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Julianna Margulies Threatened With Malicious Prosecution Lawsuit in Ex-Manager Fight

As a dispute over commissions heads towards a January trial, "The Good Wife" star is accused of obstructing justice as other stars could be dragged into the case

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Julianna Margulies

Now that an appeals court has denied Julianna Margulies' emergency appeal, her legal dispute with the management firm of Steve Dontanvilleover commissions is headed towards trial.

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The judge in the case recently pushed the trial date from October to January after Margulies' attorneys cited her busy schedule shooting CBS'The Good Wife. She wanted six extra months, and after D/F Management's lawyers angrily objected to her "seeking delay at every turn," she got half that time.

As a result, in less than four months, Margulies is scheduled to appear in court in a case with a lot of money on the line. When the lawsuit was first filed in July of 2012, Margulies' former manager alleged that $420,000 was due in ongoing commissions after he negotiated a deal with L'Oreal cosmetics and her star turn on TheGood Wife. But after the hit CBS drama was sold into syndication in March, D/F's lawyers revised the claim to target millions of dollars for D/F's 10 percent cut of her earnings. Margulies fired D/F on April 29, 2011.

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With all the money at stake, the litigation has become quite heated -- so much so that an attorney for D/F tells THR that he might seek to file a civil malicious prosecution claim against the actress, alleging that she acted in bad faith when she filed counterclaims against her old management firm. Her attorney dismisses the threat.

The two sides are scheduled to meet on Monday for a mediation session; if they can't settle the claims, they'll face off at trial.

Earlier this month, after Margulies requested a trial delay, the other side accused her of malfeasance.

Mathew Rosengart, D/F's lead attorney and a former prosecutor, told the judge that Margulies had attempted to "obstruct justice." The basis for that accusation involves a deposition given by Margulies' talent agent in the case.

"Disturbingly," the plaintiff's lawyer wrote in a brief, "on the very morning of her talent agent's deposition (i.e. approximately one hour before the deposition commenced), Defendant Margulies sent her agent an email falsely stating that one of D/F's two principals 'never did any work on my behalf.' Defendant Margulies later admitted that this assertion -- which related to a material issue in this case -- was simply not true. Indeed, whether it was sent as a result of avarice, a sense of entitlement or in an effort to influence the agent's testimony, the email was highly improper."

Sheldon Eisenberg, Margulies' attorney, responds that the allegation "is totally false" and that "there's no basis" to accuse his client of attempting to obstruct justice. "There's absolutely no factual basis for it, and if he had uttered those words outside of a courtroom context he would be sued for defamation," Eisenberg says, noting that Rosengart hasn't even questioned Margulies' agent to know if she was influenced by the email.

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Rosengart has not filed a motion seeking to have his accusation taken up by the judge and there is no indication that the actress is facing any formal charge of obstruction.

Not to be outdone, Margulies' attorneys at Drinker Biddle & Reath are attempting to make things uncomfortable for Dontanville's company.

In response to D/F's original lawsuit, Margulies brought counterclaims, alleging that Dontanville -- who represented the actress first as an agent at ICM, then at William Morris, before leaving and starting up a management firm -- had demonstrated a general lack of initiative, attention, focus and commitment and that his firm had failed to provide the level and quality of services that she expected.

Now, Eisenberg wants to investigate whether the same goes for D/F's other former clients. Originally, he and co-counsel Ryan Fife attempted to question D/F principal Frank Frattaroli about his relationship with other clients during a deposition. Frattaroli was instructed not to answer those queries.

Last week, Margulies' team brought a motion to compel answers, citing two reasons:

First, Margulies' team wants to look into whether former clients paid ongoing commissions after they were terminated. According to the motion to compel that was filed last week, "The information is highly relevant because situations where [D/F] was not paid post-termination commissions by its very own clients would obviously support the Defendants' position that no such custom and practice exists in the industry."

Second, and more salaciously, Margulies' attorneys are hoping to challenge D/F's credibility as a management firm.

"Defendants contend that Plaintiff failed to adequately perform talent management services on behalf of Defendants," says the motion. "Moreover, Defendants intend to show at trial that Plaintiff's failure was part of a wider pattern and practice of rendering sub-standard services."

Margulies' team hasn't yet identified other Hollywood talent who might be mentioned at the January trial. Over the years, D/F has reportedly represented clients including Willem Dafoe, Michelle Monaghan, Sarah Polley, Frances McDormand and Benjamin Bratt, among others.

Rosengart is outraged at Margulies' gambit.

"In contrast to the tactics employed by Ms. Margulies’ team, my clients will not litigate this matter in the press," he tells THR. "Suffice to say, defendants’ motion represents their latest in a series of desperate, ill-advised, and completely meritless motions and misguided efforts to avoid a trial. My clients look forward to the trial of this matter, after which, as a result of defendants’ frivolous cross-complaint and tactics, my clients intend to seek damages for malicious prosecution, including recovery of their costs and attorneys’ fees in this matter."

A malicious prosecution claim would come only in the event that Margulies loses. It also would need to be shown that she had no basis for bringing her counterclaims. Says Eisenberg, "That's not going to happen."

E-mail: Eriq.Gardner@THR.com
Twitter: @eriqgardner

Katt Williams Gives $1000 to Fan in Wheelchair

We all know Katt Williams as being a comedian. He is also a well known actor and rapper. You probably remember him starring in Friday After Next as Money Mike.

In the past few years he has been in the news due to child endangerment allegations and having a stolen gun found in his house in Los Angeles. He has been arrested more than four times in the past year.

On Sunday, Williams performed at a show in Boston, Massachusetts. According to TMZ, when the show was over, a security guard noticed a woman crying in the audience. She was sitting in a wheelchair. When he approached and asked her what was wrong, she replied, with a laugh, saying that she was crying “tears of joy.”

The woman said she was in desperate need of a new kidney and this was the first time she was able to smile since hearing the devastating news. After hearing about her health issue, the security guard took her backstage to meet Katt Williams.

When Katt met her and heard her story, he was so torn up that he had to excuse himself and leave the room. He was very touched by what she had to say.

A few minutes later, he returned to the room where the woman was. He handed her a package.TMZ reports that the woman thought the package probably contained marijuana, since after all, it was a gift coming from Katt Williams.

Turns out, the gift was not drug paraphernalia. It was actually $1000 in cash. There was also a handwritten note on a piece of paper saying, “God never leaves.”

The woman was overwhelmed when realizing she had received such a large amount of money as gift from Katt Williams. She cried even more tears of joy as she thanked him profusely.

E-cigs debate takes turn: Expert says they may pose less risk than cigarettes

The debate about the potential societal benefit of electronic cigarettes has taken an interesting turn with a former Food and Drug Administration advisor saying they “likely pose” a reduced-risk option to traditional cigarettes.

Dr. Neal Benowitz, who served on the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific advisory committee, co-authored a July 15 report on e-cigs posted on the Journal of the American Medical Association’s website.

E-cigs are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge and create a vapor that is inhaled.

Bonnie Herzog, an analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, projected $2 billion in retail sales for e-cigs this year and to exceed $10 billion in annual sales by 2017.

Benowitz said e-cigs “likely pose less direct hazard to the individual smoker than tobacco cigarettes and might help smokers quit smoking or reduce harm by smoking fewer tobacco cigarettes.”

“On the other hand, there are potential harms, including promoting continued smoking of cigarettes and renormalizing cigarette smoking behaviors.”

Benowitz’s acknowledgement of the potential public-health benefit of e-cigs is noteworthy considering he is serving on a Pfizer smoking cessation medication advisory board, and has been a consultant to two other pharmaceutical companies. Analysts have said e-cigs, particularly those made by large tobacco manufacturers, could prove stiff competition for the pharmaceutical nicotine-replacement therapy products if given FDA approval.

The FDA was given oversight of the tobacco industry by Congress in 2009, but it cannot ban nicotine or tobacco. It said in 2011 it would determine whether to regulate e-cigs as a tobacco product.

The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products is charged with evaluating applications for new “modified risk” tobacco products. Products that could fit in that category include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s Camel dissolvable orbs, film strips and sticks, the Zonnic nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) product and the Vuse vapor cigarette.

A company that wants to market a lower-risk tobacco product in the United States must offer scientific proof to the FDA that the marketing of the product will not only reduce harm to individual users, but also benefit the health of the population as a whole.

In April, the FDA said it is no longer putting limits on how long someone trying to quit smoking can use a nicotine-replacement therapy product, such as gum or a patch. The agency said it is removing warnings, as well as limitations in directions, to allow flexibility in how the products are used and for how long.

“Currently available NRT products are not as satisfying and are less acceptable to smokers compared with inhaling and absorbing nicotine from cigarette smoke,” Benowitz said. “The possibility of an inhaled clean-nicotine device has been discussed by health researchers for many years as a potentially more effective way to promote smoking cessation.

“Although not yet proven safe or effective for smoking cessation, the e-cigarette has been positioned as such an inhaled nicotine delivery device and has gained popularity through this perception.”

Benowitz said there are more than 250 e-cig brands in the marketplace.

“Different e-cigarette brands are engineered differently, affecting the character and potential toxicity of the vapor,” he said. “Thus, it is difficult to generalize about e-cigarettes as a single device.”

A regulatory challenge, in the United States and in Europe, has been how to regulate e-cigs – as a medication or a tobacco product. If the FDA determines e-cigs can be helpful in smoking cessation, they could be regulated both ways.

Benowitz said dual regulation for e-cigs makes little practical sense. “A comprehensive regulatory approach to nicotine-containing products is needed,” he said.

The reaction to Benowitz’ report was mixed, with many analysts saying he either went too far or not far enough in evaluating the potential public-health aspects of e-cigs.

“It is good to see Benowitz join the growing number of academicians and scientists who acknowledge the obvious harm-reduction benefits of e-cigarettes and recognize that pharmaceutical-style regulation would stifle critical innovation,” said Carl Phillips, scientific director of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association.

“Unfortunately, they stop short of acknowledging that the innovation matters because people like using e-cigarettes, and innovation contributes to this benefit in addition to improving the safety of the product.”

John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, supports developing and marketing products that lessen exposure to tobacco, including e-cigs if they can be proven scientifically to play that role.

However, he said he is concerned about how e-cigs are being advertised.

“E-cigs might normalize or glamorize smoking because e-cigs look like regular cigarettes, and people will see others/celebrities ‘smoking’ them,” Spangler said.

“It might increase nicotine addiction and decrease cessation – act as a bridge product until a smoker can get to a place where combustible smoking is allowed.”

Brad Rodu, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville and a smokeless-tobacco advocate, said it is important to note Benowitz said the levels of toxicants in e-cigs “are orders of magnitude lower than those found in cigarette smoke.”

Still, he said hyping the potential risk of e-cigs as a gateway to traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products, as well as dual use of e-cigs and cigarettes, is “unsubstantiated and hypothetical.”

“They represent a distortion of the precautionary principle: e-cigarettes must be heavily regulated by the FDA because they are not proven to be safe and effective. Meanwhile, cigarettes are killing 1,205 Americans. Every. Single. Day.”

Scott Ballin, past chairman of the Coalition on Smoking or Health, said the monitoring and surveillance of new tobacco products should be done jointly by the FDA, manufacturers, the research community and others.

“We should be encouraging innovation and the development of new low-risk products, not suppressing them,” Ballin said.

“The public needs and deserves access to these products. Not making these products available under a regulated system could be a public health disservice.”

Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition with NFL Sunday Ticket

Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices. For fans who are able to receive DirecTV service, a special promo code will be included entitling them to an exclusive promotion, including $10 off per month for their first year of service, and one year of NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge.

With Madden NFL 25, unlock the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ball-carrier. Whether you’re a slashing running-back, dual-threat QB, or ball-hawking safety, unleash 30 new moves and string together devastating combos with the all-new precision modifier.

Features

Madden NFL 25 — Unlock the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ballcarrier. Whether you’re a slashing running-back, dual-threat QB, or ball-hawking safety, unleash 30 new moves and string together devastating combos with the all-new precision modifier.

• For fans who are not currently DirecTV subscribers but are able to receive DirecTV service, they will receive a promo code entitling them to $10 off per month for their first year of service and one year of NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge.
• For fans who are already DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket Max subscribers, you can access NFL Sunday Ticket on your computer, tablet, and mobile devices using your current DirecTV username and password.
• For fans unable to receive DirecTV service, each Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition will include a unique code to access the 2013 regular season (17 weeks) trial of NFL Sunday Ticket on computers, tablets, and mobile devices- including access to the award-winning Red Zone Channel.

About NFL Sunday Ticket: With NFL Sunday Ticket, fans will be able to enjoy every minute of every NFL game each Sunday afternoon throughout the entire 2013 regular season and get highlights delivered instantly from their computer, tablet, or mobile devices. Fans will also be able to catch every play inside the 20 yard line, all in one channel with DIRECTV’s Red Zone Channel. NFL Sunday Ticket code contained within Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition can only be redeemed by US residents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is included with Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition?
• Madden NFL 25 standard edition for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3
• One Madden Ultimate Team pack per week for the 17 weeks of the NFL season
• Access to the full 2013 regular season (17 weeks) of NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices.
• Additional offers from DirecTV

Do I need a DirecTV subscription to access NFL Sunday Ticket?
No, it's not necessary to have a DirecTV subscription. Each Anniversary Edition includes a code that can be redeemed to access the full 2013 regular season (17 weeks) of NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices.

I don't have DirecTV service, but I'd like to sign up. What offers are available to me?
In addition to access to the full 2013 regular season (17 weeks) of NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices, theAnniversary Edition includes an exclusive promotional code. When redeemed, this offers a $10 discount per month for the first year of service, in addition to NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge. This includes HD viewing on your TV of every NFL game, up to eight games at once on the Mix Channel, and more.

If I have DirecTV service and standard NFL Sunday Ticket, will this give me access on computer, tablet, and mobile devices?
Yes, each Anniversary Edition includes a unique code that entitles a purchaser to NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices.

Are there limited quantities of the Anniversary Edition?
Yes, there are a limited number of units, available only at Amazon.

Can I watch NFL Sunday Ticket on my PS3 by purchasing the Anniversary Edition?
No, this only provides access to NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices.

Product Description

Exclusive to Amazon.com, the Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition combines all the innovation and authenticity of Madden NFL 25, a 17 week Madden Ultimate Team pack subscription, and exclusive offers for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. Each Anniversary Editionincludes a special code for eligible gamers giving them the opportunity to unlock a special, 2013 regular season (17 weeks) trial of NFL Sunday Ticket on computer, tablet, and mobile devices. For fans who are able to receive DirecTV service, a special promo code will be included entitling them to an exclusive promotion, including $10 off per month for their first year of service, and one year of NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge.

With Madden NFL 25, unlock the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ball-carrier. Whether you’re a slashing running-back, dual-threat QB, or ball-hawking safety, unleash 30 new moves and string together devastating combos with the all-new precision modifier.

Ecigs Non-Toxic Make The Switch

Non-Toxic tm  Make the Switch
Imitation Cigarettes 

Battery Power: 3.7V 650mAh(manual) OR 1100mAh(Manual)
Standard Manual Battery: around 750 puffs
Battery charging cycles: 300 times charging
Tank Atomizer life: 2 T 8 Month
Puffs of each Ce4 : 400-800 puffs

The EGO-Ce4 Kit include:
1-Ce4 Atomizers 2 pcs
2-Ego T Batteries 2 pcs
3-Usb charger 1 pcs
4-Wall charger 1 pcs

$29.95