Hollywood law firms fighting for Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez
She was an unexpected star in the Depp-Heard trial, and now Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez has reportedly been flooded with offers from Hollywood.
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Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez has been flooded with offers from Hollywood and is at the centre of an ongoing bidding war between law firms that want her on their team following her victorious performance in the actor’s trial.
The tough-as-nails lawyer, 37, became a star in her own right in the drawn-out defamation trial — sparring with Amber Heard during intense and sometimes vicious cross-examination and becoming a darling among Depp fans.
Industry sources have told the New York Post doors are opening for Ms Vasquez — it’s just a matter of which one she chooses.
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“Talent agents are circling Camille because they recognise that she is the unicorn — a smart, savvy, poised attorney whose impactful performance during the trial propelled her to a rare level of visibility,” a source said.
“And the fact that she is a woman of colour is an added bonus.”
Ms Vasquez and her colleagues successfully convinced the jury that Heard defamed Depp on all three counts brought against the actor for writing in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that she was “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.
Since the trial wrapped on Wednesday, Ms Vasquez has already received offers from several traditional TV networks and cable channels, sources told The Post.
“Camille is inarguably a great voice to weigh in on legal matters and networks are naturally chomping at the bit to speak with her about on-air opportunities,” a former network executive familiar with the offers said.
Despite leading the plaintiff’s case with lawyer Ben Chew, Ms Vasquez remains an associate at high-profile law firm Brown Rudnick, though celebrity lawyer Judd Burstein guessed “she’ll be a partner soon”.
“No firm would allow her to have a role in a big trial like this if she wasn’t on the partner track,” said Mr Burstein, who represents Nicki Minaj.
“There are two factors that go into making a partner — your quality of lawyering and ability to attract business. She can probably go anywhere and make a nice deal for herself.”
A legal source confirmed what Mr Burstein suspected.
“The legal community is buzzing with firms fighting to be the highest bidder for Camille to join their team,” the source said.
“She’s a shark and her performance in trial showed it.”
A woman partner at a high-profile law firm in Los Angeles just a few years older than Ms Vasquez said she was “very surprised to see she was an associate,” considering what she handled at the Depp trial.
“Most of the time associates aren’t given the type of roles she was given — doing the cross and closings, that’s pretty unprecedented,” the source said.
Comparing Ms Vasquez to Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft, the source said “Camille’s trial skills were much more effective than Elaine Bredehoft to a point where I almost felt bad for Elaine where she was being out-lawyered by an associate like that.
“I’m shocked she wasn’t promoted before the trial and I would be completely floored if she wasn’t promoted by now,” the source added.
Brown Rudnick told The Post that it is “thrilled that so many people are seeing what we’ve known for years: that Camille Vasquez is a star.”
“We were always confident that she had what it takes to succeed on this stage. That’s why she is a key member of the trial team and has a bright future with us,” the firm added.
Depp’s brass gained so much fandom that one fan gave herself a tattoo with the outline of Ms Vasquez’s wavy hair and power suit, with the word “objection” underneath.
Fans also speculated that Ms Vasquez might be dating Depp, a rumour that was quickly quashed by both teams and further trounced after she was pictured post-trial with her boyfriend Edward Owen.
Ms Vasquez, who is still working for Depp, declined to comment. A rep for Depp had no comment.
The actor will be back in court in July after Gregg Brooks, a crew member on a movie set, accused him of assault. Brown Rudnick is representing him the case.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and is reproduced with permission
Originally published as Hollywood law firms fighting for Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez
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