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Julianna Margulies has scored a success in her legal battle with her former manager over commissions, and as a result, will look to win the case on Thursday.
Last year, the The Good Wife star was sued by D/F Management for at least $420,000. The management firm of Steve Dontanville claimed that it was entitled to 10 percent of what she continued to make on shows and for product deals that were negotiated while they were her representatives.
Margulies returned fire with a counterclaim that Dontanville failed to provide her with any writing to memorialize the terms of his firm’s engagement. It was a defense based on the statute of frauds which requires that certain contracts be signed and in writing.
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In response, D/F Management made a demurrer that challenged this.
On Tuesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court held a hearing and overruled the demurrer. As a result, the parties go to a second round later this week whereby Margulies’ attorneys will be seeking summary judgment.
Margulies is represented by Sheldon Eisenberg at Drinker Biddle & Reath.
“Their argument was that we had somehow waived the statute of frauds claim by bringing the counterclaim,” says Eisenberg. “The judge followed the controlling New York law that said that even if you admit you had some contractual relationship with defendant, it doesn’t waive the protections of asserting statute of frauds.”
Eisenberg adds that on Thursday, he’ll be pushing to have the case dismissed as a matter of law.
D/F is represented by Mathew Rosengart at Greenberg Traurig. The attorney wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Email: eriq.gardner@thr.com; Twitter: @eriqgardner
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