View Full Version : Lisa Kudrow to Testify in Court Battle With Ex-Manager


simmytbone
02-21-2014, 11:53 AM
Hey guys,

20 years ago, Friends Debut on NBC and became one of the most popular sitcom of the 90's, the series lasted 10 years

and now, 10 years after the series ended, one of its stars Lisa Kudrow who turned 50 last year is now in court battling her former manager Scott Howard over a salary dispute

Here's the story:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2014/02/lisa-kudrow-to-testify-in-court-battle-with-ex-manager/

Lisa Kudrow to Testify in Court Battle With Ex-Manager
By ABC News | Feb 20, 2014 11:49am

Actress Lisa Kudrow is expected to take the stand today to defend herself against a former manager who claims the “Friends” star owes him $1.7 million.
The legal dispute began in 2008, a year after they parted ways, when Kudrow’s former manager, Scott Howard, sued her for refusing to pay him more than $50,000 in fees from her earnings from the television show, “Friends” and other projects.

Howard presented his case in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday on the first day of the pair’s civil trial, claiming that, in 1991, the two made an oral agreement that Howard would receive a 10 percent cut of Kudrow’s income she obtained or performed while he was her manager.

Kudrow, 50, starred from 1994 through 2004 as Phoebe on “Friends.” She began the show as one of the lowest paid actresses among the show’s six stars – earning $13,500 per episode – but for the last 18 episodes in 2004, Kudrow made more than $1 million an episode.

In those latter years, Kudrow was entitled to 1.25 percent of profit from the show.

Howard claims that after he and Kudrow split after 16 years of working together, the actress stopped paying him and that she owes him a percentage of what she earns on “Friends” reruns and other projects.

“One of the questions that is up for debate is whether an oral agreement, which is what Lisa and her manager had, is founded,” Lacey Rose, of The Hollywood Reporter, told ABC News.

Attorneys for Kudrow say they will not speak publicly until they have presented their case to the jury.

In court documents, Kudrow claims she has, “no obligation to pay Howard” a commission after the two ended their professional partnership. Attorneys for Kudrow argue that Howard was the actress’s manager, not her agent, and thus is not entitled to a commission.

ABC News’ Susanna Kim contributed to this report.

credit: abcnews.go.com

JamesG
02-26-2014, 02:15 PM
Lisa Kudrow’s Ex-Manager Wins $1.7M in "Friends" Residuals Lawsuit
by DOMINIC PATTEN
February 26, 2014


A jury today has ruled 10-2 against Lisa Kudrow in a long-in-the-system breach of contract lawsuit filed by her former manager Scott Howard. The trial in LA Superior Court’s Santa Monica Municipal Courthouse was over residuals from the actress’ hit series "Friends".

Howard will receive about $1.7 million in the suit against his once longtime client, whom he sued in August 2008. The initial filing claimed that Kudrow long ago promised Howard commissions from lucrative residuals from the reruns and syndication from the 1994-2004 mega-sitcom and other projects – even after he was fired in 2007 after 16 years.





In filings over the years and in testimony last week, Kudrow, who recently appeared on ABC’s "Scandal", denied making any agreement. During the later years of the show, Kudrow, like other cast members, was making more than $1 million an episode.

Testimony and deliberations in the civil suit wrapped Tuesday with the decision delivered today.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/lisa-kudrow-loses-lawsuit-manager-scott-cooper/

JamesG
02-26-2014, 10:39 PM
UPDATE: Lisa Kudrow To Appeal $1.6M "Friends" Residuals Verdict, Says Lawyer
by DOMINIC PATTEN
February 26, 2014


So maybe no one told Lisa Kudrow that the legal system could be this way, but she’s not done with her "Friends" residuals battle with former manager Scott Howard yet.

“The jury’s verdict is merely one step in the legal process,” Kudrow’s lawyer Gerald Sauer told me today about the roughly $1.6 million decision in Howard’s favor this morning.

“This case ultimately will be resolved at the appellate level. Ms. Kudrow has faith in the judicial system, and she believes that the eventual outcome of this contractual dispute will be in her favor.”

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/lisa-kudrow-loses-lawsuit-manager-scott-cooper/