Washington [US], September 24 (ANI): Johnny Depp and his lawyer Joelle Rich are dating but according to a new report by TMZ, the couple's isn't exclusive.

This week, it was revealed that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor had a romantic relationship with Rich, one of the defence lawyers who defended him in his libel case against the Sun in 2018.

The verdict in that trial, in which Depp's attorneys argued that the Sun had defamed the actor by calling him a "wife beater," came down in late 2020.

12 specific incidents of the "Edward Scissorhands" star physically abusing his ex-wife Amber Heard were deemed to be "basically accurate" by the court presiding over the case.

The appeal was quickly submitted by Depp's counsel, but it was rejected in March 2021.

zRich wrote in a statement she gave to Deadline at the time that she "seriously questioned" the verdict. She nevertheless maintained optimism over Depp's pending legal actions in the US against Heard.

"Complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the U.S. libel case against Ms. Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure," she predicted the US trial would show.

Heard, who had a romantic relationship with Depp from 2012 until 2016, was required to speak about her experiences of abuse during that time even though it was Depp who had filed the cases that started both the US and UK court battles.

The US lawsuit took place in a courtroom in Fairfax, Virginia, during the course of April and May of 2022. It was based on the allegation that Heard had defamed Depp by referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse" in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post.

The jury infamously found Heard guilty of defaming Depp on June 1, 2022, and they ordered her to pay him USD 15 million in damages. In addition, they gave the "Aquaman" actress $2 million in restitution for Heard's public defamation by one of Depp's attorneys.

Although there were speculations that Depp had a love relationship with Camille Vasquez, one of his defence attorneys at the US trial, the lawyer categorically denied those reports.

Since then, it has been shown that Rich did in fact attend the trial at the Fairfax courthouse.

This isn't Rich's first encounter with internationally renowned figures while working in her field.

According to Page Six, the lawyer, a partner at the firm Schillings, successfully defended Meghan Markle in the Duchess' 2019 case against the Daily Mail over the publishing of a private letter to her estranged father, winning on behalf of her client in 2021. (ANI)