Who is Benjamin Chew? Johnny Depp's lawyer in trial against Amber Heard has also represented Cher
After losing round one in the UK, Johnny Depp is hoping for a better result from his defamation lawsuit in Fairfax County, Virginia. The case, which kicks off on April 11, 2022, will last roughly six weeks, with Depp looking for around $50 million from his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The massive case comes almost seven years after Depp and Heard divorced, but clearly, they are far from done. Depp needs the win to keep his career alive after he was shunned post the libel case against The Sun in the UK. The "wife beater" tag led to Depp being pushed out from 'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore', and losing all other projects. In contrast, Heard appears to have kept her career afloat.
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Clearly, Depp has a lot more to lose if he doesn't flip the situation fast, which is why he's spared no expense in the defamation case. Depp has enlisted a veteran lawyer whose credentials will leave you quite stunned, to fight on his behalf. Here's everything we know about Benjamin Chew.
Who is Benjamin Chew?
Depp's lawyer shares his name with another famous attorney, who provided legal aid pro bono to America's founding fathers during the creation of the constitution. Just like that Chew, this one too has quite a resume. Currently a partner at Brown Rudnick in Washington DC, Chew comes with nearly 30 years of legal experience. A graduate of Princeton University, Chew went on to study at the University of Virginia School of Law, from where he graduated in 1988.
From there, he's made quite a name for himself in the domains of sport, entertainment, and litigation & arbitration. The Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers is admitted to the bar in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and even the Republic of Kosovo in Europe. Chew comes with considerable international experience, having argued for the governments of Dubai, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Ecuador. In 2012, he also successfully prosecuted a case in the European Court of Human Rights, and later a case at the International Criminal Court against Ghana.
Back in the states, Chew has represented the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board in Virginia along with other major multinational firms. He also represented Cher in her case against a former financial advisor. The defamation case against Heard isn't Chew's first case for Depp either. Chew represented Depp in his 2017 fraud lawsuit against The Management Company. That case may have ended quietly, with the two sides reportedly reaching a settlement in 2018, but it's unlikely Depp's suit against Heard will end the same way.
Depp will also be hoping that the suit doesn't end the same way as the case in the UK, even though he appears to be following a similar course of action. Chew said he chose to file the case in Virginia, partly because the state's anti-SLAPP law is less broad than the one in California, where the case would have normally been filed since both Heard and Depp reside there.