Travis Flores Estate Accuses Justin Baldoni Attorney Bryan Freedman of ‘Trading Up’ to Represent Dying Client’s Legal Foe

The estate of screenwriter and rare-disease advocate Travis Michael Flores filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Bryan Freedman of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and defamation, claiming the Hollywood power attorney “traded up” his dying client for a more lucrative celebrity case when Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni began their public feud.

The complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Flores’ widower Clément Souyri, and obtained by TheWrap, alleges that Freedman abandoned Flores’ copyright infringement suit against filmmaker Justin Baldoni and others behind the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart.” Flores had claimed the hit movie was plagiarized from his own script “Three Feet Distance.”

“Travis was very ill and particularly vulnerable,” the filing states, adding that Freedman took a large upfront fee, filed the case, then advised that it had no chance of success after a dismissal motion. Flores received “absolutely nothing” in the settlement Freedman drafted, according to the suit.

The complaint alleges Freedman later essentially switched sides by representing Baldoni in unrelated litigation involving Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and publicly praised Baldoni — calling him “exceedingly honorable and highly ethical” and saying he and his company did “absolutely nothing wrong” in Flores’ case.

Souyri, representing himself and as administrator of Flores’ estate, said he learned of Freedman’s switch only after his husband’s death in May 2024, when reporters began calling amid the new Baldoni case.

“Defendant Freedman simply ‘traded up’ his valuable client and sacrificed seriously ill client Travis Flores in order to gain the more lucrative and healthier client Justin Baldoni,” the lawsuit states.

The 33-year-old Flores, who had survived three double-lung transplants for cystic fibrosis, was a published author and motivational speaker whose screenplay was drawn from his real-life experiences. The filing calls Freedman’s later media comments “a fundamental betrayal of trust” and an “unauthorized dissemination of false information” that humiliated the grieving family.

Souyri accuses Freedman of breaching attorney-client privilege, violating confidentiality rules that survive death and defaming Flores by publicly implying that his claims were false. The complaint also cites California’s Rules of Professional Conduct, arguing Freedman violated duties of loyalty, diligence and confidentiality.

Freedman and his firm, Liner Freedman Taitelman + Cooley LLP, are named as defendants on five causes of action: breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, invasion of privacy and defamation. Souyri seeks compensatory and punitive damages “in an amount to be proven at trial.”

In one passage, the lawsuit lambasts Freedman’s public persona: “The public witnesses Bryan Freedman litigate almost all of his cases in the media spotlight, then he proceeds to lose his cases in open court.”

As of Wednesday, Freedman had not filed a response. His office did not immediately reply to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

Flores’ widower said he filed the suit to defend his late husband’s legacy.

“Travis had a right to expect confidentiality and loyalty from his trusted lawyer Bryan Freedman, and this trust was betrayed.”