Johnny Depp is said to have been ditched by his latest legal team amid his ongoing $25million (£17.7million) fraud lawsuit with his former business managers.
Deadline report that Michelman & Robinson, LLP have cut ties with the star, just three weeks after he lost Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in the midst of the year and a half long battle with The Management Group.
Ahead of Friday’s hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court, the site claims Michelman & Robinson lawyers will not be present as they enter the latest stage in the case brought by Johnny against the company in January last year.
Tough times: Johnny Depp is said to have been ditched by his latest legal team amid his ongoing $25million (£17.7million) fraud lawsuit with his former business managers (pictured in May last year)
Michelman & Robinson told the site: ‘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. We wish the parties luck in resolving their differences’.
Last month, Johnny headed back to court in his battle with his ex-business managers to demand a judge shut down subpoenas over a bank loan he secured.
The actor, 54, filed the suit against former managers Joel and Robert Mandel at The Management Group (TMG) last year, after firing the brothers when his new team allegedly discovered financial misconduct by the brothers.
TMG then accused Depp of living off borrowed funds to support his $2 million-a-month lifestyle and demanded he hand over his financial documents. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Johnny and Michelman & Robinson for comment.
Troubles: Deadline report that Michelman & Robinson, LLP have cut ties with the star, just three weeks after he lost Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in the midst of the year and a half long battle with The Management Group (pictured in January last year)
On March 6, Depp filed a motion to void a subpoena ordered by TMG for business records relating to the trustee presiding over the actor’s two trusts, Edward White at Edward White & Company (EWC).
Depp claims in legal filings seen exclusively by DailyMail.com that TMG is attempting to get business records relating to White’s private financial matters.
Specifically, TMG is demanding information related to a loan White was able to secure for Depp, the actor says in legal filings.
The actor said the group sought the information solely to ‘speculate that (1) Mr. White shouldn’t have been able to secure a loan for Depp from commercial bank because TWG could not do so two years earlier (2) Mr. White could and should somehow retroactively excuse TMG’s conflicts of interest and failure to disclose those conflicts’.
Tough times: On March 6, Depp filed a motion to void a subpoena ordered by TMG for business records relating to the trustee presiding over the actor’s two trusts, Edward White at Edward White & Company (EWC) (pictured in June last year)
Depp claims that if those accusations were true – which he vehemently denies – there would still be no issues in the ongoing lawsuit.
He says that the fact that White was able to secure a commercial loan has nothing to do with TMG’s choice to obtain a high interest loan from a hard money lender two years prior.
Depp argues that TMG cannot conduct an investigation into White’s personal financial information to try to tarnish him.
He describes TMG’s behavior over this matter as ‘sullenly acts like a poor sport, seemingly angry that Mr. White and EWC succeeded where they failed’.
Hitting back: He says that the fact that White was able to secure a commercial loan has nothing to do with TMG’s choice to obtain a high interest loan from a hard money lender two years prior (pictured in June last year)
TMG seems to believe White was only able to obtain such a loan due to the bank being crooked or having a pre-existing relationship, the actor claims.
Depp claims this is none of TMG’s business and demanded the subpoenas fired off to Banc of California be shut down.
The actor’s court battle with TMG started after he accused the company of negligence and fraud for failing to pay his taxes on time – resulting in $5.6 million in tax penalties and interest – loaning out $10 million of his money to third parties without his permission and keeping sloppy financial records.
A trial date for the case between Depp and TMG is set for August.