Joelle Rich, 37, is a partner at big international legal firm Schillings, which also represents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. She is presently divorcing the father of her 2 kids, whom she was married to four years ago when she began working with Depp, 59.
Rich and her husband, Jonathan, a director at corporate finance business Bluebox whom she married in 2011, are divorcing, with a source telling the tabloid that the lawyer’s connection with Depp is ‘serious.’
Although Rich handled Depp in his defamation trial against The Sun, which he lost in a decision that his attorneys described as twisted and unfathomable, she was not on the legal team in his latest defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard.
However, according to the source, while Rich had no professional duty during the case, she was there in the courtroom to offer ‘support’ to the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, stressing that the matter was ‘personal’ for her.
Rich is not to be confused with Camille Vasquez, a 38-year-old brunette lawyer Depp worked with during the Heard defamation trial, during which allegations persisted that she was having an affair with the actor.
Vasquez denied any affair with the celebrity, and later learned that she was in a relationship with British WeWork CEO Edward Owen.
Depp and Heard divorced in 2017 after marrying in 2015.
According to the outlet’s informant, Depp’s claimed connection with Rich started ‘sneakily,’ with the two meeting up in hotels throughout the early days of their courtship.
Rich is still married to her husband, although the couple is thought to be legally separated.
The brunette beauty is in the process of divorcing. She has 2 kids with her estranged spouse.
Jonathan and Joelle married in a Tuscany ceremony in July 2011, according to a wedding picture session the bride-to-be conducted with her mother Ava for Brides magazine.
Rich grew up in London and attended North London Collegiate Institution, a private school that today charges £22,308 ($25,146) per year, before studying law at the University of Birmingham.
Rich worked as a trainee solicitor at DLA Piper in London before joining Schillings, barely one month after her wedding. She specialized in intellectual property, media, and sports disputes.
The news of Depp’s alleged connection with Rich comes after he faced angry speculation that he was in an affair with lawyer Vasquez, though she promptly dismissed the accusations as ‘sexist.’
Depp filed two lawsuits about his connection with Heard.
One was against The Sun in June of 2018. As a result of information obtained from Heard, the media dubbed him a “wife abuser.”
The trial was scheduled to begin in July 2020, but four months later, the United Kingdom’s High Court of Justice determined that The Sun’s piece was not defamatory.
Rich stated that she ‘seriously challenged’ the verdict of the British court and that she intended to appeal.
Depp then sued Heard over an op-ed she penned for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she alleged to be a victim of domestic abuse.
The jury decided in Depp’s favor in June, and Heard was directed to pay him $10.35 million in damages.
Depp said that he lost movie jobs as a result of Heard’s allegations that he assaulted her. He enjoyed a professional comeback after winning the slander lawsuit.
His comeback was validated when he showed up in a moon costume at the 2022 MTV VMAs.
