EXCLUSIVE: As lawyers for Johnny Depp and his former law firm spar over a new trial date for the now $50 million malpractice lawsuit the Pirates of the Caribbean star brought against Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLPin 2017, there looks to be at least two fewer Hollywood heavyweights in the ring as of today.
Fifty-one years after he started practicing law, Jacob Bloom is retiring from the firm that already doesn’t carry his name, I’ve learned. His fellow founding partner Alan Hergott is also stepping down after years representing clients including Brad Pitt, Star Wars overlord Kathleen Kennedy, her husband producer Frank Marshall, and Neil Patrick Harris.
Hergott and Bloom, who represented Depp for two decades, have been sending emails to clients, current and past, informing them of their decision to move on to a new phase of their lives. As well as working for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald star Depp, Bloom’s client list makes up one hell of a farewell party with Jerry Bruckheimer, Jason Statham, Nicolas Cage, Jackie Chan and Javier Bardem, to name just a few, at the table.
“We thank Jake and Alan for their many years of leadership, excellence and friendship, and we’re happy to build on their foundation,” partner Carlos Goodman said in a statement to Deadline this evening about the newly named Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen firm (read the full statement below). “This generational shift positions us to capture growth opportunities and lead GSB’s practice into the future.”
As the firm took on its new banner, and Greg Slewett has already set up shop at Ziffren Brittenham, Bloom shunned speaking publicly about his retirement. Hergott, on the other hand, did not.
“It has been a true privilege to represent some of the most talented people in entertainment and media over so many years,” the lawyer told Deadline. “While I will miss my clients and colleagues, now is the right time for this evolution. It is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved and I look forward to watching GSB optimize the new media landscape for its clients and continue to grow in the future.”
Though their names will no longer be on the firm’s name and a resetting of sorts is expected at the once BHDRLFS&G, Bloom and Hergott’s retirement in no way indicates that the former and the firm he helped found are backing down from the high-priced row with Depp. In fact, depositions in the October 2017-filed case continued this week, sources tell me.
The actor originally went after Bloom and gang as part of a $25 million scrap filed in January 2017 that Depp was having with his ex-business managers TMG over his seemingly troubled finances. After the law firm countersued in December 2017, the financially freewheeling Depp came to a settlement with TMG in July 2018.
As paperwork salvos continued between the lawyer and his ex-client, Depp scored a rare legal win in the case last August. Jolting lawyers all over town to get a pen into their Tinseltown clients’ hands, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Green granted Team Johnny’s motion to declare invalid the long-time and lucrative oral contingency agreement that actor had with Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP.
Since then, Depp has gone after ex-wife Amber Heard in a $50 million defamation suit and Team Bloom sent out a wave of depositions notices in late April including to former Warner Bros boss Kevin Tsujihara, Aquaman star Heard, and some of Hollywood’s top attorneys like Marty Singer and Patricia Glaser.
Now led by a heavyweight in his own right in Bryan Freedman, Bloom is asking Judge Green to push the trial now set for September to next spring because of the vast paperwork and dozens of depositions they say the multimillion-dollar case requires them to go through.
A May 29 hearing in Green’s courtroom has been scheduled to address the requested trial-date change.
In the meantime, read the whole Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP statement here:
Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman today announced that the firm is moving forward as Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen (“GSB”). The partners of GSB will maintain their well-established entertainment practices, and continue to expand into high-growth digital, streaming and influencer markets. The move follows the expected retirements of Jake Bloom and Alan Hergott, many of whose clients will be represented by GSB. Powerhouse lawyers John Diemer, David Feldman, Stuart Rosenthal, John LaViolette, Patrick Knapp, Eric Brooks, Richard Thompson and Stephen Breimer will be part of the GSB team. In addition, the firm is excited to announce that Ashley Silver and Will Jacobson are becoming partners of GSB.
“We thank Jake and Alan for their many years of leadership, excellence and friendship, and we’re happy to build on their foundation,” said Carlos Goodman. “This generational shift positions us to capture growth opportunities and lead GSB’s practice into the future.”
Hergott said, “It has been a true privilege to represent some of the most talented people in entertainment and media over so many years. While I will miss my clients and colleagues, now is the right time for this evolution. It is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved and I look forward to watching GSB optimize the new media landscape for its clients and continue to grow in the future.”
Michael Schenkman added, “I want to thank Jake and Alan for their mentorship and congratulate them on their terrific careers.”
