Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation suit against Amber Heard recently got the green light to go to trial. Unfortunately, Amber Heard’s legal defense team just took a big loss.
In newly obtained legal documents, Heard’s defense team headed by Time’s Up lawyer Roberta Kaplan and including John Quinn, Julie Fink, and Davida Brook filed a motion asking a judge to approve their withdrawal from the case, adding that Heard has endorsed the decision already.
Time’s Up is a movement against sexual harassment founded in 2018 by Hollywood starlets based in Los Angeles. The defamation case against Amber, however, is happening in Virginia, and the 34-year-old will retain Virginia-based lawyers for the remainder of her case.
The document explained, “In addition to the undersigned, who is remaining in this matter as counsel of record to Ms. Heard, Ms. Heard has retained the services of another trial counsel licensed in Virginia, Elaine Bredehoft." The lawyers also added, “Ms. Heard does not object to the withdrawal of withdrawing counsel and has endorsed the proposed order granting leave to withdraw."
A spokesperson for Kaplan Hecker & Fink LL explained that travel costs and logistics in light of the pandemic mainly influenced the decision to change counsel. Johnny Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman, however, isn’t convinced, saying, “For years, #TimesUp and others inexplicably hitched their wagons to Amber Heard’s abuse hoax. Ms. Heard’s lawyers, one of whom co-founded the #TimesUp Legal Defense Fund, have now apparently unhitched from Ms Heard’s long-disproven frauds. We intend to discover why.”
Johnny Depp hit the actress with a $50 million defamation lawsuit last March and it is still ongoing.