Amber Heard has hired another lawyer, hoping they can help coax two insurance companies into paying the $10 million in damages she was ordered to pay her ex-husband, Johnny Depp in their sensational trial earlier this year. Heard was ordered to pay Depp damages for defamation, and although she is appealing the case, she is also looking for ways to have the bill covered in the meantime. According to a report by The Daily Mail, her legal team in that endeavor grew this week.
Heard is represented by attorneys David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown in her appeal of the verdict of Depp’s lawsuit against her. She has reportedly hired attorney Kirk Pasich as well, but Pasich won’t be working closely with the other two. Instead, Pasich will be looking to get Heard as much help from insurance companies as possible. That includes her legal fees, which will likely be over $15 million when all is said and done, as well as the $10 million in damages she was ordered to pay to Depp. Pasich will be dealing directly with Travelers Commercial Insurance Company and New York Marine General Insurance Company.
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Heard reportedly had a special homeowners insurance policy with Travelers that covered “libel” up to the amount of half a million dollars, while she had a general liability policy with New York Marine for $1 million. However, the two companies are exchanging legal complaints with each other as well. New York Marine claims that its policy stipulated that Heard use local attorneys with a small fee, while Travelers’ policy allowed her to choose any attorney she wanted.
The two companies are in disagreement about which attorneys were necessary on the legal team and therefore which company should be paying their fees. At the same time, both companies claim that they are not responsible for contributing to Heard’s damage payment to Depp. Although the lawsuit was filed in Virginia, the arguments reportedly rely on interpretations of a California law that absolves insurers from paying for “willful acts.”
The legal drama has even more twists and turns coming since Depp has also filed an appeal in this case. His legal team believes he should not be responsible for paying any damages at all to Heard for her defamation countersuit. It’s not clear how likely it is that the former couple will land back in court together any time soon.
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