Johnny Depp has been comfortably creeping his way back into the public glare since winning his defamation trial against Amber Heard, his ex-wife who accused him of abuse. The latest rumor is that the actor is now seeing Joelle Rich, a London-based attorney who represented him in a similar libel lawsuit in the United Kingdom.

Depp's U.K. case against a British media company after one of its pieces referred to him as a "wife abuser" saw much of the same evidence as the U.S. trial but came to a different conclusion. In July 2020, a court rejected it, ruling that Depp caused Heard to "fear for her life."

GETTY/ SHUTTERSTOCK | The 56-year-old actor is said to be in a relationship with his UK libel case's London-based lawyer Joelle Rich

While Johnny Depp's failed marriage to Amber Heard was being examined and scrutinized in court earlier this year, whispers regarding the popular actor's personal life and who he may be seeing circulated. Most of those suspicions centered on Depp's attorney, Camille Vasquez, but more lately, the murmurs have switched to another of Depp's lawyers, Joelle Rich. Alleged details of their time together have emerged recently, but in true Johnny Depp form, there are already new speculations about his having moved on with someone else.

The new affair 

Depp's new love interest was not represented by any of his attorneys in this year's defamation action against Heard, which was heard in Fairfax County, Virginia. He won that lawsuit; a jury determined that Heard defamed him in her 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic abuse, although she did not identify him. Depp was granted more than $10 million in damages, while Heard was awarded $2 million for one of her three defamation countersuit allegations.

Ron Sachs/ Consolidated News Pictures/ Getty Images | Depp's and Rich's “chemistry is off the charts”

Let's start with Joelle Rich since there's a lot here. She was one of his counsel during Johnny Depp's first trial in the United Kingdom. She was married at the time but is now apparently divorcing her spouse. She wasn't on Depp's legal team during his most recent defamation case against Amber Heard, although she was in the country for much of the proceedings. According to reports, she was in Virginia for two months earlier this year, and the pair were supposedly "an item" at the time. They were even photographed multiple times together.

Though Rich was not on Depp's legal team this time, she did come to court multiple times to express her support. On May 3, she was caught with Depp outside the courthouse, and on May 16, she was photographed hugging Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez inside the courtroom.

Conclusion 

POOL/ AFP/ Getty Images | In the United Kingdom, Rich is an integral component of the Schillings team as a partner

What becoming "cosy" entails is totally open to interpretation - much like everything else in Johnny Depp's personal life. Considering his celebrity status and history of dating several gorgeous women, speculations are always rife when Depp is single. Some of them have significance. Some of them, however, do not. They, of course, died down somewhat during his lengthy 14-year romance with Vanessa Paradis and then again during his brief marriage to Amber Heard, but they are back in full force and will most likely continue until he actually settles down with someone.

It's uncertain whether settling down is of interest right now, especially given how terribly his marriage to Heard ended. The couple had only been married for two years, but the consequences lasted five years, as they divorced and were later embroiled in various cases, including the most recent defamation lawsuit.