Julianna Margulies Battles Ex-Managers, Denies Agreeing To Pay

Julianna Margulies is headed to court to face off against her ex-managers, over millions of dollars in disputed fees.

The Good Wife reinvigorated Julianna Margulies’ career, but as the show is sold into syndication, D/F Management has filed suit against the former ER star in Los Angeles Superior Court over at least $420,000 in what they say are unpaid commissions.

Margulies‘ former agent Steve Dontanville is named in the suit, which states that Julianna took the role after heavily pressured by her handlers:

“Dontanville carefully helped take Margulies from a promising young newcomer to an internationally renowned television star who earned millions of dollars from her work on the television show ‘ER’ and other projects… Based in part on D/F Management’s tireless counsel and guidance, Margulies agreed to star in the then-forthcoming television series project ‘The Good Wife.'”

The Hollywood Reporter cites emails sent by Julianna Margulies to her representation thanking them for steering her to new and lucrative projects — but adds that the star soon sought to reduce the pay of her reps.

According to the site, Margulies began seeking to cap compensation for reps, and it reports:

“Despite her success, according to the suit, in summer 2010 Margulies started looking at ways she could reduce how much she paid her reps. She even discussed with D/F how to change her deal with her lawyer, who was getting 5 percent of her earnings, so she could put a ‘cap’ on how much she paid him, according to the suit.”

THR’s Lacey Rose says that the court case is unusual for an issue like this:

“It is incredibly rare to have a dispute like this with a star as big as Julianna go to trial.”

The suit alleges that Julianna Margulies wrongly and abruptly ceased payments.