Johnny Depp sued by ex-lawyers

American actor Johnny Depp was hit with a USD 350,000 lawsuit by a law firm that claimed that the actor failed to pay his bills.

The lawsuit was filed against the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor on Monday, reported Variety.

The 55-year-old star retained law firm Buckley LLP in the fall of 2017 to sue his former entertainment law company, Bloom Hergott LLP, which he accused of pocketing USD 30 million in fees without a written agreement.

Three Buckley attorneys - Fredrick Levin, Michael Rome, and Ali Abugheida worked on the case until January, this year. Levin successfully defended the case at a summary judgement hearing in August 2018.

Depp is now represented by Adam Waldman and attorneys from Brown Rudnick LLP. The trial of the case is scheduled to be held in September, this year.

According to the lawsuit, Buckley has billed the actor USD 535,697.28, which represents a 10 per cent discount on the firm's hourly rate.

As of now, Depp has only paid USD 187,717.39, leaving a balance of USD 347,979.89.

The suit claimed that the actor's representatives notified Buckley LLP in January that he was dropping the firm because he was looking to "contract the number of law firms providing services to him and his entities."

Depp's representative in the matter, Edward White, told the film that he had "high regard" for Levin and that the actor intended to pay the outstanding fees in the first quarter of 2019.

"Plaintiff received further assurances regarding payment from Depp's agents, most recently with promises to pay the amount owed in full by mid-May," the suit stated.

However, the suit states that those promises have gone unfulfilled.