Trial lawyer Brian Panish told a jury in Orange County, California, on Monday that he blamed Michael Avenatti for shorting him $500,000 in attorney fees in a $39 million settlement 11 years ago, taking the stand as the final witness in a civil trial that pits a former co-counsel against former clients.

“I was upset at that time. I thought we worked really hard. I thought I had a big part of making this happen, and I didn’t understand why this was happening. It was a good thing. Now it had turned into a terrible thing,” said Panish, whose high-profile cases include his present representation of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ family over her shooting death on the “Rust” movie set.