CAA Headed to Arbitration Against Agent Dan Aloni

Courtesy of WME

Talent agent Dan Aloni's $5 million lawsuit against his former employer CAA will be heard by an arbitrator, a Los Angeles judge ruled Friday.

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"We are gratified by the decision and are pleased that the court has ordered arbitration," Aloni lawyer Patty Glaser tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

Aloni, who joined rival WME earlier this year, brought a legal claim against his former employer claiming he's been denied a rich bonus and other compensation owed to him via his representation of top clients including Christopher Nolan, Mike Myers, Jay Roach and others. Aloni had an arbitration clause in his 2008 employment agreement but he asked the court to intervene in November because CAA was only willing to arbitrate the bonus issue,

In a short hearing Friday, Judge Ralph Dau affirmed his 10-page tentative decision finding that the terms of Aloni's arbitration clause apply to the dispute, which should be heard in arbitration. "This is a thoughtful judge and this was a thoughtful opinion," Glaser tells THR.

Aloni also is at the center of another legal battle. Nolan, perhaps his top client, sued CAA and WME asking a court to figure out which agency he should pay commissions from this summer's smash hit The Dark Knight Rises. The director left CAA to follow Aloni before the film was released and WME is claiming it is entitled to a portion of commissions because it helped him navigate the Colorado shooting tragedy, among other issues. CAA believes that because Aloni negotiated the Dark Knight Rises deal while at the agency, it is entitled to the entirety of commissions from the film.

Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com

Twitter: @THRMattBelloni