Law firm sues 'Beavis' creator for breach of contract. (Up Front).

A Los Angeles law firm has filed suit for $4 million against Michael Judge, writer, producer and director of the animated television shows "Beavis & Butt-head" and "King of the Hill."

Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler & Goodman Inc., an entertainment firm, claims that Judge and Bemco Productions Inc., the company that provides his "artistic services," breached a contract for legal services when they failed to make payments after terminating the law firm on Sept. 14, 2000.

In a suit filed Aug. 23 in L.A. County Superior Court, Lichter Grossman claimed the firm is owed legal services for contracts it negotiated including a 1998 agreement with 20th Century Fox extending Judge's contract for five years and doubling his compensation.

The agreement includes Judge's profit participation for "King of the Hill," the animated show about small-town Texas that has generated as much as "$50 million for the first domestic syndication run alone," according to the suit.

According to the suit, Lichter Grossman represented Judge from 1992 to Sept. 14, 2000. As part of its agreement, the firm claims it was to receive 5 percent of gross revenues derived by the contracts it negotiated, as well as 5 percent of increased gross revenues from re-negotiated contracts, as its fee.

Peter Nichols, the attorney at Lichter Grossman who negotiated deals for Judge, could not be reached for comment. Calls to the firm's attorneys at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman Machtinger & Kinsella LLP were not returned.

Judge, 39, began his animation career in 1991 with the creation of a two-minute short called "Office Space," the story of a office worker named Milton. The short was later picked up by Saturday Night Live and expanded into a full-length feature movie of the same name in 1999 that grossed $10.8 million. The movie was written and directed by Judge and produced by 20th Century Fox and 3 Arts Entertainment Inc.

Judge also introduced a popular short in 1992 called "Frog Baseball," which later became "Beavis & Butt-head" and aired on MTV from 1993 to 1997. "Beavis and Butthead Do America," a 1996 animated feature, grossed $63.1 million. The movie was written and directed by Judge and produced by MTV Networks and Geffen Pictures.

Calls to Judge's manager, Michael Rotenberg of 3 Arts Entertainment, were not returned.