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.