Johnny Depp sues his lawyers, claiming they swindled him out of millions
Amid his legal battle with TMG, the actor is now accusing an entertainment law firm of malpractice.
As Johnny Depp's legal battle with his former money managers The Management Group (TMG) rages on, the Pirates of The Carribean star has sued his own lawyers, claiming the firm colluded with TMG to swindle him out of millions of dollars.
According to the new complaint obtained by TMZ, the Hollywood star is accusing entertainment law firm, Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman, of engaging in "misconduct for their own financial benefit and violated some of the most basic tenets of the attorney-client relationship."
The 54-year-old star, who is worth an estimated $400m and commands a fee of $20m per film, also believes that Bloom never alerted him to what TMG was allegedly doing and "improperly and negligently collected over $30m in voidable contingent fees" from his variable income.
His lawyers are also accused of taking out a high-interest loan from a lender and manipulating the terms of the loan for their own financial benefit and essentially skimming off the top.
"Johnny Depp's lawsuit filed today reflects his continued stand against systemic, self-serving Hollywood practices that he hopes this lawsuit will expose and end," Depp's lawyer, Adam Waldman, told People.
Depp's latest legal wrangling comes several months after he filed a suit for more than $25m against defendants Robert Mandel and Joel Mandel, claiming that TMG had mismanaged close to $40m of the actor's money.
He claimed that TMG collected fees without his approval, incurred penalties for failing to pay his taxes, and loaned millions of dollars without consent.
Weeks later the firm counter-sued, claiming Depp was to blame for his financial woes because he refused to heed their warning to halt his lavish lifestyle, which cost more than $2m (£1.6m) a month to maintain.
However, it was later ruled that Depp's personal spending habits are not relevant in his ongoing legal battle.
In September, TMG accused Depp of "throwing his family under a bus" after he named his sister, nephew and close friends as people who took "unauthorised loans".
After amending their initial complaint, the firm issued a statement which read: "In his attempt to avoid paying his debts to TMG, Depp is knowingly throwing his closest family, friends and employees under the bus."
The statement added: "[Depp] is falsely alleging that they took millions of dollars in unauthorised payments from him. It is no wonder that Depp delayed for months in revealing their names."