorneys say, and he's laying the blame on them.

A trial for the lawsuit, in which the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star has accused his former lawyer Jacob Bloom of defrauding him of $30 million, was scheduled to begin next month. But at a hearing Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Green said two bankers boxes' worth of documents -- and an apparent lack of cooperation between the parties -- evaporated any hope for an imminent trial.

"I would ask you not to do this again," said Green, who suggested the parties reconsider taking the case to a referee to resolve their numerous discovery disputes.

Bryan J. Freedman, a partner at Freedman + Taitelman LLP and counsel to Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal Laviolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP, said the plaintiff had been obstinate in refusing to produce documents related to a settlement Depp reached with his former finance managers at The Management Group.

Despite its relevance, Freedman said the defense hasn't been able to learn any details of the settlement agreement, beyond what's been found in the press and in largely redacted court filings. Freedman said facts of the settlement, such as what Depp's former managers said in depositions and what amount of money ultimately changed hands, would invariably affect the course of their legal argument.

"We basically have none of that. We have no idea what [TMG co-founder Joel] Mandel said, or what their experts said, for my client to evaluate and get experts and come up with a strategy," Freedman said during Thursday's hearing. "We have this huge case looking at us, and we don't have those documents."

Their potential defense has been thrown further in the air by Depp's apparent belief the firm offered "wrongful advice" in divorce talks with Heard, added Reed Smith LLP's Kurt Peterson, who is representing Bloom in the case.

While the allegation wasn't obvious from Depp's complaint, Peterson said depositions taken since suggest the actor's not happy with the terms of the 2016 settlement. John C. Depp II v. Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal Laviolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP, BC680066 (L.A. Super., filed Oct. 17, 2017).

"There was no mention whatsoever with specificity, for example, in the plaintiff's legal malpractice case that our client, the lawyer Jake Bloom, gave poor advice," Peterson said. "But for the first time in January, we learned that's what's being alleged."

Peterson said that sort of allegation would require the defense to seek depositions from several parties currently uninvolved in the matter, like MMA star Raquel Pennington, a friend and neighbor of Heard's who claims to have witnessed instances of alleged spousal abuse by Depp.

Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit against Heard in Virginia last week, claiming he'd been defamed by a December 2018 editorial Heard wrote for the Washington Post on the subject of sexual violence. Depp argues the editorial, which does not mention him by name, was a "hoax to generate positive publicity" that misrepresented their relationship.

Randall Smith, a partner at Brown Rudnick LLP and counsel to Depp, said many of the documents requested included personal information. And given the volume of discovery requested, it "would take an incredible amount of time" to sort through. But Green didn't see the issue, given those would be billable hours.

"I understand what you're saying, but if they think this information is important, someone will have to sit down and read it," the judge said.

Green also noted they'd have to go over the documents ahead of trial anyway. Acknowledging the inevitable delay, he asked whether scheduling the trial for some time in Spring or early Summer might work better. Smith said given the request, a trial by the end of the year might be more likely. A new trial date has been tentatively scheduled for Sept. 16.